Photo by: Frank Fortune - Georgia Southern Athletics
College Sports Madness Names Fritz Coach of the Year, Breida Offensive Player of the Year for Sun Belt Conference
12/11/2014 4:30:00 PM | Football
Honors continue to roll in for Eagles after exceptional inaugural year in FBS
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PORTAGE, Mich. - Georgia Southern Head Coach Willie Fritz earned Coach of the Year honors and sophomore running back Matt Breida was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year for the Sun Belt Conference by College Sports Madness. The three all-conference teams were released today with Breida, senior offensive lineman Garrett Frye and senior linebacker Edwin Jackson on the media outlet's first team.
Other annual honors went to Taylor Lamb of Appalachian State as Freshman of the Year with Texas State's David Mayo chosen as the Defensive Player of the Year.
Breida, who has the highest per carry rushing average in the nation at 8.7 yards per game, was one of two sophomores among the Doak Walker Award semifinalists. The Eagle offense, best in the nation with an average of 381.1 rushing yards per game and amassing 488.3 yards of total offense per game, good for 18th in the country, brought attention to veteran offensive line. Senior center Manrey Saint-Amour, a Rimington Trophy candidate earned a spot on the College Sports Madness second-team offense with senior offensive guard Logan Daves named to the third team.
Directing that powerful offensive attack was sophomore Kevin Ellison, who finished his 2014 season with 1,096 yards rushing and 1,001 yards passing to go along with 12 rushing touchdowns, most by a Sun Belt Conference quarterback. Ellison averaged more than 100 yards a game rushing in league games and earned third-team College Sports Madness honors for his efforts. Derek Keaton, also named to the College Sports Madness third-team offense, led the Sun Belt with a kick return average of 27.8 yards per game, a figure that would rank fifth in the nation, and ranks third on Georgia Southern's single-season list.
Jackson, a candidate for the Burlsworth Award to recognize the nation's best player who started his career as a walkon, rose to the occasion again this season as the Eagles' top tackler with 100. He had double-digit totals in tackles five times in 2014 and led the team in six games.
The College Sports Madness Coach of the Year honor is the second of the awards season for Coach Fritz. He was named the Sun Belt Conference's Coach of the Year Wednesday.
The Eagles will celebrate the accomplishments of the 2014 season with a gala on Saturday, February 8th. More information about that event will be announced at a later date.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can follow Coach Willie Fritz on his official twitter account, @CoachWEFritz.
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