ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Navy senior nose guard Landon Robinson has been named the American Conference Defensive Player of the Year, while junior long snapper Rayne Fry was named the Long Snapper of the Year by the league's head coaches.
Robinson is the first Navy player to be named defensive player of the year, while Fry is the first Navy player to earn a special teams honor. Robinson is also just the second interior defensive lineman to be named defensive player of the year, joining Ed Oliver from Houston in 2017. Oliver is currently a member of the Buffalo Bills.
Robinson has recorded 54 tackles, a team-high 8.5 tackles for a loss, a team-high 6.5 sacks and a team-high seven hurries for the Mids this season. He leads the American in sacks per game, which is highly unusual for an interior defensive player.
Fry has been spectacular all year for Navy, serving as the long snapper for field goals, PATs and punts.
Surprisingly, those were the only two Midshipmen named First-Team All-American Conference despite Navy finishing with a 7-1 league mark, tying Tulane and North Texas for first place.
North Texas had four first-team selections, including quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who was named offensive player of the year and running back Caleb Hawkins, the rookie of the year. Head coach Eric Morris was named the Coach of the Year.
Tulane had five first-team selections including kicker Patrick Durkin, who was named the special teams player of the year.
Memphis (five), East Carolina (four) and Tulsa (three) also had more first team selections than Navy.
Senior guard Ben Purvis, senior snipe Eli Heidenreich and senior running back Alex Tecza were all named Second-Team All-American Conference.
Purvis has been the leader up front for the Navy offensive line that has paved the way for the top rushing offense in the FBS (298.4 yards per game).
The Pittsburgh duo of Tecza and Heidenreich has been sensational in its own right. Tecza has rushed for 772 yards and nine touchdowns on 133 carries, while catching 12 passes for 123 yards and one touchdown.
Heidenreich is Navy's leading receiver with 40 catches for 805 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 409 yards and three touchdowns on 62 carries. Heidenreich is seventh in the FBS in yards per reception, averaging 20.1 yards per catch and his 805 receiving yards this year are the second most in school history. He needs 14 yards in the last two games to pass Rob Taylor (1967) for first.
Senior quarterback Blake Horvath and sophomore linebacker MarcAnthony Parker were both named Third-Team All-American Conference.
Horvath has rushed for 1,040 yards and 14 touchdowns, while completing 81 of his 131 pass attempts for 1,390 yards with nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
Horvath, who is a finalist for the Campbell Trophy (the Academic Heisman) and has been named a candidate to be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, is 19-4 as a starter over the last two seasons including a 9-1 mark this year.
He is the first Navy quarterback in school history to have 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in back-to-back seasons and is the first player to achieve the feat in the FBS since both Lamar Jackson (Louisville) and Quinton Flowers (USF) did it in 2016 and 2017.
Horvath's 14 rushing touchdowns this fall are tied for the 12th most in the FBS and tied for the fifth most by a quarterback.
He is averaging 104.0 rushing yards per game this year, which ranks 10th nationally and first among quarterbacks.
He is averaging 17.2 yards per completion this year, the fourth-best average in school history. It would lead the FBS if he had enough attempts to qualify.
Horvath's 166.0 pass efficiency this year is the fourth best in school history. It would rank eighth in the FBS if he had enough attempts to qualify.
Horvath's 1,390 passing yards this year are the 10th most in school history and he is just 74 yards away from sixth place.
Parker had a breakout sophomore campaign for the Mids, leading Navy in tackles with 88. He was also second on the team in tackles for a loss (6.5), while recording two sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery.
All told, Navy's seven all-conference selections were the sixth most in the league. North Texas (12) and Tulane (12) led the way, while USF (10), Memphis (9) and ECU (9) also had more than Navy.
The annual Army-Navy game will take place on Saturday, Dec. 13 at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3 PM and the game will be televised by CBS and broadcast nationally on the Navy Radio Network and on Westwood One.
Number of All-Conference Selections
North Texas-12
Tulane-12
South Florida-10
East Carolina-9
Memphis-9
Navy-7
Tulsa-6
UTSA-6
Temple-4
FAU-4
Rice-4
Army-3
UAB-2
Charlotte-1
American All-Conference Teams
|
Offensive Player of the Year
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QB
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Drew Mestemaker
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North Texas
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|
|
|
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Defensive Player of the Year
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DL
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Landon Robinson
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Navy
|
|
|
|
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Special Teams Player of the Year
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K
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Patrick Durkin
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Tulane
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|
|
|
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Deep Snapper of the Year
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DS
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Rayne Fry
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Navy
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|
|
|
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Rookie of the Year
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RB
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Caleb Hawkins
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North Texas
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|
|
|
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Coach of the Year
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Eric Morris
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North Texas
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All-Conference First Team
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WR
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Anthony Smith
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East Carolina
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WR
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Cortez Braham Jr.
