SoCon Football Coaches Pick Mocs Fifth in Preseason Poll

(soconsports.com) SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges has been named the Southern Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, while teammate and defensive lineman Ahmad Gooden has been tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year in preseason voting by the league’s nine head coaches, who chose the Bulldogs as the favorites to win the SoCon in their annual predictive poll.

The coaches also selected all-conference first and second teams and were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes or teams in the voting process. Due to several ties in the voting, the second team includes three additional offensive linemen, one extra wide receiver and one additional punter.

Samford, which tied for second in the SoCon standings, made the FCS playoffs and finished the year ranked 17^th nationally in 2017, earned seven of the nine first-place votes in the preseason poll, totaling 63 points. The Bulldogs have completed their ascent up the SoCon preseason rankings, as they are favorites for the first time after working their way up from ninth place in 2008, their debut season in the league. Samford, now a consistent top-25 team, has been picked in the top three in the SoCon preseason rankings in each of the last five seasons.

The Bulldogs return six of their league-best nine All-SoCon performers from last season, including Hodges and Gooden.

Defending league champion Wofford edged Furman for second in the preseason poll, picking up a first-place vote and 53 points. The Terriers enter the Josh Conklin era this season after SoCon Hall of Fame head coach Mike Ayers stepped down following the 2017 season, his 30^th at Wofford. The Terriers reached the FCS quarterfinals for the second straight season last year.

The Paladins, paced by 2017 SoCon Coach of the Year Clay Hendrix, were third in the poll with 52 points and the remaining first-place vote. Furman finished in a tie for second in the SoCon with Samford last season, posting an identical 6-2 league record, and advanced to the FCS second round, where it fell to Wofford.

Western Carolina finished fourth in the poll with 39 points and was followed by Chattanooga (34), Mercer (32), The Citadel (28), ETSU (15) and VMI (eight). ETSU will also enter a new era this season, as Randy Sanders takes over for the Bucs following the retirement of Carl Torbush after the 2017 campaign.

Samford’s Hodges was a finalist for the FCS Walter Payton Award in 2017 and collected his second straight SoCon Offensive Player of the Year award. The rising redshirt senior from Kimberley, Alabama, was named a second-team All-American by the AFCA and ranked third in the FCS with 3,983 passing yards and fifth with 31 touchdowns. Hodges was sixth in the FCS with 331.9 passing yards per game and led the nation with 28.92 completions per game. Overall, Hodges was 347-for-528 with just 11 interceptions on the season. He had a career game against Western Carolina on Sept. 23 of last season, throwing for 516 yards, the third-best mark in league history, and amassing 530 yards of total offense, the second-best single-game total in SoCon lore.

The Bulldogs’ Ahmad Gooden, a consensus All-American last season, finished the 2017 campaign with 101 tackles, tied for fifth in the league, en route to becoming the first Samford player to earn SoCon Defensive Player of the Year honors from the league’s coaches. The rising redshirt senior from Talladega, Alabama, wrapped up the season with 15.5 tackles for loss, tied for second in the league, while his 1.3 TFLs per game ranked 37^th in the FCS. The Buck Buchanan Award finalist also recorded 5.5 sacks, which tied for fourth in the SoCon, and posted five games with at least 10 tackles, including 17 in a win over No. 24 Furman late in the season. He helped anchor a Samford defense that led the SoCon in total defense, allowing just 22.2 points per game, and allowed a league-low 133 points in league contests.

Wofford led all teams with 10 total preseason all-conference selections, putting a league-best six on the first teams and sharing league-high honors with four on the second teams. Junior Luke Carter earned first-team honors at placekicker and second-team mention at punter.

Mercer was second with eight total selections, putting four each on the first and second teams, while Furman and Samford had seven total selections each.

Chattanooga and Samford get the season underway on Thursday, Aug. 30, with the Mocs hosting Tennessee Tech at 7 p.m. Eastern and the Bulldogs welcoming Shorter at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

2018 Preseason Southern Conference Coaches Poll

Team (1st-place votes)            Total

1. Samford (7)                           63
2. Wofford (1)                           53
3. Furman (1)                            52
4. Western Carolina                   39
5. Chattanooga                         34
6. Mercer                                  32
7. The Citadel                           28
8. ETSU                                   15
9. VMI                                      8

 

2018 Preseason All-Southern Conference Football Teams

Offensive Player of the Year: Devlin Hodges, R-Sr., QB, Samford

Defensive Player of the Year: Ahmad Gooden, R-Sr., DL, Samford

 

First team offense

QB    Devlin Hodges, R-Sr., Samford

RB    Kealand Dirks, R-Sr., Furman

RB    Andre Stoddard, Sr., Wofford

OL     Tyler Davis, Sr., The Citadel

OL     Austin Sanders, R-Jr., Mercer

OL     Nick Nixon, Jr., Samford

OL     Zach Weeks, R-Sr., Western Carolina

OL     Michael Ralph, Jr., Wofford

TE     Sam Walker, R-Sr., Mercer

WR   Marquise Irvin, Sr., Mercer

WR   Kelvin McKnight, Sr., Samford

 

First team defense

DL     Nasir Player, R-Jr., ETSU

DL     Ahmad Gooden, R-Sr., Samford

DL     Isaiah Mack, R-Sr., Chattanooga

DL     Miles Brown, Sr., Wofford

LB     Elijah McKoy, So., Furman

LB     LeMarkus Bailey, R-Sr., Mercer

LB     Datavious Wilson, Jr., Wofford

DB    Aron Spann III, Sr., The Citadel

DB    Aaquil Annoor, Sr., Furman

DB    Marvin Tillman, Sr., Western Carolina

DB    Devin Watson, Sr., Wofford

 

First team specialists

PK     Luke Carter, Jr., Wofford

P       Ian Berryman, R-Sr., Western Carolina

RS    Brandon Dowdell, So., Chattanooga

 

Second team offense

QB    Tyrie Adams, R-Jr., Western Carolina

RB    Tee Mitchell, Sr., Mercer

RB    Tyrell Price, Jr., Chattanooga

OL     Drew McEntyre, Jr., The Citadel

OL     Matt Pyke, R-Sr., ETSU

OL     Reed Kroeber, R-So., Furman

OL     Malcolm White, R-Jr., Chattanooga

OL     Brad Davis, So., VMI

OL     Nathan Dalton, R-Sr., Western Carolina

OL     Andrew Miles, R-Sr., Western Carolina

OL     Justus Basinger, Jr., Wofford

TE     Jake Walker, So., Furman

WR   Thomas Gordon, Jr., Furman

WR   Chris Shelling, Jr., Samford

WR   Bingo Morton, R-Sr., Chattanooga

 

Second team defense

DL     Ja’Lon Williams, Jr., The Citadel

DL     Jaylan Reid, R-Sr., Furman

DL     Isaiah Buehler, R-Sr., Mercer

DL     Mikel Horton, Jr., Wofford

LB     Noah Dawkins, Sr., The Citadel

LB     Dylan Weigel, R-Sr., ETSU

LB     Christian Stark, Sr., Samford

DB    Eric Jackson, R-Jr., Mercer

DB    Darius Harvey, R-Sr., Samford

DB    Kareem Orr, Sr., Chattanooga

DB    Mason Alstatt, Jr., Wofford

 

Second team specialists

PK     JJ Jerman, Sr., ETSU

P       Matt Shiel, Gr., Mercer

P       Luke Carter, Jr., Wofford

RS    Quan Harrison R-Jr., ETSU

 

NOTE: Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.