Keenum tabbed as C-USA preseason fav

Houston quarterback Case Keenum was chosen as Conference USA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in a vote of league coaches.

Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry was named the preseason Defensive Player of the Year, while Tulsa return specialist Damaris Johnson earned Special Teams Player of the Year honors.

Keenum is back for a sixth season after missing nearly all of last season with a torn ACL. He was the 2009 C-USA MVP and the 2008 Offensive Player of the Year. Keenum enters this season on pace to break NCAA career records for total offense, passing yards, touchdowns, pass attempts and completions.

Going into the season, Keenum has 14,448 career yards of total offense (7th), 13,586 passing yards (5th), 107 touchdown passes (8th), 1,626 pass attempts (10th), 1,118 pass completions (7th). He is one of only two players in NCAA Division I history to record multiple 5,000-yard passing seasons and set a school single-season record with 5,671 passing yards in 2009, the third-highest passing total in NCAA Division I-FBS single-season history.

Curry earned first-team All-Conference USA honors last season, leading all defensive linemen in FBS in tackles with 94 total stops (7.83 per game) and ranking fifth in the nation with 12 sacks.

Johnson, last season’s Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Year, led the nation in all-purpose yards in each of the past two seasons. Johnson is already the NCAA’s all-time record-holder for all-purpose yards (7,796) and kickoff return yards (3,417).

Preseason teams

Offense

QB Case Keenum, Sr., Houston

RB Bryce Beall, Sr., Houston

RB Zach Line, Jr., SMU

OL Clint Anderson, Sr., Tulsa

OL Kelvin Beachum, Sr., SMU

OL Matt McCants, Sr., UAB

OL Nick Pieschel, Sr., UCF

OL Chris Thompson, Sr., Houston

WR Patrick Edwards, Sr., Houston

WR Damaris Johnson, Sr., Tulsa

WR Lance Lewis, Sr., East Carolina

TE Adam Nissley, Sr., UCF

Defense

DL Vinny Curry, Sr., Marshall

DL Elliott Henigan, Sr., UAB

DL Cordarro Law, Sr., Southern Miss

DL Taylor Thompson, Sr., SMU

LB Ja’Gared Davis, Jr., SMU

LB Trent Mackey, Jr., Tulane

LB Marcus McGraw, Sr., Houston

LB Korey Williams, Sr., Southern Miss

DB Emanuel Davis, Sr., East Carolina

DB Kemal Ishmael, Jr., UCF

DB Marco Nelson, So., Tulsa

DB Josh Robinson, Jr., UCF

Special teams

K Danny Hrapmann, Sr., Southern Miss

P Kyle Martens, Sr., Rice

KR Quincy McDuffie, Jr., UCF

PR Patrick Edwards, Sr., Houston

PR Damaris Johnson, Sr., Tulsa

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/44290/keenum-tabbed-as-c-usa-preseason-fav

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