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Memphis
|
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WR
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Wyatt Young
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North Texas
|
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OT
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Jimarion McCrimmon
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East Carolina
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OT
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Travis Burke
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Memphis
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OG
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Gabe Blair
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North Texas
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OG
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Shadre Hurst
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Tulane
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C
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Brady Small
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Army
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TE
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Brody Foley
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Tulsa
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QB
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Drew Mestemaker
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North Texas
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RB
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Caleb Hawkins*
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North Texas
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RB
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Robert Henry Jr.
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UTSA
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DL
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Zion Wilson
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East Carolina
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DL
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William Whitlow Jr.
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Memphis
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DL
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Landon Robinson
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Navy
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DL
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Santana Hopper
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Tulane
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LB
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Sam Brumfield
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Memphis
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LB
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Mac Harris
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South Florida
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LB
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Shad Banks Jr.
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UTSA
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LB
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Ray Coney
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Tulsa
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CB
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DeShawn Rucker
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South Florida
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CB
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Elijah Green
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Tulsa
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S
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Jack Tchienchou
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Tulane
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S
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Jamarley Riddle
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East Carolina
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K
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Patrick Durkin
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Tulane
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P
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Alec Clark
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Tulane
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RS
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Sutton Smith
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Memphis
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DS
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Jackson Lee
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Florida Atlantic
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DS
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Rayne Fry
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Navy
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All-Conference Second Team
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WR
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Iverson Hooks
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UAB
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WR
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Easton Messer
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Florida Atlantic
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WR
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Eli Heidenreich
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Navy
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OT
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Braydon Nelson
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North Texas
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OT
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Connor McLaughlin
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South Florida
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OG
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Emmanuel Poku
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East Carolina
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OG
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Ben Purvis
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Navy
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C
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Tay Yanta
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North Texas
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TE
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Peter Clarke
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Temple
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QB
|
Byrum Brown
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South Florida
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RB
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Alex Tecza
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Navy
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RB
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Dominic Richardson
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Tulsa
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DL
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JD Lampley
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East Carolina
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DL
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Cam'Ron Stewart
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Temple
|
|
DL
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Tre'von Mcalpine
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Tulane
|
|
DL
|
J'Dan Burnett
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Tulsa
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LB
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Andon Thomas
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Army
|
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LB
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Ethan Wesloski
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North Texas
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LB
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Jhalyn Shuler
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South Florida
|
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LB
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Sam Howard
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Tulane
|
|
CB
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Omarion Cooper
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Memphis
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CB
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David Fisher
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North Texas
|
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S
|
Fred Gaskin
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South Florida
|
|
S
|
Lento Smith Jr.
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Tulsa
|
|
K
|
Nico Gramatica
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South Florida
|
|
P
|
Caile Hogan
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UTSA
|
|
RS
|
JoJo Bermudez
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Temple
|
|
DS
|
Triston O'Brien
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East Carolina
|
|
All-Conference Third Team
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|
WR
|
Javen Nicholas
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Charlotte
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|
WR
|
Yannick Smith
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East Carolina
|
|
WR
|
Devin Mccuin
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UTSA
|
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OT
|
Jimto Obidegwu
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North Texas
|
|
OT
|
Derrick Graham
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Tulane
|
|
OG
|
Johnny Dickson
|
North Texas
|
|
OG
|
Zane Herring
|
South Florida
|
|
C
|
Cole Best
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South Florida
|
|
TE
|
Houston Thomas
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UTSA
|
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QB
|
Blake Horvath
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Navy
|
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RB
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Sutton Smith
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Memphis
|
|
RB
|
Quinton Jackson
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Rice
|
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DL
|
Jack Bousum
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Army
|
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DL
|
CJ Doggette Jr.
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Florida Atlantic
|
|
DL
|
Pooda Walker
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Memphis
|
|
DL
|
Tony Anyanwu
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Rice
|
|
DL
|
Josh Celiscar
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South Florida
|
|
LB
|
Dameon Wilson
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East Carolina
|
|
LB
|
Leon Hart Jr.
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Florida Atlantic
|
|
LB
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MarcAnthony Parker
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Navy
|
|
LB
|
Trey Fields
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North Texas
|
|
LB
|
Andrew Awe
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Rice
|
|
LB
|
Harvey Dyson
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Tulane
|
|
CB
|
Ben Osueke
|
Temple
|
|
CB
|
Javion White
|
Tulane
|
|
S
|
Will Jones
|
North Texas
|
|
S
|
Jimmy Wyrick
|
UTSA
|
|
K
|
Gianni Spetic
|
Memphis
|
|
P
|
Alex Bacchetta
|
Rice
|
|
RS
|
Solomon Beebe
|
UAB
|
|
RS
|
TJ Smith
|
Tulane
|
|
DS
|
Jason Arrendondo
|
Tulane
|
|
Honorable Mention
|
|
RB
|
Nykahi Davenport
|
South Florida
|
|
LB
|
Ty Morris
|
Rice
|
|
LB
|
Curly Ordonez
|
Temple
|
|
CB
|
Jahiem Johnson
|
Tulane
|
|
S
|
Casey Larkin
|
Army
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