Burks, Armstrong Headline 2018 Preseason All-Conference Team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) –- Kennesaw State redshirt-senior quarterback Chandler Burks (Douglasville, Ga.) and Owls’ redshirt-sophomore linebacker Bryson Armstrong (Marrietta, Ga.) have been voted the Big South Conference’s 2018 Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head football coaches and media panel, it was announced today at the Big South Football Media Day Kickoff Luncheon at the Renaissance Suites Hotel in Charlotte. Burks was last year’s postseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Armstrong was the league’s co-Freshman of the Year in 2017. Both players are KSU’s first-ever preseason award honorees.
Burks was the first player in league history to be voted both the Big South’s Offensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the same season in 2017. A finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the nation’s top player, Burks co-led the nation with a Big South single-season quarterback-record 18 rushing touchdowns (tied for third-best among all Division I quarterbacks), directed the Owls to the nation’s top rushing office, a 5-0 league record and an outright Big South championship. Burks earned four Big South Offensive Player of the Week honors as well as the STATS National Offensive Player of the Week and CFPA National Performer of the Week after accounting for five touchdowns, including a conference-record-tying four rushing TDs, and 245 yards of offense in the regular-season finale against Monmouth. Burks led the league in scoring (108 points) and rushing yards (1,103), was second in touchdowns responsible for (27 – school record) and fourth in total offense (172.1 yards/game). His school-record 1,103 rushing yards ranked him third-best in FCS among signal-callers. Burks also became the first player in Big South history with 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards passing in the same year, as he completed 76-of-155 passes for 1,307 yards and nine scores.
With a Big South-quarterback record 27 career rushing scores, in addition to his 23 career scoring strikes, Burks is in position to become the first Big South QB with 30 career rushing and passing TDs. He received 14 first-place votes and 31 total points in the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Monmouth wide receiver Reggie White Jr. (one first-place vote and 13 points).
Armstrong is the first linebacker since 2014 to be voted the conference’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. He was named the STATS Jerry Rice Award Winner as the FCS National Freshman of the Year in 2017. In addition, he was a three-time Big South Conference Freshman of the Week winner, a Big South Defensive Player of the Week, a STATS FCS National Player of the Week, and two-time STATS FCS National Player of the Week Honorable Mention. Armstrong finished the 2017 campaign with 114 total tackles (85 solo), 12.5 tackles for loss, 11.0 sacks, three interceptions, seven pass breakups, one quarterback hurry, four recovered fumbles, three forced fumbles and one blocked kick. He set the Big South single-season record for quarterback sacks and is the only player in league history to record double-digit sacks in a campaign.
Armstrong, who broke the KSU single-game record for most tackles, totaled 16 (11 solo) versus Samford in the first round of the FCS Playoffs, while his 11 solo tackles versus the Bulldogs were also a single-game record. He collected 11 first-place votes and 28 points from the panel, ahead of Charleston Southern defensive end Solomon Brown (four first-place votes and 16 points).
Burks and Armstrong were also voted to the preseason All-Conference First-Team, which is comprised of 12 offensive and defensive positions, plus specialty positions. A new preseason Honorable Mention squad features the next highest vote-getters at each position. Kennesaw State had the most preseason selections with 17, followed by Charleston Southern (10), Monmouth (8), Campbell (3), Gardner-Webb (2) and Presbyterian (1). The 2018 preseason All-Conference team appears below.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST-TEAM
OFFENSE
QB - Chandler Burks, R-Sr., Kennesaw State
RB - Pete Guerriero, R-Soph., Monmouth
RB - Darnell Holland, Sr., Kennesaw State
WR - Reggie White Jr., R-Sr., Monmouth
WR - Justin Sumpter, R-Sr., Kennesaw State
WR - Kameron Brown, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
TE - Jake Powell, R-Jr., Monmouth
OL - C.J. Collins, R-Sr., Kennesaw State
OL - Ryan Wetzel, R-Sr., Monmouth
OL - Joseph Alexander Jr., R-Sr., Kennesaw State
OL - Ryan Warrior, Sr., Kennesaw State
OL - Russ Clayton, R-Sr., Monmouth
DEFENSE
DL - Solomon Brown, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
DL - Desmond Johnson, R-Jr., Kennesaw State
DL - Johnny Robinson, Sr., Charleston Southern
DL - McKenzie Billingslea, Sr., Kennesaw State
LB - Bryson Armstrong, R-Soph., Kennesaw State
LB - Anthony Gore Jr., R-Sr., Kennesaw State
LB - J.D. Sosebee, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
LB - Jack Ryan, R-Sr., Campbell
DB - Jace White, Sr., Kennesaw State
DB - Tymere Berry, Jr., Monmouth
DB - Shadarius Hopkins, Sr., Charleston Southern
DB - Dorian Walker, Jr., Kennesaw State
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Justin Thompson, Sr., Kennesaw State
P - Kyle Reighard, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
KR - Pete Guerriero, R-Soph., Monmouth
PR - Taz Lindsey, Sr., Charleston Southern
LS - Drew McCracken, Sr., Kennesaw State
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION
QB - Kenji Bahar, Jr., Monmouth
RB - Shaquil Terry, Soph., Kennesaw State
WR - Aaron Blockmon, R-Sr., Campbell
TE - Riley Hilton, R-Sr., Presbyterian College
OL - Will Millikan, Sr., Gardner-Webb
DL - Josh Ramseur, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
LB - Diego Zubieta, Sr., Monmouth
DB - Brandon Rowland, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
PK - Tyler Tekac, Sr., Charleston Southern
P - Nicholas Jones, Soph., Kennesaw State
KR - Shaquil Terry, Soph., Kennesaw State
PR - Jaquan Brooks, R-Jr., Campbell
LS - Ethan Ray, R-Soph., Charleston Southern
PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chandler Burks, R-Sr., QB, Kennesaw State (Douglasville, Ga.)
PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bryson Armstrong, R-Soph., LB, Kennesaw State (Marietta, Ga)