2011 CFN All-C-USA Team & Top 30 Players

2011 Conference USA Fearless Predictions, Game Stories, Game of the Week, Player of the Week, Roundup & Standings

2011 C-USA All-Conf. Team

& Top 30 Players

East   UAB | UCF | East Carolina | Marshall | Memphis | Southern Miss
West  Houston | Rice | SMU | Tulane | Tulsa | UTEP

Past CFN All-Conference USA Teams  2010 | 2009 | 2008 
- 2011 CFN Preview All-C-USA Team & Top 30 Players

SCROSS DOWN FOR THE TOP 30 PLAYERS

East
	Conf.		Overall
So Miss	6	2	11	2
Marshall	5	3	6	6
ECU	4	4	5	7
UAB	3	5	3	9
UCF	3	5	5	7
Memphis	1	7	2	10
West
	Conf.		Overall
Houston	8	0	12	1
Tulsa	7	1	8	4
SMU	5	3	7	5
Rice	3	5	4	8
UTEP	2	6	5	7
Tulane	1	7	2	11
Players of the Week 9/3 DE Cordarrow Law, USM 9/10 LB Justin Allen, Rice  9/17 QB Ryan Griffin, Tulane 9/24 QB Austin Davis, USM 10/1 QB Case Keenum, UH 10/8 QB Austin Davis, USM 10/15 QB J.J. McDermott, SMU 10/22 QB Case Keenum, UH & QB Dominique Davis, ECU 10/29 QB Case Keenum, UH & WR Patrick Edwards 11/5 QB Nick Fanuzzi, Rice 11/12 QB Jon Perry, UAB 11/19 QB Dom Davis, ECU 11/26 QB Case Keenum, UH Games of the Week 9/3 at Houston 38 … UCLA 34 9/10 at Rice 24 ... Purdue 22 9/17 Houston 35 ... at Louisiana Tech 34 9/24 Southern Miss 30 … at Virginia 24 10/1 SMU 40 … at TCU 33 OT 10/8 Syracuse 37 … at Tulane 34 10/15 at SMU 38 … UCF 17 10/22 at UAB 26 ... UCF 24 10/29 at Houston 73 ... Rice 14 11/5 at Rice 41 ... UTEP 37 11/12 at USM 30 ... UCF 29 11/19 at East Carolina 38 … UCF 31 11/26 at Marshall 34 ... ECU 27 OT

2011 CFN C-USA Offensive Player of the Year
QB Case Keenum, Sr. Houston
383-534, 5,099 yards, 45 TDs, 5 interceptions and three rushing touchdowns 

2011 CFN C-USA Defensive Player of the Year
LB Sammy Brown, Sr. Houston
99 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, one sack, 16 quarterback hurries

2011 CFN All-C-USA Offense
QB – Case Keenum, Sr. Houston
RB – Zach Line, Jr. SMU
RB – Charles Sims, Soph. Houston
WR – Patrick Edwards, Sr. Houston
WR – Darius Johnson, Jr. SMU
TE – Justin Johnson, Sr. Houston
OL – Clint Anderson, Sr., Tulsa
OL – Kelvin Beachum, Sr., SMU
OL – Lamar Holmes, Sr., Southern Miss
OL – Matt McCants, Sr., UAB
OL – Chris Thompson, Sr., Houston
PK – Kevin Fitzpatrick, Sr. Tulsa
KR – Vernon Frazier, Sr. UTEP

2011 CFN All-C-USA Defense
DL – Vinny Curry, Sr. Marshall
DL – Cordarro Law, Sr. Southern Miss
DL – Scott Solomon, Sr. Rice
DL – Taylor Thompson, Sr. SMU
LB – Curnelius Arnick, Sr., Tulsa
LB – Sammy Brown, Sr. Houston
LB – Trent Mackey, Jr., Tulane
DB – Omar Brown, Sr., Marshall
DB – Emanuel Davis, Sr., East Carolina
DB – Josh Robinson, Jr., UCF
DB – Marquese Wheaton, Sr., Southern Miss
P – Kyle Martens, Sr. Rice
PR – Tracy Lampley, Jr. Southern Miss

