BOONE, N.C. — The All-Sun Belt football teams from Phil Steele include 16 selections and eight first-team picks from Appalachian State.
Defensive lineman
MyQuon Stout, linebacker
Jordan Fehr, linebacker
Akeem Davis-Gaither, defensive back
Clifton Duck, running back
Darrynton Evans and offensive lineman
Victor Johnson were first-team selections on defense and offense. App State senior
Elias McMurry repeated as the first-team long snapper, and Duck was the first-team punt returner.
Unlike the All-Sun Belt teams voted on by the league's coaches and media, the defense had four spots for linebackers instead of three, and a long snapper was recognized. Davis-Gaither finished the season at a team-high 105 tackles and seven pass breakups for a stingy 3-4 defense with four linebackers, and McMurry was involved in no bad snaps while delivering the ball on 28 made field goals, 110 made PATs and 109 punts during those two all-conference seasons.
Stout was the key cog up front for a defense that ranks fifth nationally at 15.5 points allowed per game, App State's third-best mark in the last 29 seasons — the 2006 FCS national title team gave up just 14.9 points per game, and Jerry Moore's first team in 1989 allowed 14.8 points per game.
Fehr had 86 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss, while Duck helped App State allow just 162.1 passing yards per game, a total that's currently No. 5 in the nation. Duck is currently 12th nationally with his 12.7-yard average on punt returns, and he had one touchdown among his two returns of 50-plus yards.
Evans rushed for 1,187 yards with seven 100-yard efforts over the final nine games, giving App State seven straight years with a 1,000-yard back even though he didn't become the primary runner until after
Jalin Moore suffered a season-ending injury in the fifth game. With Johnson as a third-year starter at left tackle, App State will make it five straight years ranking in the top 25 nationally in rushing yards per game (240.4) and fewest sacks allowed (18).
The App State players on Phil Steele's All-Sun Belt second team were quarterback
Zac Thomas, receiver
Corey Sutton, offensive lineman
Noah Hannon, offensive lineman
Chandler Greer and defensive back
Desmond Franklin. Defensive back
Tae Hayes, linebacker
Anthony Flory and tight end
Collin Reed made the third team.
