NEW ORLEANS - The Sun Belt Conference announced Wednesday its Football All-Conference teams and individual awards, chosen by the 11 head coaches and select media representatives.
Highlighting the list is Arkansas State junior defensive lineman Ja'Von Rolland-Jones who was named the league's Player of the Year.
Appalachian State sophomore running back Jalin Moore was tabbed as the Offensive Player of the Year, while Troy senior defensive lineman Rashad Dillard was chosen as the league's Defensive Player of the Year.
App State defensive back Clifton Duck was selected as the Freshman of the Year and Aikeem Coleman, a junior defensive lineman from Idaho, was tabbed as the league's Newcomer of the Year.
Idaho's Paul Petrino was chosen as the Coach of the Year.
Rolland-Jones tied for second in sacks in the Sun Belt with 11.5 and tied for first in tackles for loss with 18.5. During league play Rolland-Jones was credited with 9.5 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss as he helped guide the Red Wolves squad to a 7-1 record in league play and a share of the Sun Belt championship.
Earlier this season he became the Sun Belt's all-time leader in career sacks with 28.5 and will have a chance to add to that total in A-State's bowl game later this month.
Moore led the Sun Belt with 1,367 yards rushing on 221 attempts for a league-leading 6.2 average. His 113.9 yards per game on the ground is also tops in the league. He racked up 974 of his 1,367 yards in league play where he scored eight of his 10 touchdowns. Moore's per game average increased to 120.2 in those eight contests that saw the Mountaineers go 7-1 to claim a share of the Sun Belt title with A-State.
His 10 rushing touchdowns are second in the Sun Belt and all came in the final nine games and finished tied for third in the Sun Belt among non-kickers with 60 points. He totaled 100 or more yards on 17 or fewer carries in six games this season as the Mountaineer rushing attack led the league with 262.5 yards per game.
Dillard finished the regular season with 36 tackles, 13.5 of them for a loss and 7.5 sacks. His sack total was good for fifth overall in the league. The unquestioned leader on a Troy defense that ranked first in the Sun Belt in rushing defense and first in turnovers forced, added eight quarterback hurries this season and added a fumble recovery and an interception.
App State's Duck was tied for second in the league and first among freshman with five interceptions in 2016. He returned one of those back for a touchdown against eight-win Idaho and leads the league in passes defensed with 13. Duck started every game at corner as a true freshman on the Sun Belt's top defense and finished fourth on the team with 54 tackles, 41 of them solo.
Idaho's Coleman was named the league's Newcomer of the Year in 2016. Coleman came to the Vandals from East Mississippi Junior College and has made an immediate impact for the Idaho program. He led the Vandals with 11 tackles for loss and eight sacks on the season. He also added seven quarterback hurries, two pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Coleman's head coach, Paul Petrino, earned his first Sun Belt Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Vandals to their first bowl appearance since 2009. Petrino's Vandals went 8-4 (6-2 in league play), this season, doubling the amount of wins they had last season. The Vandals closed out the regular season on a four-game winning streak and have lost just one of their final seven contests. Idaho takes on Colorado State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Dec. 22.
App State (9-3, 7-1 Sun Belt) placed a conference high of 12 student-athletes on the first-team and second-team combined. The Mountaineers will face Toledo on Saturday, Dec. 17 in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. Kickoff is slated for 4:30 p.m. (CT) from the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. and the game will air on ESPN.
The Red Wolves (7-5, 7-1 Sun Belt) placed 11 student-athletes on the first-team and second-team combined while Troy placed 10 combined on both teams. A-State faces UCF on Saturday, Dec. 17 in the AutoNation Cure Bowl scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (CT) from Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
Troy (9-3, 6-2 Sun Belt) will head to Mobile, Alabama for the Dollar General Bowl on Friday, Dec. 23 at 7:00 p.m. (CT).
Louisiana (6-6, 5-3 Sun Belt) and South Alabama (6-6, 2-6 Sun Belt) are the two other bowl participants in 2016 as the Ragin' Cajuns will make the trip down I-10 to the R L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 8:00 p.m. (CT). USA will head west to Arizona to take on Air Force in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl on Friday, Dec. 30 at 4:30 p.m. (CT).
Six Sun Belt Conference football programs accepted bowl invitations on Sunday - a new record number for the conference.
