2020 C-USA Football All-Academic Team

DALLAS – Eleven Conference USA football student-athletes were named to the 2020 C-USA Football All-Academic Team for excelling both on and off the field this season. Ten schools are represented on this year’s team, led by Louisiana Tech with two nominees. Two student-athletes are previous honorees.

Charlotte redshirt junior Tyriq Harris is a 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy Finalist that holds a 3.864 GPA in Pre-Business Administration. He is a five-time Conference USA Honor Roll member, a two-time Perfect Niner (4.0 GPA), four-time Chancellor’s List (3.8-4.0 GPA) and three-Time Dean’s List (3.4-3.79 GPA) member. A member of the Conference USA All-Academic Team in 2017 and 2018, Harris was named the 2018-2019 Conference USA Scholar Athlete of the Year. The three-time captain started 38 of the final 41 games of his 49ers career, finishing seventh in career tackles (168) and fourth in career sacks (7.0).

Florida Atlantic sophomore P Matt Hayball, a C-USA Commissioners Honor Roll selection and C-USA Academic Medal winner, makes his debut on the team. A Business Finance major with a 3.940 GPA, he made the Fall 2019 & Spring 2020 Dean’s List (top 10% in college) and was on the Fall 2019 & Spring 2020 FAU All-Academic Team. Hayball ranks third in C-USA with a 44.5 yard punting average, has 16 kicks inside the 20 and 11 punts of 50 yards or longer. He was named as part of the Ray Guy Award “Ray’s 4” for top punting performances of the week following the WKU game where had a season-long 70-yard punt.

Redshirt junior Abraham Delfin, who boasts a 3.915 GPA in Construction Engineering Technology, is the first of two Louisiana Tech offensive linemen on the team. The starting guard was a Conference USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal and Commissioner’s Honor roll selection in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and has been named to the Louisiana Tech dean’s list nine times and the president’s list five times. Delfin has helped the offense score on 88.9 percent of its red zone attempts (32-of-36) this season to tie for third in C-USA and rank 32nd nationally… Has also recorded two tackles during the season.

Center Kody Russey graduated from Louisiana Tech with a bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Supply Chain Management with a 3.695 overall GPA in March, 2020. He is currently pursuing a master’s in Business Administration with a 4.0 GPA. Russey has been named to the President’s list five times and the Dean’s list four times, while being named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. He is a two-time captain, as voted on by his teammates, and was named to both the Outland Trophy and Rimington Trophy Watch Lists as a senior. Russey is part of an offensive front that ranks first in C-USA and second in the nation in fourth down conversions at 88.9 percent (16-of-18).

Middle Tennessee senior K Crews Holt is a three-time member of the C-USA Honor Roll and was a nominee for the 2019 and 2020 Allstate AFCA Good Works Teams. He began the season with a degree in hand and is currently working toward his MBA. Holt hit the game-deciding field goal from 49 yards out (career long) in the win over Troy and connected on a 48-yard field goal as time expired at Rice to send game into overtime. He currently ranks fifth all-time at Middle Tennessee with 37 made field goals made and is seventh in points scored by a kicker with 209.

North Texas senior DT Dion Novil has a 3.514 GPA in Integrative Studies. A member of the team’s leadership council, He was named Pro Football Focus National Defensive Player of the Week and Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week following his performance against Rice (8 tackles, 5.0 TFL’s, one sack and two forced fumbles). Novil has started all nine games for the Mean Green in 2020, recording 37 total tackles (22 solo) with a team-high 8.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a quarterback hurry.

Senior LB Blaze Alldredge was the 2020 Rice Football Scholar Athlete of the Year who carries a 3.396 GPA in Political Science. A member of last year’s All-Academic team, he has been named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll twice. A consensus preseason All C-USA pick, Alldredge is third in the conference with 9.4 tackles per game and has reached double digits in tackles in three of five games. He has at least shared a tackle for loss in each game and has 25 in his last 17 games.

Southern Miss senior LB Swayze Bozeman dons a 4.00 GPA while earning his degree in Kinesiology. He has made the President’s List each semester that he has been at Southern Miss, earned a C-USA Academic Medal and has been a member of the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Despite missing four games with an injury this season, he collected 42 tackles this season (13 solo) with a half tackle for loss and one pass breakup.

After earning an undergraduate degree in History, UAB senior LS Jacob Fuqua has a 4.00 GPS while working towards a masters degree in Education. A semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, given to the nation’s top scholar athlete, he is a four time recipient of the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and two-time recipient of the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal. Fuqua is a four year starter and handles both long and short snaps. He also has two tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery this year.

UTSA senior K Hunter Duplessis carries a 3.77 GPA in Information Systems/Cyber Security. A four-time C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll member, he was a 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalist. Duplessis is a two-time UTSA President’s List (4.0 semester GPA) member, a two-time Dean’s List (3.75) recipient and a two-time Honor Roll (3.5) selection. He graduated in August, 2020 with a 3.77 GPA as a double major and is a member of the Society for Collegiate Leadership & Achievement. Duplessis has developed into one of the top place-kickers in the country, having made 16-of-18 field goals (88.9%) and 37-of-38 extra points this season. He made his final nine field goals in 2019 and his first 14 in 2020 to extend his FBS-best streak of consecutive makes to 23.

Rounding out the team is WKU redshirt junior DE Juwuan Jones. He graduated early (three years) in May of 2020 with a degree in Sport Management (3.75 GPA) and is now pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching (Special Education). In 2019, Jones became the first Hilltopper since 2011 to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-District II member. He has started all 11 games for WKU this season, accumulating 33 total tackles (12 solo, 21 assisted), 5.0 tackles for loss, 5 quarterback hurries, 2.0 sacks and 3 pass breakups.

2020 C-USA Football All-Academic Team
*Tyriq Harris, Charlotte, R-Sr., DE, 3.87, Pre-Business Administration
Matt Hayball, Florida Atlantic, R-So., P, 3.940 GPA, Business Finance
Abraham Delfin, Louisiana Tech, R-Jr., OL, 3.915 GPA, Construction Engineering Technology
Kody Russey, Louisiana Tech, R-Sr., OL, 4.000 GPA, Master’s in Business Administration
Crews Holt, Middle Tennessee, R-Sr., K, 4.00 GPA, Marketing
Dion Novil, North Texas, Sr., DT, 3.514 GPA, Integrative Studies
*Blaze Alldredge, Rice, Sr., LB, 3.396, Political Science
Swayze Bozeman, Southern Miss, Sr., LB, 4.00 GPA Kinesiology
Jacob Fuqua, UAB, R-Sr., LS, 4.00 GPA in Masters of Education
Hunter Duplessis, UTSA, R-Sr., K, 3.77, Information Systems/Cyber Security
Juwuan Jones, WKU, R-Jr., DE, 3.75 GPA, Sport Management

*repeat selection