2015 C-USA FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK EAST : Charlotte • FIU • Florida Atlantic • Marshall • Middle Tennessee • Old Dominion • WKU #BETHENEXT WEST: Louisiana Tech • North Texas • Rice • Southern Miss • UTEP • UTSA CONTACT: Russell Anderson ([email protected]) | Tim McNamara ([email protected]) ConferenceUSA FOOTBALL STANDINGS/SCHEDULE | 2015 BOWL EDITION @CUSAFB, @Conference_USA 5201 N. O’Connor Blvd., Suite 300 • Irving, TX 75039 • P: (214) 774-1300 • www.ConferenceUSA.com E AST DIVISION S EASON STANDINGS W-L Pct. H A Div. Pts Opp W-L Pct. H A Pts Opp *WKU 8-0 1.000 4-0 4-0 5-0 405 188 11-2 .846 6-0 5-2 575 328 MIDDLE TENNESSEE 6-2 .750 4-0 2-2 4-1 293 206 7-5 .583 5-1 2-4 411 301 MARSHALL 6-2 .750 4-0 2-2 4-2 259 133 9-3 .750 6-0 3-3 391 221 FIU 3-5 .375 3-1 0-4 2-4 216 270 5-7 .417 4-1 1-6 306 358 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 3-5 .375 1-3 2-2 3-3 177 201 3-9 .250 1-5 2-4 270 345 OLD DOMINION 3-5 .375 2-2 1-3 1-4 215 298 5-7 .417 3-4 2-3 291 429 CHARLOTTE 0-8 .000 0-4 0-4 0-5 140 310 2-10 .167 1-5 1-5 210 435 WEST DIVISION W-L Pct. H A Div. Pts Opp W-L Pct. H A Pts Opp *SOUTHERN MISS 7-1 .875 4-0 3-1 5-0 348 143 9-4 .692 5-1 4-3 528 314 LOUISIANA TECH 6-2 .750 3-1 3-1 4-1 283 208 8-4 .667 5-1 3-3 441 321 UTSA 3-5 .375 1-3 2-2 2-3 191 231 3-9 .250 1-5 2-4 271 405 UTEP 3-5 .375 2-2 1-3 2-3 138 214 5-7 .417 3-2 2-5 248 395 RICE 3-5 .375 1-3 2-2 1-4 174 271 5-7 .417 3-3 2-4 313 430 NORTH TEXAS 1-7 .125 1-3 0-4 1-4 146 312 1-11 .083 1-4 0-7 182 495 C ONFERENCE STANDINGS *DIVISION CHAMPION C-USA BOWL GAMES C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP C-USA AWARDS R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL COACH OF THE YEAR (New Orleans, La.) SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5 Todd Monken - Southern Miss Saturday, December 19 C-USA Championship Game (ESPN2) Louisiana Tech vs. Arkansas St. (ESPN) 8 p.m. WKU 45, Southern Miss 28 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER MIAMI BEACH BOWL (Miami, Fla.) Brandon Doughty - QB - WKU Monday, December 21 MVP: Brandon Doughty, QB, WKU WKU vs. South Florida (ESPN) 1:30 p.m. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Nick Mullens - QB - Southern Miss POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL (Nassau, Bahamas) Thursday, December 24 Middle Tenn. vs. Western Mich. (ESPN) 11 a.m. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Evan McKelvey - LB - Marshall ST. PETERSBURG BOWL (St. Petersburg, Fla.) Saturday, December 26 SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR Marshall vs. Connecticut (ESPN) 10 a.m. Deandre Reaves - KR/PR - Marshall ZAXBY’S HEART OF DALLAS BOWL (Dallas, TX) Saturday, December 26 NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR Southern Miss vs. Washington (ESPN) 1:20 p.m. Jeff Driskel - QB - Louisiana Tech All Times Central FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR Brent Stockstill - QB - Middle Tennessee 2015 C-USA FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK Page 2 2015 Bowl Edition CONFERENCE USA ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS COACH OF THE YEAR SPECIAL TEAMS ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM Todd Monken - Southern Miss K – Garrett Schwettman, WKU, Sr. OFFENSE P – Dalton Schomp, Florida Atlantic, Jr. QB – Brent Stockstill, Middle Tennessee MOST VALUABLE PLAYER KR – Deandre Reaves, Marshall, Sr. RB – Samuel Stewart, Rice Brandon Doughty - QB - WKU PR – Richard Leonard, FIU, Sr. RB – D’Andre Ferby, WKU LS – Lance Schuff ert, Southern Miss, Sr. OL – O’Shea Dugas, Louisiana Tech OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR OL – Chandler Brewer, Middle Tennessee Nick Mullens - QB - Southern Miss OL – Chris Miles, North Texas SECOND TEAM ALL-C-USA OL – Nick Clarke, Old Dominion DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR OFFENSE OL – Dennis Edwards, WKU Evan McKelvey - LB - Marshall QB – Nick Mullens, Southern Miss, Jr. TE – Cole Ford, UTEP RB – Kalif Phillips, Charlotte, Jr. WR – Richie James, Middle Tennessee SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR RB – Ray Lawry, Old Dominion, So. WR – Parker Smith, Rice Deandre Reaves - KR/PR - Marshall RB – Ito Smith, Southern Miss, So. RB – Anthony Wales, WKU, Jr. DEFENSE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR OL – Michael Montero, FIU, Jr. DL – Jaylon Ferguson, Louisiana Tech Jeff Driskel - QB - Louisiana Tech OL – Reggie Bain, Florida Atlantic, Sr. DL – Ryan Bee, Marshall OL – Darrell Brown, Louisiana Tech, Jr. DL – Oshane Ximines, Old Dominion FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR OL – Jens Danielsen, Louisiana Tech, Sr. DL – Darian Yancey, Southern Miss Brent Stockstill - QB - Middle Tennessee OL – Michael Selby, Marshall, Jr. LB – Ocie Rose, Florida Atlantic OL – Rashod Hill, Southern Miss, Sr. LB – Azeez Al-Shaair, Florida Atlantic TE – David Morgan II, UTSA, Sr. LB – Darius Harris, Middle Tennesse FIRST TEAM ALL-C-USA WR – Ed Batties, Middle Tennessee, Sr. DB – Jalen Young, Florida Atlantic OFFENSE WR – Zach Pascal, Old Dominion, Jr. DB – Michael Lewis, UTEP QB – Brandon Doughty, WKU, Sr. WR – Mike Thomas, Southern Miss, Sr. DB – Nate Brooks, North Texas RB – Kenneth Dixon, Louisiana Tech, Sr. DB – Justin Bickham, Rice RB – Jalen Richard, Southern Miss, Sr. DEFENSE OL – Sebastian Johansson, Marshall, Sr. DL – Larry Ogunjobi, Charlotte, Jr. SPECIAL TEAMS OL – Jaylen Hunter, Middle Tennessee, Sr. DL – Jarquez Samuel, Marshall, Sr. K – Chris Kirtley, Old Dominion OL – Andrew Reue, Rice, Sr. DL – Michael Smith, Southern Miss, Sr. P – Jake Collins, WKU OL – Cameron Tom, Southern Miss, Jr. DL – Jason Neill, UTSA, Sr. KR – Austin Walter, Rice OL – Forrest Lamp, WKU, Jr. LB – Anthony Wint, FIU, So. PR – Warren Redix, UTEP TE – Tyler Higbee, WKU, Sr. LB – Nick Thomason, Louisiana Tech, Sr. LS – Casey Winner, Florida Atlantic WR – Trent Taylor, Louisiana Tech, Jr. LB – T.J. Ricks, Old Dominion, Jr. WR – Richie James, Middle Tennessee, Fr. LB – Brian Anderson, Southern Miss, Sr. WR – Taywan Taylor, WKU, Jr. DB – Cre’von LeBlanc, Florida Atlantic, Sr. DB – Bryson Abraham, Louisiana Tech, Sr. DEFENSE DB – Jeremy Cutrer, Middle Tennessee, Jr. DL – Michael Wakefi eld, FIU, Sr. DB – Bennett Okotcha, UTSA, Sr. DL – Trevon Coley, Florida Atlantic, Sr. DL – Trey Hendrickson, Florida Atlantic, Jr. SPECIAL TEAMS DL – Vernon