ULL takes top honors on All-Louisiana college football team

Louisiana-Lafayette running back Elijah McGuire and defensive lineman Christian Ringo captured the two top honors on the 2014 All-Louisiana college football team announced by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Louisiana Tech quarterback Cody Sokol captured awards for first-year players and Grambling State Coach Broderick Fobbs was honored for his turnaround of the Tiger program.
The team, traditionally released on Christmas Day, is built off nominations from the media relations directors at the state’s football-playing schools.
From there, a panel of LSWA members makes their selections with those nominating unable to vote for athletes from their own schools.
This year, 33 ballots from all part of the state were turned in for the final vote.
All statistics are based on the teams’ final regular season totals and do not include any post-season or bowl contests.
McGuire earned Offensive Player of the Year honors to go with being named the Sun Belt Player Of the Year after rushing for 1,165 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns. He posted the fourth most rushing yards in a single season at UL-Lafayette, and the sophomore from Houma was also the team’s leading receiver with 40 catches for another 414 yards and two touchdowns.
He led the Sun Belt Conference and was No. 19 nationally in all-purpose yards at 1,695. He rushed for more than 100 yards five times with a best of 265 versus Arkansas State.
The Defensive Player of the Year, Ringo had 35 solo tackles with 19.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks that earned him first-team All-SBC honors. He was ranked seventh nationally in tackles for loss and ranked 12th in Division 1 in sacks.
He recovered two fumbles for the Cajuns, including a 41-yard recovery for a touchdown at Texas State.
The highly-regarded Fournette earned Freshman of the Year honors after rushing for 891 yards and eight scores. He rushed for 100 or more yards four times, including a career-best 146 yards and a touchdown in the win against Texas A&M in the regular-season finale. Fournette and the Tigers will play Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl Tuesday.
Sokol, a senior playing his first year at a Louisiana four-year school (Louisiana Tech), earned state Newcomer of the Year honors, adding to his Conference USA Newcomer honors. Sokol, who will lead the Bulldogs in the Heart of Dallas bowl Saturday, was ranked 11th nationally in passing touchdowns with 29. Sokol completed 246-of-420 passes for 3,189 yards as Tech scored 40 or more points in six games with the fifth most-improved offense in the nation.
Fobbs was an easy choice of the voters for the state’s top coach after taking Grambling from a last-place finish and one win a year ago to competing for a division title. Grambling won seven games against SWAC opponents. Fobbs was the Southwestern Athletic Coach of the Year and also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award.
Both McGuire and Ringo were named to the first team while Fournette and Sokol were on the second team offense.
On the 25-member first team, LSU had eight representatives, UL-Lafayette five, Southeastern four, Northwestern State three, Louisiana Tech and ULM two each and Tulane one. Southern, McNeese and Louisiana College had representatives on the second team, while Nicholls had a player listed as honorable mention.
The complete team is listed below:
LSWA All-LOUISIANA COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
Pos./Name, School/Class/Hometown/Notes
OL/Vadal Alexander, LSU/Jr./Buford, Georgia /Second-Team All-SEC, 73 knockdowns, second on team
OL/Mitchell Bell, Louisiana Tech/Sr./Houston /First-Team All-Conference USA, 12 games started
OL/Jonathan Braddock, Southeastern/Sr./Ripley, Mississippi /First-Team All-Southland Conference, Starter at Right Tackle
OL/La’el Collins, LSU/Sr./Baton Rouge /First Team All-SEC, Jacobs Award (top OL in SEC)
OL/Daniel Quave, UL-Lafayette/Sr./Gautier, Mississippi /First Team All-Sun Belt Conference, 51 consecutive starts
RB/Kenneth Dixon, Louisiana Tech/Jr./Strong, Arkansas /Second-Team All-C-USA, Fifth nationally in scoring
RB/Elijah McGuire, UL-Lafayette/So./Houma /SBC POY, 1,165 yds., 14 TDs, 1,695 All-Purpose yds.
WR/Ed Eagan, Northwestern State/Jr./New Orleans /First-Team All-SLC, 908 yards, 6 TDs
WR/Travin Dural, LSU/So./Breaux Bridge /758 yards, 7 TDs, 2nd in SEC in Yards per catch at 20.5
TE/Larry Pettis, UL-Lafayette/Sr./Oxford, Mississippi/All-SBC HM, 16 catches, 117 yds., 1 TD
QB/Bryan Bennett, Southeastern/Sr./Granada Hills, California /SLC POY, Peyton Finalist, 2,357 yds., 18 TDs

