• Complete 2017 HERO Sports FCS All-American Team
Eleven Ohio Valley Conference football players have been named to the 2017 HERO Sports FCS All-American Team.
The selections included three first-team picks, four second-team selections and four third-team picks. The first-team included Jacksonville State senior offensive lineman
Justin Lea and senior defensive end
Darius Jackson and Austin Peay senior return specialist
Kyran Moore. The second-team picks were Jacksonville State senior running back
Roc Thomas and sophomore defensive back
Marlon Bridges, Murray State senior defensive back
D'Montre Wade and Eastern Kentucky senior punter
Keith Wrzuszczak. The third-team selections included Jacksonville State senior offensive lineman
Dylan Cline, Tennessee Tech senior wide receiver
Dontez Byrd, Austin Peay sophomore defensive lineman
Jaison Williams and Tennessee State senior kicker
Lane Clark.
Lea earned his fifth All-American honor of the year (AP, Phil Steele, STATS, AFCA) after helping Jacksonville State to its fourth-straight OVC Championship. The senior was named a first-team All-OVC selection for the third-straight season and started all 51 games of his career, establishing a new OVC career record for consecutive starts. He blocked for an offense that ranked 14th nationally in rushing offense (228.0 yards/game) and included OVC Offensive Player of the Year Roc Thomas (1,065 rushing yards) and quarterback Bryant Horn (734 rushing yards). During the regular season JSU ranked 12th nationally in third down conversion percentage (45.4%).
Jackson, one of three finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award, earned his fifth first-team All-American honor of the 2017 campaign (Associated Press, Phil Steele, STATS, AFCA) and was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season. During the regular season, he ranked fourth nationally in tackles-for-loss (1.7/game), 19th in forced fumbles/game (0.27) and 47th in sacks (0.64). Overall the senior tallied 51 tackles, 19.0 tackles-for-loss, 7.0 sacks, 19 quarterback hurries, 3 forced fumbles and 2 fumbles recoveries in 11 regular season games (he added four tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss during JSU's playoff game). When including his playoff numbers, his 20.5 TFL set a new JSU single-season record and pushed his school career record to 60.5. He had at least one TFL in 11 of 12 games and a sack in six different contests. He was the leader for the OVC champion Gamecocks team that ranked second nationally in total defense (230.5 yards/game) during the regular season.
Moore earned his first All-American honors after he finished the season averaging 23.0 yards on 21 kick returns and 10.8 yards on nine punt returns. He returned a 91-yard return for a touchdown against nationally-ranked FBS foe Central Arkansas, a game he finished with 363 all-purpose yards to in being named National Special Teams Player of the Week.
Thomas, the OVC Offensive Player of the Year, earned his fifth All-American honors of the year (Phil Steele, AP, STATS, AFCA) and he rushed for 991 yards and 12 touchdowns during the regular season while also catching 16 passes for 23 yards to account for 1,226 all-purpose yards. He added 74 rushing yards and a touchdown during the playoffs to push his season rushing total to 1,065 yards. He put up those numbers despite accounting for only 33.9 percent of his team’s rushing attempts. During the regular season he ranked ninth nationally in rushing yards/carry (6.2), 11th in rushing touchdowns (12) and 21st in rushing yards/game (90.1). He helped his team win its fourth-straight OVC Championship in 2017.
Bridges, who earned his fourth All-American honor of the year (Phil Steele, AP, STATS), was the top defensive back on OVC champion Jacksonville State. He was part of a unit that ranked second nationally in total defense (230.5 yards/game), second in rushing defense (63.1 yards/game), fifth in pass efficiency defense (100.94), sixth in third down conversion defense (28.9%), seventh in scoring defense (14.8 points/game) and 14th in pass defense (167.5 yards/game) duirng the regular season. He was second on the JSU team with 79 tackles and added 6.0 tackles-for-loss, three interception, five pass breakups, one quarterback hurry and blocked a kick. Bridges had a season-high nine tackles in three-straight games in October.
