Print |
E-mail to a friend
MARSHALL SPORTS
Herd picked fifth by C-USA coaches
Cody Slate along with teammates Darius Marshall, Albert McClellan and C.J. Spillman were preseason all-conference picks.
Purchase this photoRelated:
HUNTINGTON -- Marshall's football team was picked for a fifth-place finish in the Conference USA East Division in voting by the head coaches.
Preseason all-conference team selections from the Thundering Herd were tight end Cody Slate, defensive lineman Albert McClellan, defensive back C.J. Spillman and kick return specialist Darius Marshall.
Slate, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior from Chipley, Fla., was an all-conference first team player last season with 66 receptions for 818 yards and five touchdowns.
McClellan was the 2006 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year and missed all of last season because of a knee injury.
The 6-2, 259-pound junior from Lakeland, Fla., led the Marshall defense in 2006 with 11.5 quarterback sacks and 19.0 tackles for loss. He had 77 total tackles.
Spillman is a 6-foot, 193-pound senior from Louisville, Ky. He led last year's team with 131 tackles.
Darus Marshall averaged 29.3 yards on kickoff returns last season. The 5-10, 193-pound sophomore from Milledgeville, Ga., was also the Herd's rushing leader with 631 yards.
UCF (East) and Tulsa (West) were predicted to repeat as division winners. UCF received 67 of the possible 72 poll points. Tulsa was a unanimous choice.
The UCF Golden Knights defeated Tulsa, 44-25, in last year's C-USA Championship Game.
East Carolina, Southern Miss and Memphis were also ahead of Marshall in the East Division poll, with UAB in last place.
Marshall, coming off a 3-9 season, was picked fifth for the second consecutive season. The Thundering Herd placed fifth in 2007 with a 3-5 league record.
Southern Miss running back Damion Fletcher and linebacker Gerald McRath were named as the preseason offensive and defensive players of the year respectively.
Fletcher, a junior, rushed for 1,586 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. His career totals include 16 games with 100 yards and seven multi-touchdown games.
McRath is the reigning C-USA Defensive Player of the Year. The junior linebacker led the league with 139 tackles and averaged 10.7 per game.
UCF cornerback Joe Burnett, a senior, was selected as the preseason Special Teams Player of the Year. Burnett is first among the nation's active players with a career average of 13.23 yards on punt returns. He has returned three punts for touchdowns.
