Was there even a question who would win the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year? Quarterback Quinton Flowers was named as the winner of that award Wednesday.
Flowers just finished what might be the most prolific season in USF history, and he still has the bowl game to add on to his numbers. He threw for 2,546 yards and 22 touchdowns with only six interceptions, completing over 61% of his pass attempts and leading the Bulls to their first ten-win season. Even more impressively, he broke running back Marlon Mack’s single-season rushing record with 1,425 yards. Flowers averaged a whopping 8.1 yards per carry this season and tacked on another 15 touchdowns on the ground.
Start at 31 seconds:
Flowers was also selected as the first-team all-conference quarterback. He is joined on the first team with Mack, his “9-5” partner in crime, and his bodyguard, left tackle Kofi Amichia.
Mack has been on the American’s first team all three years at USF, in addition to being the 2014 freshman of the year. He rushed for 1,137 yards and 15 touchdowns in the regular season despite missing one game due to injury. He added 26 catches for 215 yards as he became more of a weapon in the passing game. Mack became just the third running back in state of Florida college history to post three-straight 1,000-yard seasons joining FSU backs Dalvin Cook and Warrick Dunn.
Mackquake:
Wide recevier Rodney Adams, tight end Mitchell Wilcox, right guard Dominique Threatt, defensive tackle Deadrin Senat, linebacker Auggie Sanchez, cornerback Deatrick Nichols and running back/returner D’Ernest Johnson were all named to the second team.
Adams had 60 catches for 755 yards and five touchdowns to pace #FlightSquad. He also added 222 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Wilcox added 11 catches for 265 yards and two scores. Threatt helped block for the most dynamic rushing attack in the conference that rushed for over 3,500 yards as a team.
Adams jet sweep TD vs Memphis:
Even the much-maligned defense earned some respect from the league’s coaches. Sanchez posted over 100 tackles for the second year in a row and led the team with six sacks. Senat was the most consistent defensive lineman throughout the year and finished with 46 tackles, most among defensive linemen, and six tackles-for-loss. Nichols, coming off a first-team selection last year, totaled 47 tackles and matched his interception total from 2015 with four.
Johnson did a bit of everything for the Bulls, rushing for 516 yards and eight touchdowns, the last yard and touchdown of which was my personal favorite. He added 198 yards receiving and four scores. Johnson was named as the second-team return specialist. He had 211 punt return yards, including an 83-yard touchdown against Syracuse, and added 135 kick return yards.
In total, four Bulls (Flowers, Mack, Adams and Johnson) amassed more than 1,000 all-purpose yards this year and those same four accounted for at least ten total touchdowns each.
Congratulations to the ten players. They definitely #DidSomething in this historic year.