Four Tigers Named to the Athlon Pre-Season All-Conference First Team

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Four Tigers Named to the Athlon Pre-Season All-Conference First Team

May 24, 2017 | Football

Thirteen total Tigers recognized on all four teams.

By: Tammy DeGroff

Complete Athlon Sports AAC Preseason All-Conference Team

MEMPHIS – Four Tigers were named to Athlon Magazine's American Athletic Conference first team, Wednesday. In total, 13 Tigers earned pre-season all-conference honors on one of the four teams, including the four first-team honorees. The 13 honorees was second in the league to USF.

On the first team for Memphis were senior wide receiver Anthony Miller, senior linebacker Genard Avery, senior punter Spencer Smith and sophomore kick returner and defending American Special Teams Player of the Year Tony Pollard.

First Team
Anthony Miller • Wide Receiver • Senior • 5-11 • 190
Miller enters his senior season after 95 receptions for a school-record 1,434 yards last season. That mark shattered the school-record of former NFL great Isaac Bruce, making Miller and Bruce the only two players in Memphis history to have 1,000 yard receiving seasons. A member of the Biletnikoff Award Watch List last year, Miller earned second team all-conference honors after recording eight 100-plus receiving yard games and adding 14 receiving touchdowns.

Genard Avery • Linebacker • Senior • 6-1 • 250
Avery earned his first team preseason honors after finishing last year as the Tigers' second-leading tackler with 81 total stops, including 63 solos. He led Memphis in tackles for loss (11-for-59 yards), sacks (5) and quarterback hurries (6). He also added two interceptions, both for touchdowns, and was named the team's John Bramlett Defensive Player of the Year.

Spencer Smith • Punter • Senior • 6-1 • 195
Smith led the American Athletic Conference with 45.1 yards per punt and has earned three all-conference honors at Memphis, including first team honors in 2015 and 2016. In 13 games, Smith downed 11 of 45 punts inside the 20 and kicked 13 punts for over 50 yards, including a season-best 63 yarder in a road win at Tulane. Smith also completed a pass on a punt fake at Ole Miss to defensive back Arthur Maulet. His 2016 45.1 yards per punt average would have ranked third in the NCAA if he had attempted more punts. His 3.46 punt per game average just missed the minimum of 3.5 punts/game threshold set by the NCAA. He ranked in the top five until the Tigers' bowl game appearance at the 2016 Boca Raton Bowl, where he punted just one time.

Tony Pollard • Kick Returner • Sophomore • 5-11 • 200
The American Athletic Conference returns all three position players of the year in 2017, including Memphis sophomore Tony Pollard, the defending Special Teams Player of the Year. Pollard was a Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American, a USA Today Freshman All-American and a first team, all-conference honoree in his redshirt freshman campaign in 2016. He led the American Athletic Conference in kickoff return yards per game (28.1) and added two kickoff return touchdowns and a blocked punt in his first collegiate season. His 95-yard kickoff return touchdown against eventual conference champ Temple snapped a 20-year touchdown-less streak for Memphis' kick return unit. He added a second kickoff touchdown at Navy, the other team from the American Athletic Conference Championship game.

Second Team
On offense, Riley Ferguson and offensive linemen Gabe Kuhn and Drew Kyser earned second team pre-season honors from Athlon.

Riley Ferguson • Quarterback • Senior • 6-4 • 210
Ferguson passed for 3,698 yards and a school-record 32 touchdowns in 2016 and ranked second in the American with 284.5 yards passing per game. His 3,698 yards ranks second in Memphis history to 2016 NFL First Round pick Paxton Lynch by 78 yards, despite missing most of the game at Cincinnati due to injury. In 2016, Ferguson ranked 11^th in the NCAA in passing yards and points responsible for (218). He was a three-time AAC Offensive Player of the Week and shared the Isaac Bruce Offensive Player of the Year award with teammate Anthony Miller.