Wade, who earned his third All-American honor of the year (Phil Steele, STATS), tied for second nationally with six interceptions (0.6/game) during the regular season while also ranking 16th nationally in passes defended/game (1.3). He had 107 total return yards on his six interceptions. On the season had 33 total tackles (17 solo), 2.0 tackles-for-loss and seven pass breakups. Wade had two interceptions and a season-high six tackles against Missouri State.
Wrzuszczak, who earned his fourth All-American of the year (Phil Steele, STATS, AFCA), finished the regular season ranked sixth nationally in punting average (44.1 yards/punt) and helped the EKU team rank second in the FCS in net punting (41.4 yards/punt). That punting average established a new EKU single-season record. The senior had a school record punt of 84 yards against UT Martin, breaking a 51-year old record; it was the second-longest punt in the FCS this season. Overall Wrzuszczak punted 58 times, only five of which went for touchbacks, while also placing 19 punts inside the 20-yard line, and having 11 punts of his punts go for 50 or more yards.
Cline was a mainstay on the offensive line for four-time defending OVC Champion Jacksonville State and earned first-team All-OVC honors this year after being a second-team pick a year ago. He blocked for an offense that ranked 14th nationally in rushing offense (228.0 yards/game) and included OVC Offensive Player of the Year Roc Thomas (991 yards) and quarterback Bryant Horn (709 rushing yards). His team ranked 12th nationally in third down conversion percentage (45.4%), while he graded at 90 percent on the year with 56 knockdowns.
Despite playing on a team that used four different quarterbacks during the season and also ranked 104th nationally in rushing offense, Byrd ranked 10th nationally in receptions/game (7.1), 15th in total receiving yards (1,003) and 18th in receiving yards/game (91.2) despite being focal point of opponent’s defense. For the second-straight season he established school records for receptions (78) and receiving yards (1,003) in a season. Byrd caught a season-high 12 passes against Murray State and added 10 receptions on two other occasions; he also had nine catches for a season-best 169 receiving yards at Eastern Kentucky. This marks the first All-American honors of his career.
During the regular season Williams, who earned his fourth All-American honor of the year (Phil Steele, AP, STATS), ranked 13th nationally in forced fumbles/game (0.33) and 28th in sacks (0.79/game) despite not being a typical defensive end size (6’1, 225 pounds). He anchored a defense that went from 120th nationally in total defense in 2016 (506.6 yards/game allowed) to 16th nationally in 2017 (310.1 yards/game allowed). The sophomore added 44 tackles (19 solo), 11.5 TFL, 9.5 sacks, 1 PBU, 12 quarterback hurries, forced four fumbles and recovered one. He had a season-high 10 tackles and forced two fumbles against nationally-ranked and eventual OVC champion Jacksonville State and added a season-best 2.5 sacks in win over nationally-ranked UT Martin.
Despite battling injuries, Clark ranked 10th nationally in field goals/game (1.30) while he connected on 13-of-18 attempts (72.2%) and was perfect on PAT attempts (25-of-25). He missed just two field goals after the first game of the season (where he was hurt but still kicked), going 12-of-14 over the final nine games of 2017. Clark, who was an All-American a season ago, was 6-of-9 on field goal attempts from 40 yards or longer, including a season-best 51-yarder late in the fourth quarter to send a game against Eastern Illinois into overtime. He finished his career with eight of the 11 longest made field goals in TSU history. It marked his second All-American honor of the season (he also earned honors from Phil Steele).
OVC Players on 2017 HERO Sports FCS All-American Team
OL - Justin Lea, Jacksonville State (1st)
DL - Darius Jackson, Jacksonville State (1st)
RS - Kyran Moore, Austin Peay (1st)
RB - Roc Thomas, Jacksonville State (2nd)
DB - Marlon Bridges, Jacksonville State (2nd)
DB - D'Montre Wade, Murray State (2nd)
P - Keith Wrzuszczak, Eastern Kentucky (2nd)
OL - Dylan Cline, Jacksonville State (3rd)
WR - Dontez Byrd, Tennessee Tech (3rd)
DL - Jaison Williams, Austin Peay (3rd)
K - Lane Clark, Tennessee State (3rd)