Football All-Conference Teams and Individual Awards
Player of the Year: Ja'Von Rolland-Jones (Arkansas State, Jr., DL, Sport Management)
Offensive Player of the Year: Jalin Moore (Appalachian State, So., RB, Undecided)
Defensive Player of the Year: Rashad Dillard (Troy, Sr., DL, Psychology)
Freshman of the Year: Clifton Duck (Appalachian State, Fr., DB, Undecided)
Newcomer of the Year: Aikeem Coleman (Idaho, Jr., DL, General Studies)
Coach of the Year: Paul Petrino, Idaho
* - named to 2016 Preseason Teams
^ - named to 2015 All-Sun Belt First Team
# - named to 2015 All-Sun Belt Second Team
! - named to 2015 All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention Team
| First Team Offense |
| Name |
School |
Year |
Pos |
Major |
| Brandon Silvers ! |
Troy |
Jr. |
QB |
Sport & Fitness Management |
| Jalin Moore |
Appalachian State |
So. |
RB |
Undecided |
| Jordan Chunn |
Troy |
Jr. |
RB |
Criminal Justice |
| Robert Davis *^ |
Georgia State |
Sr. |
WR |
Kinesiology |
| Al Riles |
Louisiana |
Sr. |
WR |
Sociology |
| Emanuel Thompson |
Troy |
Jr. |
WR |
Risk Management Insurance |
| Gerald Everett *^ |
South Alabama |
Sr. |
TE |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Parker Collins *# |
Appalachian State |
Sr. |
OL |
Physical Education |
| Colby Gossett * |
Appalachian State |
Jr. |
OL |
Management |
| Jemar Clark *^ |
Arkansas State |
Sr. |
OL |
General Studies |
| Andy Kwon *# |
Georgia Southern |
Sr. |
OL |
Sport Management |
| Antonio Garcia *! |
Troy |
Sr. |
OL |
Graduate Studies |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| First Team Defense |
| Chris Odom |
Arkansas State |
Sr. |
DL |
Sport Management |
| Ja'Von Rolland-Jones *^ |
Arkansas State |
Jr. |
DL |
Sport Management |
| Randy Allen |
South Alabama |
Sr. |
DL |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Rashad Dillard *! |
Troy |
Sr. |
DL |
Psychology |
| Ironhead Gallon ! |
Georgia Southern |
Sr. |
LB |
General Studies |
| Otha Peters *! |
Louisiana |
Sr. |
LB |
General Studies |
| Rodney Butler |
New Mexico State |
Sr. |
LB |
Business |
| Clifton Duck |
Appalachian State |
Fr. |
DB |
Undecided |
| Mondo Williams |
Appalachian State |
Sr. |
DB |
Communications |
| Money Hunter |
Arkansas State |
Sr. |
DB |
Communication Studies |
| Bobby Baker * |
Georgia State |
Sr. |
DB |
Speech |
| Jeremy Reaves *# |
South Alabama |
Jr. |
DB |
Sports and Recreation Management |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| First Team Special Teams |
| Younghoe Koo |
Georgia Southern |
Sr. |
PK |
Logistics |
| Austin Rehkow *^ |
Idaho |
Sr. |
P |
Exercise Science and Health |
| Jabir Frye |
Troy |
Fr. |
RS |
Undecided |
| Jordan Chunn |
Troy |
Jr. |
AP |
Criminal Justice |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Team Offense |
| Matt Linehan *! |
Idaho |
Jr. |
QB |
Broadcast and Digital Media |
| Marcus Cox *# |
Appalachian State |
Sr. |
RB |
Management |
| Elijah McGuire *! |
Louisiana |
Sr. |
RB |
General Studies |
| Shaedon Meadors |
Appalachian State |
Jr. |
WR |
Criminal Justice |
| Josh Magee * |
South Alabama |
Sr. |
WR |
Communication |
| Deondre Douglas |
Troy |
So. |
WR |
Business Management |
| Blake Mack |
Arkansas State |
Jr. |
TE |
Health Promotions |
| Beau Nunn |
Appalachian State |
Sr. |
OL |
History Ed. |
| Colton Jackson *^ |
Arkansas State |
Sr. |
OL |
General Studies |
| Steve Matlock |
Idaho |
Sr. |
OL |
Sociology/Criminology |
| Jeff Savage |