Butler, Louisiana Tech, Sr. K – Jonathan Barnes, Louisiana Tech, So. LB – Evan McKelvey, Marshall, Sr. P – Tyler Williams, Marshall, Sr. LB – T.T. Barber, Middle Tennessee, Sr. KR – Kylen Towner, WKU, So. LB – Nick Holt, WKU, Sr. PR – Deandre Reaves, Marshall, Sr. DB – Richard Leonard, FIU, Sr. LS – Matt Cincotta, Marshall, Sr. DB – Xavier Woods, Louisiana Tech, Jr. DB – Kevin Byard, Middle Tennessee, Sr. DB – Kalan Reed, Southern Miss, Sr. 2015 C-USA FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK Page 3 2015 Bowl Edition R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL MIAMI BEACH BOWL LOUISIANA TECH vs. ARKANSAS STATE WKU vs. SOUTH FLORIDA Saturday, Dec. 19 New Orleans, Louisiana Monday, Dec. 21 Miami, Florida 8 p.m. (CST) Mercedes-Benz Superdome (37,792) 2:30 p.m. (EST) Marlins Park (36,742) All-Time Series: Louisiana Tech leads 25-12 All-Time Series: South Florida leads 4-2 Last Meeting: Louisiana Tech 69, at Arkansas State 21 (Nov. 7, 1998) Last Meeting: at South Florida 24, WKU 12 (Sept. 25, 2010) Television: ESPN Television: ESPN Announcers: Adam Amin (PxP), Kelly Stouff er (AN), Announcers: Dave Lamont (PxP), Desmond Howard (AN), Dr. Jerry Punch (SL) Quint Kessenich (SL) Louisiana Tech (8-4, 6-2 in C-USA) WKU (11-2, 8-0 in C-USA) Website: www.latechsports.com Website: www.wkusports.com Head Coach: Skip Holtz (Notre Dame, ’89) Head Coach: Jeff Brohm (Louisville, ’94) Career Record: 109-88 (17th year) Career Record: 19-7 (2nd year) Record at LA Tech: 21-17 (3rd year) Record at WKU: 19-7 (2nd year) Off ense: Spread Off ense: Multiple Defense: Multiple Defense: 4-3 Leading Passer: Jeff Driskel (255-of-412, 3,575 yds., 24 TD) Leading Passer: B. Doughty (322-of-444, 4,184 yds., 40 TD) Leading Rusher: Kenneth Dixon (176 att., 968 yds., 17 TD) Leading Rusher: Anthony Wales (129 att., 933 yds., 7 TD) Leading Receiver: Trent Taylor (89 rec., 1,133 yds., 8 TD) Leading Receiver: Taywon Taylor (71 rec., 1,198 yds., 15 TD) Leading Tackler: Beau Fitte (97 tackles, 55 solo) Leading Tackler: T.J. McCollum (94 tackles, 60 solo) Last Game: Southern Miss 58, at LA Tech 24 (Nov. 28) Last Game: at WKU 45, Southern Miss 28 (Dec. 5) Last Bowl Appearance: 2014 Heart of Dallas (LA Tech 35, Illinois 18) Last Bowl Appearance: 2014 Bahamas (WKU 49, Central Mich. 48) All-Time Bowl Record: 3-3-1 All-Time Bowl Record: 1-1 NOTING THE BULLDOGS: LA Tech will be making back-to-back bowl NOTING THE HILLTOPPERS: C-USA Champion WKU will make back-to- appearances for just the second time in school history….The Bulldogs back bowl appearances for the fi rst time in school history…A victory will enter the game with a school record 10 outings with more than 400 total allow the Hilltoppers to tie the school record for victories in a season yards and this year’s squad ranks fourth in school history in total yards at 12…Senior QB Brandon Doughty, the back-to-back C-USA MVP, has (5,589) and points scored (441) and fi fth in rushing touchdowns (25)…. completed 71.8 percent of his passes (1st among FBS QBs) for 4,594 LA Tech has the top rushing defense in C-USA, allowing just 114.4 yards yards (2nd) and 45 touchdowns (1st)….Junior RB Anthony Wales aver- per game on the ground.