University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Five Golden Eagles Picked to C-USA Preseason Football Team
7/15/2019 12:01:00 PM | Football
DALLAS – A vote of the league's 14 coaches produced five Southern Miss football players chosen to the 2019 Conference USA preseason team released Monday afternoon.
Southern Miss, along with North Texas, had the most overall preseason selections with five, while Marshall placed four and Charlotte produced players comprising four spots. Nine schools had multiple players named to the squad.
The Golden Eagles enjoyed one offensive preseason selection in redshirt junior wide receiver Quez Watkins, while the defensive side includes linemen senior Demarrio Smith and redshirt junior Jacques Turner, redshirt junior linebacker Racheem Boothe and redshirt junior defensive back Ky'el Hemby.
Watkins led the Golden Eagles last season with 72 catches for 889 yards and nine receiving touchdowns in 11 games, while also leading C-USA in receptions per game at 6.5. He earned first-team C-USA honors following last season.
Hemby highlights the defensive returners for the Golden Eagles as the top returning tackler from a season ago. Hemby finished second in 2018 in total tackles for the Golden Eagles defense that ended the year No. 3 nationally in total defense (278.4) with 51 stops. He also added a team-best six interceptions, which tied for the league lead.
The next highest tackler returning from a season ago, Boothe, finished with 48 stops of which 10 were for loss and four sacks. He added a team-high two fumble recoveries, five quarterback hurries and three pass breakups.
Turner, who was first-team selection following last fall, returns with the most tackles among Southern Miss lineman this season with 33 tackles. He posted 10 of those for loss and five sacks among that total. He added two forced fumbles during the year which was tied for second in C-USA per game.
Smith registered 17 tackles with one tackle for loss, one sack and blocked a field goal attempt at Auburn last September.
The 2019 preseason Conference USA Football award winners included North Texas senior quarterback Mason Fine as the favorite to win his third straight C-USA Offensive Player of the Year award, FIU senior linebacker Sage Lewis as the preseason Defensive Player of the Year, while Charlotte sophomore kicker Jonathan Cruz earned Special Teams Player of the Year accolades
The league's 24th football season begins on Thursday, August 29. The 15th annual Conference USA Football Championship Game, pitting the champions of the East and West Divisions, will be held Saturday, Dec. 7.
The C-USA Media Poll (Predicted Order of Finish) will be released on Tuesday.
2019 C-USA FOOTBALL COACHES PRESEASON AWARDS
Offensive Player of the Year
Mason Fine, Sr., QB, North Texas
Defensive Player of the Year
Sage Lewis, Sr., LB, FIU
Special Teams Players of the Year
Jonathan Cruz, So., K, Charlotte
Offense
QB -Mason Fine, Sr., North Texas
RB - Spencer Brown, Jr., UAB
RB - Benny LeMay, Sr., Charlotte
OL - Levi Brown, Sr., Marshall
OL - Josh Dunlop, Sr., UTSA
OL - Derron Gatewood, Sr., UTEP
OL - Sosaia Mose, Sr., North Texas
OL - Miles Pate, Sr., WKU
TE - Harrison Bryant, Sr., Florida Atlantic
WR - Rico Bussey, Jr., Sr., North Texas
WR - Adrian Hardy, Jr., Louisiana Tech
WR - Quez Watkins, Jr., Southern Miss
Defense
DL - Channing Hames, Sr., Marshall
DL - LaDarius Hamilton, Sr., North Texas
DL - Alex Highsmith, Sr., Charlotte
DL - Garrett Marino, Sr., UAB
DL - DeMarrio Smith, Sr., Southern Miss
DL - Jacques Turner, Jr., Southern Miss
LB - Khalil Brooks, Sr., Middle Tennessee
LB - Sage Lewis, Sr., FIU
LB - Racheem Boothe, Jr., Southern Miss
DB - Reed Blankenship, Jr., Middle Tennessee
DB - Ky'el Hemby, Jr., Southern Miss
DB - Amik Robertson, Jr., Louisiana Tech
DB - Chris Jackson, Sr., Marshall
Special Teams
K - Jonathan Cruz, So., Charlotte
P - Alvin Kenworthy, Sr., North Texas
KR - Brett Winnegan, Sr., UTSA
PR - Maurice Alexander, Sr., FIU
LS - Matt Beardall, Sr., Marshall
