University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Sporting News Announces Preseason Rankings and Honors
6/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
June 18, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Sporting News has released its 2007 Football Preview magazine, ranking Southern Miss No. 24 in the national rankings. The Golden Eagles also are selected to win Conference USA, and several players were selected for preseason honors.
In Sporting News' C-USA Honor Roll, Southern Miss earned recognition of its own, being named "Best Pregame Atmosphere," "Best Home-field Advantage" and "Best Fans."
Seven members of the Southern Miss football team landed on Sporting News' all-conference team, including Shawn Nelson, Chris Clark, Damion Fletcher, Robert Henderson, Martavius Prince, Gerald McRath and Brandon Sumrall.
Jeremy Young also received preseason recognition, earning the title of "Most Dangerous Scrambler" on Sporting News' C-USA Honor Roll. Young, a redshirt senior, started all 14 games for Southern Miss last season, completing 161-of-281 (57.3) for 1,769 yards, with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also was the team's third-leading rusher with 81carries for 224 yards and four touchdowns.
Nelson, a junior tight end and All-American candidate, garnered first-team honors on the All-Conference USA Coaches' Team and honorable-mention Sophomore All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com and has been named to the preliminary watch list for the 2007 Rotary Lombardi Award. He completed the 2006 season with a team-leading 36 catches for 506 yards and three touchdowns. Nelson also was ranked No. 7 on the list of Phil Steele'sTop 40 Tight Ends. Sporting News also placed Nelson on the C-USA Honor Roll, naming him "Most Physical Receiver."
Clark, a senior offensive lineman, earned third-team All-Conference USA honors on the Coaches' Team and the Media Team last season, marking his first all-conference selection. He helped pave the way for Southern Miss' first 1,000-yard rusher since 2002. The Golden Eagles were the top rushing team in Conference USA last season, averaging 169.9 yards per game and No. 25 in the nation. Clark gave up two sacks for the season and was named the "Hawg of the Week" six times.
Fletcher, Southern Miss' and Conference USA's freshman all-time rushing leader, carried the ball 276 times for 1,388 yards, an average of 5.0 yards per carry and scored 11 touchdowns last season. He also has 18 catches for 142 yards. He has a school freshman-record seven 100-yard or more rushing yard performances and had a season-high 177 yards against NC State. He also rushed for three of the top 10 freshman rushing marks in the school's history and is second on the school's single-season rushing list.
Fletcher, the GMAC Bowl MVP, was named to the Scripps Freshman All-American team, second team Freshman All-American by The Sporting News, rivals.com and scout.com, All-Conference USA first team, All-Conference USA Freshman team and was finalist for the Conerly Trophy, signifying the best player in the state of Mississippi. He also was named No. 46 on the list of Phil Steele's Top 67 Running Backs.
Henderson, a senior defensive end, received All-Conference USA honors, landing on the second team of the Media Team and third team on the coaches' squad. He was the team's third-leading tackler with 59 tackles, including 36 solo stops, and was tied for the team lead with five sacks and has 12 tackles for loss. He forced a fumble, blocked a punt and broke up three passes. Sporting News also named Henderson the Conference USA Defensive Player of Year.
Prince, a senior defensive lineman, was named to the second team on the Coaches' All-Conference USA team, after being named to the third team on the Media team. He was the ninth-leading tackler on the team with 45 tackles, including 22 solo stops, two sacks and a team-leading 13.5 tackles for loss. He also had an interception, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He also was named No. 51 on the list of Phil Steele's Top 60 Defensive Tackles. Sporting News also placed Prince on the C-USA Honor Roll, naming him "Best Run-stuffing Tackle."
McRath, a third-team All-Conference USA selection and All-Freshman team member, as well as a first-team Sporting News Freshman All-American, led the Golden Eagles in tackles with 104 tackles, including 59 solos stops, two sacks, 11 tackles for loss, one pass breakup and two forced fumbles. He finished with double-digit tackles in six games, including a season-high 15 against Houston in the Conference USA championship game. McRath also was named to the Scripps Freshman All-American team as selected by the Football Writers of America and to the Freshman All-American team by CollegeFootballNews.com. He was chosen as No. 14 on the list of Phil Steele's Top 53 Inside Linebackers for the 2007 season.
Sumrall, a senior defensive back, was the second-leading tackler for Southern Miss with 77 total tackles, including 51 solo stops, two sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, two pass breakups and three forced fumbles. One of his best performances of last season came against Memphis in which he recorded a total of 12 tackles, including 10 solos and a tackle for loss. He received All-Conference USA honors for the second-straight year, being named to the third team on the Coaches' and Media teams. He also was named No. 22 on the list of Phil Steele's Top 43 Strong Safeties.
