Conference USA has named 12 Southern Miss players as All- League performers for this year’s 6 – 6 season.
On Dec. 5, C-USA announced that Cameron Tom, Dylan Bradley, Nick Mullens, Elijah Parker, Tyler Sarrazin, D’Nerius Antoine, Ito Smith, Parker Shaunfield, Xavier Thigpen Jr. and Ty Pollard were among the All-League performers.
Seniors Tom, Bradley and Antoine made First-Team C-USA.
Other C-USA schools that garnered significant selections in league honors were Louisiana Tech, with seven players named to the first team, followed by Western Kentucky, which had six players named to the first team and 14 total players on the first and second teams.
D’Nerius Antoine led the team in tackles with 82 for the Golden Eagles while playing safety and recorded five pass break-ups and two tackles for loss. Defensive lineman Dylan Bradley followed behind with 59 tackles and 14 tackles for loss while adding seven sacks and blocking two kicks.
Senior center Cameron Tom earned first-team honors after his team rushed for 2,134 yards and gave up 27 sacks this year while starting 49 out of a possible 50 games he has played in his 4-year career.
Junior running back Ito Smith and sophomore kicker Parker Shaunfield garnered second-team honors. Smith led the Golden Eagles with 1,360 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, capturing his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. Shaunfield missed three games this season but was still able to make 36-of-36 on extra points and 12-of-13 on his field goal attempts.
Freshman tackle Ty Pollard made All-Freshman team for the conference, starting all 12 games at right tackle for the Golden Eagles.
Honorable Mention awards went to senior quarterback Nick Mullens, who passed for 2,926 yards and 22 touchdowns, converting on 63.4 percent of his passes in the 10 games he started; junior tight end Julian Allen, who caught 18 balls for 281 yards with a score; and junior receiver Allenzae Staggers, who nabbed six touchdowns along with 52 catches for 935 yards including a six-catch-292 yard and three- touchdown performance against Rice on Oct. 1.
Other honorable mentions were junior defensive lineman Xavier Thigpen, Jr., senior linebacker Elijah Parker and senior punter Tyler Sarrazin.
Southern Miss will continue their season against Louisiana- Lafayette on Dec. 17 in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
