DALLAS – A trio of standouts headline the list of 2023 preseason Conference USA Football award winners, as chosen by the league’s nine head coaches. WKU redshirt senior QB Austin Reed was selected as the league’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, WKU junior LB JaQues Evans was tabbed as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, while Louisiana Tech redshirt senior KR/PR Smoke Harris earned Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year honors.
Reed is coming off a 2022 season in which he was the leading passer in all of college football with 4,746 yards. The Florida native also tossed 40 touchdowns, while rushing for an additional eight. Reed’s biggest performance of the season came in WKU’s win over South Alabama in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl when he threw for 497 yards and four touchdowns, which led to him being named the bowl game’s MVP. Reed was also named Conference USA’s Newcomer of the Year at the end of the season.
Evans was WKU’s leading tackler in 2022 with 106 total stops, including 14.0 tackles for loss and nine sacks. The Dublin, Georgia, native also broke up four passes, hurried the quarterback eight times and recovered two fumbles. In WKU’s bowl-clinching victory against Rice, Evans returned a fumble for a touchdown, one of the WKU defense’s six touchdowns on the season, which led all of college football. Evans and the Hilltopper defense also forced 32 turnovers on the season, which was the best mark in the country. He hit double-digit tackles on three occasions throughout the year, his season-high being 15 against North Texas. Evans was named to CUSA’s First Team at season’s end for his big year.Harris enters the 2023 season with one of the most accomplished careers among all FBS players. The senior is one of two returning FBS players with 500+ kickoff return yards and 200+ punt return yards in 2022. Harris enters the 2023 season among NCAA Active career leaders in punt return average (3rd, 11.2), punt return yards (4th, 605). Harris ranked sixth last season in punt return average (12.4 yards per return) and seventh in kick return average (27.2 yards per return). Additionally, Harris, the leading receiver for the Bulldogs is also among the NCAA active career leaders in receptions (3rd, 224), receptions per game (6th, 4.57) and receiving touchdowns (6th, 19).
2023 C-USA FOOTBALL COACHES PRESEASON AWARDS
Offensive Player of the YearAustin Reed, RS Sr., QB, WKU
Defensive Player of the Year
JaQues Evans, Jr., LB, WKU
Special Teams Player of the YearSmoke Harris, RS Sr., KR/PR, Louisiana Tech
-ConferenceUSA.com-