3 Biggest Surprises
1. Southern Miss stunning unbeaten Houston in the league championship game, denying the Cougars a likely spot in a BCS bowl game.
2. The performance of the Houston defense, which made a slew of big plays all year, and was an unheralded key to the team’s 12-0 start.
3. SMU’s Iron Skillet upset of TCU, which would go on to win the Mountain West, and darn near cop a BCS bowl bid.

3 Biggest Disappointments
1. The incessant threat of member departures to the Big East, which was a thorn in the side of the conference all year.
2. The play of defending champ UCF, which began the year with such high hopes, yet ended it at 5-7 and out of the bowl picture.
3. Southern Miss’ hard-to-fathom losses to Marshall and UAB, which probably cost the school a shot at vying for an at-large BCS bowl berth.

Best C-USA Game of the Season
Oct. 1 SMU 40 … TCU 33 OT
The battle for the Iron Skillet has rarely been this entertaining. The Mustangs shocked the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth for one of their most important victories in a quarter-century. SMU blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter, only to prevail on J.J. McDermott’s fourth touchdown pass of the game, and a defensive stop in overtime.

Second Best Game: Sept. 17 Houston 35 … Louisiana Tech 34
Third Best Game: Sept. 10  at Marshall 34 ... ECU 27 OT

Coach of the Year – Larry Fedora, Southern Miss
2) Kevin Sumlin, Houston, 3) Bill Blankenship, Tulsa

Performances of the Year
1) Oct. 27 – In one of the most prolific games of his record-setting career, Houston QB Case Keenum strafed the Rice defense for nine touchdowns and 534 yards on 24-of-37 passing.
2) Nov. 19 – The nation’s leader in tackles for loss, Houston LB Sammy Brown, had 4.5 of them to go along with 10 tackles and three sacks in his team’s smothering of SMU.
3) Nov. 5 – In a theme that typified its championship season, Southern Miss scored four non-offensive touchdowns in a 48-28 win over East Carolina, two on interceptions, and a pair on special teams.

Top Freshman – LB Jeremy Grove, East Carolina

The Best C-USA Players of 2011
1. QB Case Keenum, Sr. Houston
2. LB Sammy Brown, Sr. Houston
3. DE Vinny Curry, Sr. Marshall
4. WR Patrick Edwards, Sr. Houston
5. QB Austin Davis, Sr. Southern Miss
6. QB G.J. Kinne, Sr. Tulsa
7. RB Zach Line, Jr. SMU
8. LB Trent Mackey, Jr. Tulane
9. LB Curnelius Arnick, Sr. Tulsa
10. LB Marcus McGraw, Sr. Houston
11. DE Cordarro Law, Sr. Southern Miss
12. RB Charles Sims, Soph. Houston
13. TE Justin Johnson, Sr. Houston
14. CB Josh Robinson, Jr. UCF
15. DT Scott Solomon, Sr. Rice
16. RB Michael Hayes, Sr. Houston
17. WR Darius Johnson, Jr. SMU
18. LB Jamie Collins, Jr. Southern Miss
19. RB Orleans Darkwa, Soph. Tulane
20. DE Taylor Thompson, Sr. SMU
21. WR Tyron Carrier, Sr. Houston
22. RB Ja’Terian Douglas, Soph. Tulsa
23. DE Tyrunn Walker, Sr. Tulsa
24. CB Marquese Wheaton, Sr. Southern Miss
25. RB Tracy Lampley, Jr. Southern Miss
26. WR Willie Carter, Jr. Tulsa
27. QB Dominique Davis, Sr. East Carolina
28. WR Cole Beasley, Sr. SMU
29. DE Dezman Moses, Sr. Tulane
30. LB Jeremy Grove, Fr. East Carolina