Big South Announces Football Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Liberty running back Rashad Jennings and Gardner-Webb linebacker Jeffrey Williams have been voted the 2008 Big South football Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, by the Conference’s head coaches and media panel, it was announced today by the League office. Stony Brook running back Edwin Gowins was tabbed Freshman of the Year, while Liberty’s Danny Rocco was voted Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. In addition, the sports information directors voted VMI’s Jacob Rochester as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Jennings (Forest, Va.) repeats as the Big South’s Offensive Player of the Year after leading Liberty to its second consecutive Big South title and a school-record 10 wins in 2008. He rushed for a League-record 1,500 yards in 11 games and scored a Big South single-season record 19 touchdowns – including a record 17 rushing touchdowns. Jennings scored a Conference season record 114 points and had a League-best seven multi-touchdown games, including two games with three scores. He scored a touchdown in his final nine games and reached the end zone in 10 of his 11 appearances in 2008. He ranked first in the Big South in rushing average with a League-record 136.4 yards per game, and placed third in the Conference with 1,690 all-purpose yards. Jennings caught 24 passes out of the backfield for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Nationally, Jennings is ranked fifth in rushing, fifth in scoring (10.36 points per game) and 16th in all-purpose yards. The first player in Big South history with three 1,000-yard rushing seasons, Jennings rushed for 100 yards in 10-straight games, setting a Conference record. He was The Sports Network’s National Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29 following his 220 rushing yards, three touchdown performance at Youngstown State. In five League games, Jennings rushed for 626 yards and eight touchdowns.
Jennings, a Walter Payton Award finalist, received 11 first-place votes and 24 points, finishing ahead of Gardner-Webb’s Dobson Collins (one first-place vote and 15 points). Jennings is the first two-time recipient of the League’s Offensive Player of the Year award.
Williams (Frisco City, Ala.) led the Big South with 119 total tackles in 11 games, an average of 10.8 per contest. The 2007 Big South Freshman of the Year, Williams had 61 solo tackles and 58 assisted stops, in addition to tying for second in the League with three interceptions and finishing in the top 10 with 9.0 tackles for loss. He also forced two fumbles on the year. Williams recorded 75 tackles in his final five games (15.0 average), was a two-time Big South Defensive Player of the Week honoree and was named a College Sporting News National All-Star on Oct. 20. In League contests, Williams had a Conference-best 66 tackles in five games (13.2 average) and was second with 5.5 tackles-for-loss. He posted a career-high 19 tackles vs. VMI and had 18 stops the following week against Presbyterian. Williams helped Gardner-Webb post a League-record seven games of holding opponents to less than 100 yards rushing.
Williams received seven first-place votes and 21 points, ahead of runner-up Antwan Thomas (Presbyterian), who received five first-place votes and 14 points.
Gowins (Bellport, N.Y.) finished second in the Big South with a freshman-record 1,310 rushing yards. Currently the top freshman rusher at the FCS level, Gowins scored 11 touchdowns this season and set a Conference-mark for the highest yards per carry average at 9.4. He had five 100-yard rushing games, and recorded the top two rushing games in Big South history when he rushed for a record 278 yards against Iona (highest total in FCS this season) and a Conference-game record 250 yards vs. VMI. A four-time Freshman of the Week selection and two-time Offensive Player of the Week honoree, Gowins was The Sports Network’s and College Sporting News’ National Player of the Week on Nov. 17. His rushing total and per carry average set school records, and he had five games this season over 10.0 yards a carry, based on a minimum of 10 rushes a game.
Gowins received 10 first-place votes and 23 points, ahead of Gardner-Webb defensive lineman Jordan Woods, who received four first-place votes and 10 points.
Rocco is the first three-time winner of the Big South’s Coach of the Year award. In his third season at the helm, he led the Flames to the Conference’s first-ever 5-0 League record and second 10-win season in League history. The Flames’ 10-2 record was a two-win improvement over 2007. Liberty received its first national ranking since the 1998 season, and the Flames have spent the past 12 weeks in the Top 25 polls (school record). Their current No. 14 ranking this week matches their highest of the season. Rocco is a finalist for the national Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award, and directed Liberty to wins over two nationally-ranked opponents this season (No. 23 Youngstown State and No. 12 Elon). As a team, the Flames rank ninth nationally in both total offense (446.67) and passing efficiency (158.81), as well as 12th in punt returns (14.61), 12th in rushing offense (213.50), 13th in scoring defense (18.67) and 18th in scoring offense (33.67). In Liberty’s undefeated Conference season, the Flames averaged 37.2 points, allowed just 14.8 points and recorded two shutouts. During the season, the Flames had an 11-game winning streak, a 10-game home winning streak, and will carry a Big South-record 11-game Conference-game win streak into the 2009 season.
Rocco received 11 first-place votes and 25 points, finishing ahead of Stony Brook’s Chuck Priore (two first-place votes and eight points) and Charleston Southern’s Jay Mills (one first-place vote and six points).
The Big South also announced its All-Conference first and second teams. The squads are comprised of 12 offensive and defensive players and five special teams players. Liberty led the way with 16 selections, including a League-high nine First-team honorees. Gardner-Webb was second with 12 All-Conference members, followed by Charleston Southern (8), Stony Brook (7), VMI (6), Presbyterian (5) and Coastal Carolina (4).
