Three Tigers Named to American Athletic Conference First Team
The University of Memphis had three players named to the inaugural American Athletic Conference all-league teams announced on Wednesday. The teams were selected by a vote of the conference's head coaches.
Named to The American's first team from the University of Memphis were punter Tom Hornsey, a finalist for the Ray Guy Award, junior defensive end Martin Ifedi and freshman placekicker Jake Elliott. Hornsey was also named co-American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year along with Houston's freshman return specialist Demarcus Ayers.
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Hornsey averaged 45.2 yards per punt to lead the conference his senior season. He placed 29 of his 62 punts inside opponents' 20-yard line (.468) while having only four punts find the end zone for touchbacks. Hornsey was part of a punting unit which posted a 41.02 net punting average which ranked fourth in the country.
Hornsey is attending The Home Depot College Football Awards at Walt Disney World Resort in Buena Vista, Fla., this week. ESPN will broadcast the awards Thursday night at 6 p.m. Central.
Ifedi was named to the final watch list and placed on the ballot for the Ted Hendricks Award, annually presented to the nation's top defensive end. He finished his junior season with 52 total tackles including 14.5 tackles for loss (-73 yards) and 11.5 quarterback sacks (-62 yards).
Ifeid ranked sixth nationally in quarterback sacks, averaging 1.0 per game. His 11.5 quarterback sacks during the season ranks second all-time at Memphis.
Elliott tied a Memphis freshman record by booting 16 field goals. The rookie made his first 11 field goal attempts including a 5-for-5 performance at Houston. He was 16-for-18 for the year and ranked second in the conference with an 88.9 field goal percentage. Among his field goals was a school record 56-yarder which tied for the longest in the nation this season.
Elliott was also 24-for-24 on point after tries and finished the season with a team-high 72 points.
2013 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL AWARDS
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Blake Bortles, QB, UCF (Jr., Oveido, Fla.)
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Marcus Smith, DE, Louisville (Sr., Columbus, Ga.)
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Demarcus Ayers, RS, Houston (Fr., Lancaster, Texas)
Tom Hornsey, P, Memphis (Sr., Geelong, Victoria, Australia)
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
John O'Korn, QB, Houston (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE COACH OF THE YEAR
George O'Leary, UCF
ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Last School
WR Deontay Greenberry Houston So. 6-3 198 Fresno, Calif./Washington Union
WR DeVante Parker Louisville Jr. 6-3 209 Louisville, Ky./Ballard
OT Eric Lefeld * Cincinnati Jr. 6-6 309 Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater
OT Jamon Brown Louisville Jr. 6-6 350 Fern Creek, Ky./Fern Creek
OG Jordan McCray UCF Sr. 6-3 310 Miami, Fla./Southridge
OG Justin McCray UCF Sr. 6-3 310 Miami, Fla./Southridge
C Jake Smith Louisville Jr. 6-4 312 Jacksonville, Ala./Jacksonville
TE Blake Annen Cincinnati Sr. 6-5 250 Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington
TE Tyler Kroft Rutgers So. 6-6 240 Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East
QB Blake Bortles UCF Jr. 6-4 230 Oveido, Fla./Oveido
RB Storm Johnson UCF Jr. 6-0 215 Loganville, Ga./Miami (Fla.)
RB Paul James Rutgers So. 6-0 210 Glassboro, N.J./Glassboro
K Jake Elliott Memphis Fr. 5-10 160 Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township
RS Ralph David Abernathy IV Cincinnati Jr. 5-7 161 Atlanta, Ga./Westminster School
RS Demarcus Ayers Houston Fr. 5-10 173 Lancaster, Texas/Lancaster
DEFENSE
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Last School
DL Jordan Stepp Cincinnati Sr. 6-1 285 Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis
DL Marcus Smith Louisville Sr. 6-3 252 Columbus, Ga./Hardaway
DL Martin Ifedi Memphis Jr. 6-3 265 Houston, Texas/Westside
DL Aaron Lynch USF So. 6-6 244 Cape Coral, Fla./Notre Dame
LB Terrance Plummer UCF Jr. 6-1 234 Orange Park, Fla./Orange Park
LB Yawin Smallwood UConn Jr. 6-4 236 Worcester, Mass./Doherty
LB Tyler Matakevich Temple So. 6-1 230 Stratford, Conn./Milford Academy
CB Jacoby Glenn UCF Fr. 6-0 176 Prichard, Ala./Vigor
CB Charles Gaines Louisville So. 5-11 174 Miami, Fla./Central
S Calvin Pryor Louisville Jr. 6-2 208 Port St. Joe, Fla./Port St. Joe
S Hakeem Smith Louisville Sr. 6-2 179 Jonesboro, Ga./Riverdale
P Tom Hornsey Memphis Sr. 6-3 210 Geelong, Victoria, Australia/St. Joseph's College
* unanimous selection
ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Last School
WR Anthony McClung Cincinnati Sr. 6-0 177 Indianapolis, Ind./Pike
WR J.J. Worton UCF Jr. 6-2 211 Homestead, Fla./South Dade
WR Jeremy Johnson SMU Sr. 6-0 179 Tyler, Texas/John Tyler
OT Chris Martin UCF Sr. 6-5 303 Fort Walton Beach, Fla./Choctawhatchee
OT DeAnthony Sims Houston Sr. 6-3 320 Houston, Texas/Westbury
OG Sam Longo Cincinnati Sr. 6-5 305 Spring Valley, Ohio/Ohio State
OG John Miller Louisville Jr. 6-2 321 Miami, Fla./Central
C Betim Bujari Rutgers Jr. 6-4 295 Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus
TE Mike McFarland USF Jr. 6-5 244 Tampa, Fla./Florida
QB Teddy Bridgewater Louisville Jr. 6-3 205 Miami, Fla./Northwestern
RB William Stanback UCF Fr. 5-11 205 Hempstead, N.Y./Uniondale
RB Marcus Shaw USF Sr. 5-9 178 Arcadia, Fla./De Soto
K Shawn Moffitt UCF Jr. 5-11 178 Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips
RS Janarion Grant Rutgers Fr. 5-11 170 Trilby, Fla./Pasco
DEFENSE
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Last School
DL Silverberry Mouhon Cincinnati So. 6-4 248 Norcross, Ga./Norcross
DL Shamar Stephen UConn Sr. 6-5 313 Brookville, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran
DL Lorenzo Mauldin Louisville Jr. 6-4 243 Atlanta, Ga./Maynard Jackson
DL Luke Sager USF Sr. 6-3 275 Niceville, Fla./Niceville
LB Greg Blair Cincinnati Sr. 6-2 252 Pittsburgh, Pa./Lackawanna CC
LB Preston Brown Louisville Sr. 6-2 260 Cincinnati, Ohio/Northwest
LB DeDe Lattimore USF Sr. 6-1 237 Athens, Ga./Cedar Shoals
CB Deven Drane Cincinnati Sr. 5-11 187 Plantation, Fla./Plantation
CB Zach McMillian Houston Sr. 5-10 178 Missouri City, Texas/Dulles
CB Kenneth Acker SMU Sr. 6-0 195 Portland, Ore./Grant
S Clayton Geathers UCF Jr. 6-2 207 Georgetown, S.C./Carver's Bay
S Trevon Stewart Houston So. 5-9 192 Patterson, La./Patterson
P Richie Leone Houston Sr. 6-3 215 Roswell, Ga./Roswell