https://sunbeltsports.org/news/2023/7/2 ... -poll.aspx

2023 SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL PRESEASON COACHES POL

East Division
1. James Madison – 78 Points (4)
2. App State – 75 Points (4)
3. Coastal Carolina – 71 Points (3)
4. Marshall – 68 Points (2)
5. Georgia Southern – 52 Points (1)
6. Georgia State – 31 Points
7. Old Dominion – 17 Points

West Division
1. Troy – 92 Points (10)
2. South Alabama – 85 Points (4)
3. Louisiana – 64 Points
4. Southern Miss – 62 Points
5. Texas State – 36 Points
6. Arkansas State – 33 Points
7. ULM – 20 Points

2023 SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL PRESEASON AWARDS


Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina (RS Sr., QB – Indian Trail, N.C.)

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Jason Henderson, Old Dominion (Jr., LB – Dingmans Ferry, Pa.)

Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team Offense
QB – Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina (RS Sr., QB – Indian Trail, N.C.)
RB – La’Damian Webb, South Alabama (Sr., RB – Opelika, Ala.)
RB – Frank Gore Jr., Southern Miss (Jr., RB – Miami, Fla.)
OL – Isaiah Helms, App State (Sr., OL – Hudson, N.C.)
OL – Khalil Crowder, Georgia Southern (6th Yr., OL – Carrollton, Ga.)
OL – Travis Glover, Georgia State (RS Sr., OL – Vienna, Ga.)
OL – Nick Kidwell, James Madison (RS Sr., OL – Knoxville, Md.)
OL – Logan Osburn, Marshall (RS Jr., OL – Ona, W.Va.)
TE – Neal Johnson, Louisiana (Sr., TE – Mesquite, Texas)
WR – Jared Brown, Coastal Carolina (RS So., WR – Lilburn, Ga.)
WR – Sam Pinckney, Coastal Carolina (Super Sr., WR – Greenwood, S.C.)
WR – Khaleb Hood, Georgia Southern (5th Yr., WR – McDonough, Ga.)

Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team Defense
DL – James Carpenter, James Madison (RS Jr., DL – Roanoke, Va.)
DL – Owen Porter, Marshall (RS Sr., DL – Huntington, W.Va.)
DL – TJ Jackson, Troy (Jr., DL – Millbrook, Ala.)
DL – Richard Jibunor, Troy (Sr., DL – Delta State, Nigeria)
LB – JT Killen, Coastal Carolina (RS Sr., LB – Lake Wylie, S.C.)
LB – Marques Watson-Trent, Georgia Southern (RS Jr., LB – Beaver Falls, Pa.)
LB – Eli Neal, Marshall (Sr., LB – Memphis, Tenn.)
LB – Jason Henderson, Old Dominion (Jr., LB – Dingmans Ferry, Pa.)
DB – Micah Abraham, Marshall (RS Sr., DB – Tampa, Fla.)
DB – Yam Banks, South Alabama (Jr., DB – Ridgeland, Miss.)
DB – Jay Stanley, Southern Miss (Sr., DB – Greenwood, Miss.)
DB – Reddy Steward, Troy (Sr., DB – Decatur, Ala.)

Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team Special Teams
K – Dominic Zvada, Arkansas State (So., K – Chandler, Ariz.)
P – Ryan Hanson, James Madison (RS Jr., P – Elgin, Texas)
RS – Milan Tucker, App State (RS Jr., RS – Lehigh Acres, Fla.)
AP – Frank Gore Jr., Southern Miss (Jr., AP – Miami, Fla.)

Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team Offense
QB – Carter Bradley, South Alabama (Sr., QB – Jacksonville, Fla.)
RB – Rasheen Ali, Marshall (RS So., RB – Cleveland, Ohio)
RB – Kimani Vidal, Troy (Jr., RB – Marietta, Ga.)
OL – Damion Daley, App State (RS Sr., OL – Columbia, S.C.)
OL – Will McDonald, Coastal Carolina (RS Sr., OL – Matthews, N.C.)
OL – AJ Gillie, Louisiana (RS Jr., OL – Natchitoches, La.)
OL – Ethan Driskell, Marshall (RS Jr., OL – Louisville, Ky.)
OL – Daniel King, Troy (Jr., OL – Cairo, Ga.)
TE – Jjay Mcafee, Georgia Southern (6th Yr., TE – Charleston, S.C.)
WR – Tyrone Howell, ULM (6th Yr., WR – Idabel, Okla.)
WR – Caullin Lacy, South Alabama (Jr., WR – Mobile, Ala.)
WR – Devin Voisin, South Alabama (Sr., WR – Crestview, Fla.)

Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team Defense
DL – Javon Denis, Georgia State (RS Sr., DL – Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
DL – Wy’Kevious Thomas, South Alabama (RS Jr., DL – Riverdale, Ga.)
DL – Jalen Williams, Southern Miss (Sr., DL – Tylertown, Miss.)
DL – Jordan Revels, Texas State (Sr., DL – Houston, Texas)
DL – Javon Solomon, Troy (Jr., DL – Tallahassee, Fla.)
LB – Jontrey Hunter, Georgia State (RS Sr., LB – Tampa, Fla.)
LB – Jordan Veneziale, Georgia State (Sr., LB – Dallas, Ga.)
LB – Taurus Jones, James Madison (RS Jr., LB – Portsmouth, Va.)
DB – Bryquice Brown, Georgia State (RS Sr., DB – Dorchester, Mass.)
DB – Keith Gallmon Jr., South Alabama (RS Sr., DB – Mobile, Ala.)
DB – Jaden Voisin, South Alabama (RS Jr., DB – Crestview, Fla.)
DB – Dell Pettus, Troy (Sr., DB – Harvest, Ala.)

Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team Special Teams
K – Diego Guajardo, South Alabama (Sr., K – Spanish Fort, Ala.)
P – Ethan Duane, Old Dominion (Jr., P – Melbourne, Australia)
RS – Matthew McDoom, Coastal Carolina (So., RS – Winter Garden, Fla.)
AP – Kimani Vidal, Troy (Jr., AP – Marietta, Ga.)

This is fair to us. I think if we finish 2nd we will have more than 3 players on the 1st and 2nd teams but it will likely be some breakout players since we lost a lot. Picking the East and West winners are very hard and it shows with the close margins. My picks are JMU and South Alabama but I think the top 4 in the East are all fair picks to win the division. It indeed feels like a 2 team race in the west. I am surprised the coaches did not go with South Alabama due to returning the best QB in that division by far.

Lack of pre season award winners is telling given our history

I remember the years where it felt like 2/3rds of our starters were on these awards lists

HurricaneYosef wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 12:17 pm

Lack of pre season award winners is telling given our history

I remember the years where it felt like 2/3rds of our starters were on these awards lists

Two things. There are four more programs and they haven’t created more positions on a football team, and we were .500 with two FCS opponents. We have to prove ourselves again. Good thing is I think we’re well aware, and hopefully next year it can look more normal.

Crazy we have 0 players on 1st or 2nd team defense. Not really surprising though, I'm guessing McLeod would have been on there.

Surprised not to see Bucky's name on the 2nd team offense though, seems to be getting a lot of accolades elsewhere. He had a 0.5% missed block percentage last year or something crazy like that.

I think what our relative lack of players claiming all-conference preseason honors tells us is that our returning production is really low. This is a young team. Per Bill Connelly's numbers, we're #131 out of 133 for returning production. We're only ahead of Georgia State and Kent State and we're just behind ECU.

The other side of that coin is that we didn't see the results we wanted out of the roster we had last year, so maybe this is a chance for those outstanding recruiting classes of the last few years to make their marks.

AppinVA wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 12:27 pm

HurricaneYosef wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 12:17 pm

Lack of pre season award winners is telling given our history

I remember the years where it felt like 2/3rds of our starters were on these awards lists

Two things. There are four more programs and they haven’t created more positions on a football team, and we were .500 with two FCS opponents. We have to prove ourselves again. Good thing is I think we’re well aware, and hopefully next year it can look more normal.