Jennings, Williams and Gowins all earned a spot on the respective All-Conference First-teams. Liberty’s Dominic Bolden picked up All-Big South honors as a wide receiver (First-Team), punt returner (First-Team) and kickoff returner (Second-Team). Gardner-Webb’s Dobson Collins also earned All-Conference honors at two positions: wide receiver (First-Team) and punt return specialist (Second-Team), as did Charleston Southern's Gerald Stevenson (First-team wide receiver and First-team kickoff return specialist). VMI’s Tim Maypray picks up All-Conference honors at his third position, having been selected as a kickoff return specialist and wide receiver in 2007, and now quarterback in 2008.
Two players were bestowed All-Conference honors for the fourth time in their careers. Gardner-Webb teammates Demario Deese and Daniel Cooke became the fifth and sixth members of this exclusive club. Deese earned First-team honors all four years at GWU, while Cooke captures his third career First-team honor, as he was a Second-team selection in 2007. In addition, Liberty teammates Jennings, Patrick Calvary and Ryan Greiser are now three-time All-Conference honorees. The list of award winners and All-Conference members appears below.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rashad Jennings, Sr., RB, Liberty
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jeffrey Williams, Soph., LB, Gardner-Webb
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Edwin Gowins, RB, Stony Brook
COACH OF THE YEAR
Danny Rocco, Liberty
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Jacob Rochester, Sr., LB, VMI
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE
QB - Brock Smith, Sr., Liberty
RB - Rashad Jennings, R-Sr., Liberty
RB - Edwin Gowins, Fr., Stony Brook
WR - Dobson Collins, Sr., Gardner-Webb
WR - Dominic Bolden, Sr., Liberty
WR - Gerald Stevenson, Soph., Charleston Southern
TE - Josh Miller, Soph., Gardner-Webb
OL - Mike Godsil, Sr., Liberty
OL - Demario Deese, Sr., Gardner-Webb
OL - Britt Leggett, R-Sr., Coastal Carolina
OL - Steve Council, Sr., Stony Brook
OL - Britt Stone, R-Sr., Liberty
DEFENSE
DL - Jake Killeen, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
DL - James Harris, Sr., Stony Brook
DL - Phillip Oboh, Jr., Coastal Carolina
DL - Adam McKinney, Sr., Presbyterian
LB - Jeffrey Williams, Soph., Gardner-Webb
LB - Nick Hursky, Sr., Liberty
LB - Antwan Thomas, Sr., Presbyterian
LB - D.J. Rice, Sr., Coastal Carolina
DB - Daniel Cooke, Sr., Gardner-Webb
DB - Philip Ashley, Jr., Charleston Southern
DB - Kent Hicks, R-Sr., Liberty
DB - Cedric McGowan, Jr., Gardner-Webb
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Ryan Gates, Fr., Gardner-Webb
P - Ben Erdman, Soph., Coastal Carolina
LS - Dan Pope, R-Sr., Liberty
KR - Gerald Stevenson, Soph., Charleston Southern
PR - Dominic Bolden, Sr., Liberty
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE
QB - Tim Maypray, Jr., VMI
RB - Conte Cuttino, Jr., Stony Brook
RB - Howard Abegesah, Jr., VMI
WR - Jonathan Crawford, R-Sr., Liberty
WR - James Perry III, R-Fr., Gardner-Webb
WR - Brandon Clark, Sr., Presbyterian
TE - Corey Rasberry, R-Sr., Liberty
OL - Lawrence Lovell, Sr., Stony Brook
OL - Alex Bragg, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
OL - George Handler, R-Jr., VMI
OL - James Boatright, Soph., VMI
OL - Corey O’Daniel, Soph., Gardner-Webb
DEFENSE
DL - Justin Witzmann, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
DL - Kevin Richard, R-Sr., Liberty
DL - Jordan Woods, Fr., Gardner-Webb
DL - Colin Dugan, Sr., Liberty
LB - Marty Patterson, Soph., Gardner-Webb
LB - Andrew McKain, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
LB - Tyler Santucci, Jr., Stony Brook
LB - A.J. Gross, R-Fr., VMI
DB - Ryan Greiser, Sr., Liberty
DB - Anthony McKnight, Sr., Presbyterian
DB - Pat Calvary, Sr., Liberty
DB - Chris Richards, Jr., Stony Brook
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - John Paglia, Soph., Charleston Southern
P - Bryson Summers, Sr., Presbyterian
LS - Travis Ludden, Sr., VMI
KR - Dominic Bolden, Sr., Liberty
PR - Dobson Collins, Sr., Gardner-Webb
ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Justin Witzmann, R-Sr., DL, Charleston Southern
Derrick Frasier, Soph., LB, Coastal Carolina
Daniel Cooke, Sr., DB, Gardner-Webb
Ryan Greiser, Sr., DB, Liberty
Antwan Thomas, Sr., LB, Presbyterian
Jeff Santos, Jr., OL, Stony Brook
Jacob Rochester, Sr., LB, VMI