DALLAS – Conference USA announced its 2020 Players of the Year today, as selected by the league’s head football coaches. C-USA is completing its 25th football campaign by sending seven teams to bowl games.
North Texas senior WR Jaelon Darden is the recipient of the C-USA Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the second receiver to be named C-USA MVP since the award was instituted in 2008. He continues to lead the FBS in receiving touchdowns with 19 in just nine games and caught at least one touchdown in 10 consecutive games dating back to the 2019 season finale. Darden posted four games with three or more touchdowns game on the season and his 19 TD catches set a new single-season program record and was two shy of the C-USA single-season record. A semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, he also set a new UNT records for career receptions with 230 and receiving yards with 2,782 and is the program’s new career touchdown leader with 38. Darden had five games this season with 100-plus yards receiving.
UTSA sophomore RB Sincere McCormick becomes the first Roadrunner to be named C-USA Offensive Player of the Year. The Doak Walker Award semifinalist is second in the FBS with a school-record 1,345 rushing yards on 226 attempts (6.0 avg) this season and has a league-high 11 rushing touchdowns. In the 49-17 victory over North Texas on Nov. 28, he broke his own school record for rushing yards in a game with 251 and two touchdowns on 23 attempts. It marked the sixth 100-yard game of the season for McCormick and the ninth of his career, also program records. McCormick’s 251-yard showing is the best by any C-USA player this season and he owns five of the league’s top nine rushing performances in 2020.
Defensive recognition went to Marshall senior LB Tavante Beckett, who averages 9.6 tackles per game, has 7.5 TFL’s, one forced fumble, a nation-leading four fumble recoveries and one touchdown. Beckett is a two-time C-USA Defensive Player of the Week and was named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Thundering Herd’s win over then-No. 23 Appalachian State.
The Special Teams Player of the Year award was given to UTSA sophomore P Lucas Dean, the second time a punter has won the award in league history. Dean leads C-USA and ranks fourth nationally in punting with a program-record 46.3-yard average. The Australian is a four-time Ray Guy Award Ray’s 4 honoree and he was named Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week after averaging 45.0 yards on six punts with five inside the 20 and three of 50-plus yards at UAB. He has logged 27 punts inside the 20-yard line, including 15 inside the 10 and seven inside the 5, and he owns 21 punts of 50-plus yards, including a career-best 67-yarder at FAU.
Marshall QB Grant Wells earned the league’s Freshman of the Year award, the fourth time in nine years that a Thundering Herd player took home the top rookie award. The first team All-Conference signal-caller was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week three times this season and was the Manning Award National QB of the week following his 363-yard, 5 TD performance vs. Middle Tennessee. Wells completed 61% of his passes for league-bests of 1,877 passing yards and 18 passing touchdowns. His 18 TD passes rank third among the FBS freshmen and he places second in the conference in total offense at 239.1 yards per game.
The league’s Newcomer of the Year went to Louisiana Tech QB Luke Anthony, a graduate transfer from Abilene Christian that became the seventh passer to win the award in the last eight seasons. He completed 64.2 % of his passes for 1,318 yards and 15 touchdowns in nine games. Anthony ranks fourth in C-USA in passing efficiency (138.0), sixth in passing average per game (164.3) and ninth in total offense (157.9). He was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week after passing for a season-high 314 yards and five touchdowns, while adding a rushing TD in a win over Houston Baptist (Oct. 2).
https://conferenceusa.com/news/2020/12/22/conference-usa-announces-football-players-of-the-year.aspx
