MIAMI (May 23, 2019) - Athlon Sports released its Preseason All-Conference honors for the C-USA on Thursday, with the FIU football team leading the way with a league-high 13 selections.
For the full release by Athlon Sports, click
here.
The closest school to FIU's total was North Texas, who earned 10 selections.
Maurice Alexander and
Sage Lewis headlined FIU's honorees, with the Panther duo each claiming a spot on the first team.
Alexander had a breakout season in 2018, after making the move from quarterback to wideout and return man. The Florida City, Florida native was a highlight reel in the return game (when teams were brave enough to kick to him) as he averaged 14.6 yards per punt return to rank fifth in the nation among those with at least three returns on the year. Alexander's breakout game in 2018 came against UMass, as the Panther racked up 136 return yards and scored on a 69-yard scamper to help FIU roll over the Minutemen. Alexander was awarded C-USA First Team honors for his special team efforts in 2018.
After making the move to middle linebacker in 2018, Lewis broke the school record in total tackles (132) and solos (83) while ranking first in the league for both of those categories. Lewis' 83 solos ranked 10th in the nation last season, with that same number ranking third in the nation among 2019 returnees. Lewis was awarded C-USA First Team honors following his stellar junior campaign in 2018.
James Morgan was the leader in the second team pack, with the Panthers earning a whopping seven honorees for that list. Joining Morgan were
Anthony Jones,
Austin Maloney,
Dallas Connell,
D'Antne Demery,
Stantley Thomas-Oliver III and
Jose Borregales. On the third and fourth teams FIU had two selections each, with
Noah Curtis and
Richard Dames making up the third team and
Sterling Palmer and
Teair Tart rounding out the list on the fourth team.
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(305) FIU-GAME.
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Entering its 18th year of football in 2019, the FIU Panthers are coming off a program-best nine wins a season ago. FIU capped 2018 with a 35-32 victory over Toledo in the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl to finish the season 9-4 overall. Under legendary head coach
Butch Davis, the Panthers have earned back-to-back bowl appearances and 17 wins in the last two years.
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Athlon Sports All-CUSA FIU Selections
First-Team Defense
Sage Lewis
First-Team Specialists
Maurice Alexander
Second-Team Offense
James Morgan
Anthony Jones
Austin Maloney
Dallas Connell
D'Antne Demery
Second-Team Defense
Stantley Thomas-Oliver III
Second-Team Specialists
Jose Borregales
Third-Team Defense
Noah Curtis
Richard Dames
Fourth-Team Offense
Sterling Palmer
Fourth-Team Defense
Teair Tart
