La. Tech places 2 on preseason All-C-USA team
IRVING, Texas – Louisiana Tech had two representatives named to the 2017 Conference USA Football Coaches Preseason Awards as O’Shea Dugas and Jaylon Ferguson both made the list, which is voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Ferguson has already been named to a pair of watch lists this summer with both the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy committees naming the defensive lineman as one of the nation’s top players to watch heading into the 2017 season.
In 2016, Ferguson recorded a single-season school record 14.5 sacks for a loss of 89 yards and 49 total tackles with 16 tackles for loss. Ferguson also ranked sixth in FBS and first in Conference USA in sacks per game (1.04), while he also ranked first in C-USA in fumbles recovered and second in forced fumbles per game (0.29).
Ferguson enters his redshirt junior season ranked fourth in the NCAA among active career leaders in total sacks per game with an average of 0.79, while he is ranked fifth with 1.19 tackles for loss per game in his career. He is also ranked third in Louisiana Tech history with 20.5 career sacks.
On the offensive line, Dugas played in every game for the Bulldogs as a sophomore last season while making 11 starts. In 2016, Dugas helped lead a unit that ranked third nationally in tackles for loss allowed (3.71 per game), while he also helped pave the way for an offense that ranked second nationally in scoring (44.3 points per game) and ninth nationally in total offense (514.7).
Last week, Dugas was named to the 2017 Outland Trophy Watch List, which includes 24 offensive tackles, 21 defensive tackles, 19 centers and 17 offensive guards from all 10 Division I FBS conferences.
2017 C-USA FOOTBALL COACHES PRESEASON AWARDS
Offense
QB Mike White, Sr., WKU
RB Ray Lawry, Sr., Old Dominion
RB Ito Smith, Sr., Southern Miss
OL O’Shea Dugas, Jr., Louisiana Tech
OL Will Hernandez, Sr., UTEP
OL Trey Martin, Sr., Rice
OL Austin Pratt, Sr., UTSA
OL Brandan Ray, Sr., WKU
TE Ryan Yurachek, Sr., Marshall
WR Richie James, Jr., Middle Tennessee
WR Jonathan Duhart, Sr., Old Dominion
WR Allenzae Staggers, Sr., Southern Miss
Defense
DL Marcus Davenport, Sr., UTSA
DL Jaylon Ferguson, Jr., Louisiana Tech
DL Chris Johnson, Sr., WKU
DL Oshane Ximines, Jr., Old Dominion
LB Emmanuel Ellerbee, Sr., Rice
LB Alvin Jones, Sr., UTEP
LB Josiah Tauaefa, So., UTSA
LB Anthony Wint, Sr., FIU
DB Brandon Addison, Sr., Old Dominion
DB Nate Brooks, Sr., North Texas
DB Joe Brown, Sr., WKU
DB Kishawn McClain, Sr., North Texas
Special Teams
K Canon Rooker, Sr., Middle Tennessee
P Jake Collins, Jr., WKU
KR Kylen Towner, Sr., WKU
PR Nacarius Fant, Sr., WKU
LS Matt Bayliss, Sr., UTSA