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
Pos./Name, School/Class/Hometown/Notes
DL/Justin Hamilton, UL-Lafayette/Sr./Natchez, Mississippi/First-Team All-SBC, 26 total tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 5 sacks
DL/Danielle Hunter, LSU/Jr./Katy, Texas/Led LSU with 12 TFL, 64 TT, 6 pass breakups
DL/Gerrand Johnson, ULM/Jr./Rayville /First-Team All-SBC, 93 TT, 6 sacks, 12.5 TFL
DL/Christian Ringo, UL-Lafayette/Sr./Jackson, Mississippi /First-Team All-SBC, 7th nationally in TFL with 19.5
LB/Kwon Alexander, LSU/Jr./Oxford, Alabama /First-Team All-SEC, 79 TT, 7.5 TFL
LB/Kendell Beckwith, LSU/So./Clinton /68 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 2 sacks, moved to starter mid-season
LB/Isiah Corbett, Southeastern/Sr./Belle Glade, Florida /First-Team All-SLC, Finalist for Buchanan Award
DB/Imoan Claiborne, Northwestern State/Sr./Alexandria /First Team All-SLC, 4 int., 3 fumble recoveries, 7 PBU
DB/Mitch Lane, ULM/Jr./Pine Bluff, Arkansas /First-Team All-SBC, 91 TT, 3 int., 1 TD, 4 PBU
DB/Sam Scofield, Tulane/Sr./Lafayette /Second-team All-American Athletic Conference, 94 TT, 5 TFL, 4 PBU, 3 INT
DB/Tre’Davious White, LSU/So./Shreveport /32 TT, 5 PBUs, 2 INTs, 1 sack
FIRST TEAM SPECIALISTS
Pos./Name, School/Class/Hometown/Notes
K/Ryan Adams, Southeastern/Sr./Dayton, Ohio/First Team All-SLC, 16-18 FG, 60-62 PAT, 7th in Football Championship Subdivision FG percentage (89)
P/Jamie Keehn, LSU/Jr./Miners Rest, Australia/Second Team All-SEC, 2nd in SEC with 45.0 avg., 25 punts inside the 20-yard line
RS/Ed Eagan, Northwestern State/Jr./New Orleans/Double honoree, 1,254 KR yards (1st in FCS)

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR — Elijah McGuire, UL- Lafayette
Voting — McGuire 13, Dixon 8, Bennett 4, Collins 3, Eagan 2, Willie Quinn (Southern) 1, Sokol 1 and Johnathon Williams (Grambling) 1

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Christian Ringo, UL-Lafayette
Voting — Ringo 15, Beckwith 6, Corbett 6, Xavier Woods (Louisiana Tech) 3, Gerrand Johnson (ULM) 2 and Beau Brewer (Louisiana College) 1

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Leonard Fournette, LSU
Voting — Fournette 16, Carlos Henderson (Louisiana Tech) 5, Austin Howard (Southern) 5, Korliss Johnson (Northwestern State) 3, Parry Nickerson (Tulane) 2, Ryan Ross (McNeese) 2

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Cody Sokol, Louisiana Tech
Voting — Sokol 23, Marion Chapman (Northwestern State) 10

COACH OF THE YEAR — Broderick Fobbs, Grambling State
Voting — Fobbs 24, Skip Holtz (Louisiana Tech) 4, Mark Hudspeth (UL-Louisiana) 3, Dawson Odums (Southern) 1, Ron Roberts (Southeastern) 1.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
OL — Zach Brown, Southern (Sr., Missouri City, Texas); Antoine Everett, McNeese (Sr., Richmond, Texas); Pace Murphy, Northwestern State (Jr., Houston); Brandon Porche, Louisiana College (Sr., Opelousas); Mykhael Quave, UL-Lafayette (Gautier, Mississippi).
RB — Leonard Fournette, LSU (Fr., New Orleans); Lenard Tillery, Southern (So., Baton Rouge).
WR — Rashon Ceaser, ULM (Jr., Clinton); Willie Quinn, Southern (Jr., Miami, Florida)
TE — Alec Osborne, ULM (Jr., Geismar)
QB — Cody Sokol, Louisiana Tech (Sr., Phoenix)

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL — Leroy Armstrong, Northwestern State (Jr., Natchitoches); Houston Bates, Louisiana Tech (Sr., Covington); Kevin Dorn, McNeese (Sr., Pineville); Royce LaFrance, Tulane (Jr., Harvey); Arthur Miley, Southern (Sr., Mangham).
LB — Beau Brewer, Louisiana College (Sr., Diana, Texas); Marion Chapman, Northwestern State (Sr., Waynesboro, Mississippi); Hunter Kissinger, ULM (Jr., Springdale, Arkansas).
DB — Lorenzo Doss, Tulane (Jr., New Orleans); Ronald Martin, LSU (Sr., White Castle); Aaron Sam, McNeese (Sr., Lake Charles); Xavier Woods, Louisiana Tech (So., West Monroe).

SECOND TEAM SPECIALISTS
K — Justin Manton, ULM (Sr., Prairieville).
P — Daniel Cadona, UL-Lafayette (Sr., Toowoomba, Australia)
RS – Ira Jewitt, Louisiana College (Sr., Shreveport)

HONORABLE MENTION
OFFENSE
OL — DeWayne Houston, Southern (Sr, Lafayette). RB — Michael Henry, Nicholls (Jr., Baton Rouge). WR — Devante Scott, Southeastern (Sr., Ferriday); Trent Taylor, Louisiana Tech (So., Shreveport). QB — Terrance Broadway, UL-Lafayette (Sr., Baton Rouge).

DEFENSE
DB – Harlan Miller, Southeastern (Jr., Kentwood).

SPECIALISTS
P – Justin Manton, ULM (Sr., Prairieville). RS – Xavier Roberson, Southeastern (Jr., Atlanta).