ULM |
Sr. |
OL |
General Studies |
| Tyler Lassiter |
Troy |
Sr. |
OL |
Sport & Fitness Management |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Team Defense |
| Dezmin Reed |
Appalachian State |
Sr. |
DL |
Communications |
| Tee Sims |
Appalachian State |
Jr. |
DL |
Criminal Justice |
| Aikeem Coleman |
Idaho |
Jr. |
DL |
General Studies |
| Tueni Lupeamanu |
Idaho |
Sr. |
DL |
Organizational Sciences |
| Joe Dillon |
Louisiana |
Fr. |
DL |
General Studies |
| Eric Boggs *# |
Appalachian State |
Jr. |
LB |
Physical Education |
| Kennan Gilchrist |
Appalachian State |
Sr. |
LB |
Criminal Justice |
| Xavier Woodson-Luster *# |
Arkansas State |
Sr. |
LB |
Sport Management |
| Cody Brown *# |
Arkansas State |
Sr. |
DB |
Communication Studies |
| Justin Clifton |
Arkansas State |
So. |
DB |
Undeclared |
| Jaden Wright |
New Mexico State |
Jr. |
DB |
Individualized Studies |
| Jalen Rountree |
Troy |
Sr. |
DB |
Social Science |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Team Special Teams |
| Austin Rehkow *# |
Idaho |
Sr. |
PK |
Exercise Science and Health |
| Brandon McKee |
South Alabama |
Sr. |
P |
Sports and Recreation Management |
| Blaise Taylor |
Arkansas State |
Jr. |
RS |
Business Administration |
| Warren Wand |
Arkansas State |
So. |
AP |
Undeclared |
All-Sun Belt Conference Honorable Mention
Barrett Burns (Appalachian State, Sr., TE)
A.J. Howard (Appalachian State, So. DB)
Taylor Lamb (Appalachian State, Jr., QB)
Myquon Stout (Appalachian State, So,. DL)
Justice Hansen (Arkansas State, So., QB)
Chris Humes (Arkansas State, Sr., DB)
Waylon Roberson (Arkansas State, Sr., DL)
Kendall Sanders (Arkansas State, Sr. WR)
Kevin Ellison (Georgia Southern, DB, Sr., QB)
Darius Jones, Jr. (Georgia Southern, Sr., CB)
Ukeme Eligwe (Georgia Southern, Jr., LB)
BJ Johnson III (Georgia Southern, Sr., WR)
Shawanye Lawrence (Georgia State, Sr., DL)
Alonzo McGee (Georgia State, Sr., LB)
Keith Rucker (Georgia State, Sr., TE)
Chandon Sullivan (Georgia State, Jr., DB)
Trent Cowan (Idaho, Sr., TE)
Kaden Elliss (Idaho, So., LB)
Tony Lashley (Idaho, So., LB)
Jordan Rose (Idaho, Jr., OL)
Keenan Barnes (Louisiana, So., WR)
Karmichael Dunbar (Louisiana, Sr., DL)
Eddie Gordon (Louisiana, Sr., OL)
Tre'maine Lightfoot (Louisiana, Sr., LB)
Justin Backus (ULM, Sr., DB)
David Griffith (ULM, So., LB)
Ajalen Holley (ULM, Sr., WR)
Frank Sutton, Jr. (ULM, Jr., OL)
Kourtland Busby (New Mexico State, Jr., DL)
Greg Hogan (New Mexico State, RJr., WR)
Anthony McMeans (New Mexico State, Sr., OL)
Tyler Rogers (New Mexico State, Sr., QB)
Roman Buchanan (South Alabama, Sr., LB)
Kalen Jackson (South Alabama, Sr., DB)
Xavier Johnson (South Alabama, Jr., RB/RS)
Kevin Kutchera (South Alabama, Sr., WR)
Ryan Kay (Troy, Sr., PK)
William Lloyd (Troy, Sr., LB)
Kamryn Melton (Troy, Jr., DB)
Baron Poole (Troy, Jr., DL)
Aaron Brewer (Texas State, Fr., OL)
Bryan London (Texas State, RS Fr., LB)
Gabe Loyd (Texas State, Jr., LB)
Jordan Mittie (Texas State, RS Fr., DE)
Sun Belt Conference Newcomer Team
Vic Johnson (Appalachian State, Fr., OL)
Kyle Wilson (Arkansas State, Jr., LB)
Ukeme Eligwe (Georgia Southern, Jr., LB)
Conner Manning (Georgia State, Jr., QB)
Noah Johnson (Idaho, Fr., OL)
Kevin Dotson (Louisiana, Fr., OL)
Dayton Balvantz (ULM, Sr., P)
Sage Doxtater (New Mexico State, Fr., OL)
Kris Weatherspoon (Troy, Jr., DB)
Darrell Songy (South Alabama, Jr., LB)
Bryan London (Texas State, RS Fr., LB)