2012 CFN All-C-USA Team & Roundup

2012 Conference USA Fearless Predictions, Game Stories, Game of the Week, Player of the Week, Roundup & Standings

CFN 2012 All-C-USA Team 

2012 Preview  2012 C-USA Preview 
- 2012 CFN All-C-USA Team & Top 30 Players
 

2012 CFN All-C-USA Offense
QB Rakeem Cato, Soph. MU
RB Zach Line, Sr. SMU
RB Latavius Murray, Sr. UCF
WR Justin Hardy, Soph. ECU
WR Tommy Shuler, Soph. MU
TE Gator Hoskins, Jr. MU
OL Jacolby Ashworth, Sr. UH
OL Brian DeShane, Sr. Tulsa
OL Jared Grigg, Sr. Tulsa
OL Chris Hubbard, Sr. UAB
OL Jordan Rae, Sr. UCF
PK Cairo Santos, Jr. Tulane
KR Quincy McDuffie, Sr. UCF

2012 CFN All-C-USA Defense
DL Jamie Collins, Sr. USM
DL Troy Davis, Sr. UCF
DL Jared St. John, Sr. Tulsa
DL Margus Hunt, Sr. SMU
LB DeAundre Brown, Sr. Tulsa
LB Marvin Burdette, Sr. UAB
LB Phillip Steward, Sr. UH
DB Kenneth Acker, Jr. SMU
DB D.J. Hayden, Sr. UH
DB Kemal Ishmael, Sr. UCF
DB Dexter McCoil, Sr. Tulsa
P Richie Leone, Jr. UH
PR Keiwone Malone, Soph. MU

The Best C-USA Players of 2012
1. QB Rakeem Cato, Soph. Marshall
2. LB Phillip Steward, Sr. Houston
3. LB DeAundre Brown, Sr. Tulsa
4. DE Jamie Collins, Sr. Southern Miss
5. S Dexter McCoil, Sr. Tulsa
6. RB Latavius Murray, Sr. UCF
7. RB Zach Line, Sr. SMU
8. LB Marvin Burdette, Sr. UAB
9. WR Justin Hardy, So. East Carolina
10. WR Tommy Shuler, So. Marshall
11. RB Charles Sims, Jr. Houston
12. RB Darrin Reaves, So. UAB
13. DE Jared St. John, Sr. Tulsa
14. DT Margus Hunt, Sr. SMU
15. WR Ryan Grant, Jr. Tulane
16. CB D.J. Hayden, Sr. Houston
17. S Kemal Ishmael, Sr. UCF
18. DE Troy Davis, Sr. UCF
19. LB Ja'Gared Davis, Sr. SMU
20. QB Blake Bortles, So. UCF
21. K Cairo Santos, Jr. Tulane
22. QB Shane Carden, So. East Carolina
23. RB Vintavious Cooper, Jr. East Carolina
24. RB Trey Watts, Jr. Tulsa
25. RB Ja’Terian Douglas, Jr. Tulsa
26. RB Alex Singleton, Sr. Tulsa
27. DE Cory Dorris, Sr. Tulsa
28. TE Vance McDonald, Sr. Rice
29. WR Keyarris Garrett, So. Tulsa
30. QB Taylor McHargue, Jr. Rice

2012 CFN C-USA Off. Player of the Year
QB Rakeem Cato, Soph. Marshall

Cato had a strong freshman season, but he blew up in his second year in the attack, kicking things off with a 413-yards, two score day against West Virginia and closing things out with 318 yards and five scoring passes against East Carolina. Along the way he went under the 300-yard mark twice, throwing for 298in the loss to UCF and 216 in the loss to UAB, but he also threw two touchdown passes in those two games.

2012 CFN C-USA Def. Player of the Year
LB Phillip Steward, Sr. Houston

Houston's defense was awful, but Steward did everything he could to make play after play with 128 tackles and 11 sacks on the season. Used in a variety of ways, he was a steady pass rusher throughout the season while also serving as a premier tackler against the run with 13 stops against Tulsa, UCLA and UAB, and 16 tackles against Marshall.
 
3 Biggest Surprises
1. Someone finally bridges the gap to Byron Leftwich in Huntington. A year earlier than expected, sophomore Rakeem Cato became the quarterback Marshall hoped he’d be, ranking third nationally with 37 touchdown passes.

2. Shane Carden solves East Carolina’s quarterback quandary, helping guide the Pirates to an improbable eight wins. The opening day backup has gone on to rank No. 2 in league passing efficiency.

3. Memphis closes the season with its first three-game winning streak since 2008. Heck, the Tigers haven’t won more than two games in a year since 2008. Rookie head coach Justin Fuente has a head of steam heading into 2013.

3 Biggest Disappointments
1. SMU QB Garrett Gilbert. A former five-star recruit of Texas joins forces with June Jones. What could possibly go wrong? Gilbert was a bust in his first year, ranking last in the league in passing efficiency, and throwing one less pick than touchdowns.

2. Houston QB David Piland. This is a plug-and-play system in Houston, so even without head coach Kevin Sumlin, Piland was expected to amass gaudy numbers in 2012. Instead, he’s thrown just 16 touchdown passes, and is 90th nationally in passing efficiency.

3. Southern Miss. Yes, the Golden Eagles had rebuilding to do on both sides of the ball. No, no one could have imagined that the defending league champs would be the only winless FBS team of 2012. So bad was the collapse in Hattiesburg that Ellis Johnson lasted just one year on the sidelines.

Best C-USA Game of the Season
Dec. 1 Tulsa 33 … UCF 27
Tulsa and UCF saved the most entertaining Conference USA game of the year for the most important game of the year. With the league title and a berth in the Liberty Bowl hanging in the balance, the Golden Hurricane and the Knights required an extra session to decide this one. Tulsa rallied from behind in the fourth quarter on a heads-up punt return for a touchdown from Trey Watts, and captured its first league crown in seven years when 260-pound Alex Singleton plunged across the goal line in overtime.

Second Best Game Nov. 23 East Carolina 65 … Marshall 59 (2 OT)
Third Best Game  Sept. 8 Louisiana Tech 56 … Houston 49

Coach of the Year
1) Bill Blankenship, Tulsa
2) Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina
3) David Bailiff, Rice

Performances of the Year
1) Sept. 8 – While admittedly achieved in a slugfest versus a flimsy Louisiana Tech defense, it’s impossible to ignore Houston QB David Piland’s Week 2 output. In an arms race with Colby Cameron, he went 53-of-77 for 580 yards and four touchdowns.

2) Nov. 3 In one of his many banner weekends of the 2012 season, Marshall QB Rakeem Cato carved up the Memphis secondary for 341 yards, four touchdowns and no picks on 34-of-44 passing.

3) Nov. 3 Bandit Jamie Collins was one of the only bright spots in Southern Miss’ 0-12 campaign. He showed why against UAB, making four stops for loss, three of which were sacks, forcing two fumbles and breaking up a pass.

Top Freshmen
1. S Trevon Stewart, Houston
2. S Darion Monroe, Tulane
3. RB Kevin Grooms, Marshall