That sums it up very succinctly.

i sure hope not, but I'm not sure this year isn't a repeat performance- "We have to prove ourselves" Laurels aren't any good.

This is NOT unfair. In fact we may still be riding on some past reputation. The sad part is we are not viewed as a favored. Time for our coaches and players to step up and retake control of the conference. What's done in the past cannot be undone so all we can do now is move forward and this new group will have to write a new script in our next phase of history.

2nd seems high to me given our unknows, so hope to be pleasantly surprised.

JMU only has 4 (one is punter) on any of the lists and they are picked 1st. R-E-L-A-X it's where you finish people.

Worth a listen.

biggie wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 1:50 pm

2nd seems high to me given our unknows, so hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Not an unfair take. Same for JMU. They lost more offensively than we did and they are first, (although bot received 4 1st place votes). What does that say about the rest of the east?

AppSt94 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 2:05 pm

biggie wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 1:50 pm

2nd seems high to me given our unknows, so hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Not an unfair take. Same for JMU. They lost more offensively than we did and they are first, (although bot received 4 1st place votes). What does that say about the rest of the east?

JMUs QB was everything for them having a great year. Without him they may have been a little above .500 last year.

Black Saturday wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 3:24 pm

AppSt94 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 2:05 pm

biggie wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 1:50 pm

2nd seems high to me given our unknows, so hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Not an unfair take. Same for JMU. They lost more offensively than we did and they are first, (although bot received 4 1st place votes). What does that say about the rest of the east?

JMUs QB was everything for them having a great year. Without him they may have been a little above .500 last year.

And that is my point. I’m not saying that we are any better off replacing Brice with either Burger or Aguilar, but Centeio was a difference maker and while you can replace the position, can you replace the impact?

I do not read into preseason polls... especially not in today's college football with free agents and NIL.
All teams in the conference working the transfer portal, including JMU. I believe they got a P5 transfer at QB for this year if he is the starter. I do not follow other SBC teams closely. Time will tell if good as last year.
Nice for App. St. to be near top of conference standings in a preseason poll. However, it means nothing. As far as individual players on all-conference teams, I would probably not pick many from App. St. this pre-season as we have many unknowns with new and inexperienced players in some positions. My belief is that we are a year away from being back to what we expect...with that said, if some things go our way...whoever QB1 is...plays much better than a typical 1st year QB ..and we demonstrate we are much better on D with things like pressure on QB (if not a sack .but make them have happy feet, etc ), etc. If that happens, we may be ahead of schedule and surprise some folks.

As far is JMU is concerned I still smart over the egregiously bad call made on the punt that cost us possession and momentum. That's all I'll say.

Two things:
- people aren’t giving enough credit to JMU’s defensive line depth
- I’d post that all conference list in the defensive meeting room and weight room and let them know App hasn’t been shut out on the front in 40 years

appstate77 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:58 pm

As far is JMU is concerned I still smart over the egregiously bad call made on the punt that cost us possession and momentum. That's all I'll say.

Offensive production wasn't there in the second half leading up to that terrible call. Open the second half driving, only to run into a loaded box on 3rd and 4th down giving it right back to JMU. Followed by a three and out on the next offensive possession. I'm not even sure had App retained possession after the what should have been muff, it would have lead to points.

Even after JMU scores, Brice threw a nice pass to Horn for about 20, then followed by three straight running plays, leading to a punt. JMU scores again, Brice throws a terrible interception, and that's all she wrote.

The punt call deprived us of a chance of points of some kind as we were within their 25 yd line. Those pts. 3 or 7 would have make a huge difference in holding a lead like the FG we got in the 3rd qtr of the 1st Michigan game

appstate77 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 9:11 pm

The punt call deprived us of a chance of points of some kind as we were within their 25 yd line. Those pts. 3 or 7 would have make a huge difference in holding a lead like the FG we got in the 3rd qtr of the 1st Michigan game

I don't disagree, just feel there were chances after that to swing back momentum and put that bad call in the past.