Gabe Kuhn • Offensive Line • Senior • 6-4 • 295
Senior Gabe Kuhn has appeared in every game except one at Memphis since stepping in to the starting lineup as a redshirt freshman at center in 2014. Kuhn has played all over the front line for the Tigers, moving to guard with the addition of Drew Kyser to the roster. In 2016, Kuhn blocked for a Memphis offense that ranked 14^th in the country with 304.4 passing yards per game and 28thin the country in total offense (463.7 ypg).

Drew Kyser • Center • Junior • 6-5 • 300
Junior Drew Kyser was just named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List for the second time in as many seasons earlier this week. The junior has started 25 of 26 career games at center for Memphis and helped the high-powered Memphis offense rank 15^th in the NCAA with 38.8 points per game.

Third Team
Memphis had one third team honoree in offense, defense and special teams. Senior running back Doroland Dorceus and senior defensive back Jonathan Cook earned a nod for their respective sides of the ball, while Miller earned a third team nod as a punt returner.

Doroland Dorceus • Running Back • Senior • 5-10 • 215
Dorceus enters his senior campaign having appeared in 39 career games, including every game in the past two seasons after missing all but four games in the 2014 campaign due to injury. In 2016, he rushed for a career-high 810 yards with nine touchdowns. His 6.1 average per carry total in 2016 was also a career-best mark and he added 10 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown last season.

Jonathan Cook • Defensive Back • Senior • 6-0 • 198
In his first season at Memphis, junior college transfer Jonathan Cook led Memphis with 88 total tackles, including 72 solos. Cook had 5.5 tackles for loss and one interception. He ranked second on the team with eight pass breakups and had one fumble recovery for 50 yards. Cook is the lone returning defensive back for a Memphis defense that ranked tied for fifth in the NCAA with 29 turnovers gained, 16 of them interceptions. The Memphis defense's +8 turnover margin tied for 18^th in the NCAA last season.

Anthony Miller • Punt Returner • Senior • 5-11 • 190
Miller fielded 15 of Memphis' 21 punts in 2016, averaging 6.5 yards per return. For his career, Miller has averaged 6.9 yards per return on 18 career returns.

Fourth Team
Three Tigers earned fourth team nods from the folks at Athlon in the pre-season all-conference team. On offense, senior wide receiver Phil Mayhue earned recognition while sophomore Jonathan Wilson and junior Curtis Akins earned nods off the defensive unit.

Curtis Akins • Linebacker • Junior • 6-2 • 235
Curtis Akins stepped in to the starting lineup in 2016, making an appearance in all 13 games with eight starts. He finished fourth on the team in total tackles, with 74, including 48 solos. From his linebacker spot, he added two tackles for loss and one interception return for 20 yards. His 26 assisted tackles led the team.

Phil Mayhue • Wide Receiver • Senior • 6-3 • 210
In 38 career games, Mayhue has 108 catches for 1,589 yards and seven touchdowns. He comes in to 2017 with an active consecutive-games- with-a-catch streak of 28 games. His 677 receiving yards in 2016 was a career-best, as were his four touchdowns. In the win over #18/21 Houston, Mayhue had six catches for a career-best 142 yards and two touchdowns, scoring both touchdowns in the first quarter to give Memphis a 21-10 win in the eventual 48-44 Tiger victory.

Jonathan Wilson • Defensive Line • Sophomore • 6-3 • 280
Jonathan Wilson joined Memphis in 2016 and stepped right in to the lineup, playing in all 13 games with eight starts. He finished with 30 total tackles, including six tackles for loss (26 yards), three sacks, two pass break ups, two quarterback hurries and a 61 yard interception return for a touchdown.

The 2017 Campaign
Season tickets for the seven-game Memphis home stand are on sale now at www.GoTigersGo.com/footballtickets. Tickets for the 2017 campaign, which includes home games against UCLA and Navy, start at just $130 (or $115 for Tiger Scholarship Fund members with a minimum donation of $100). Fans who purchase or renew their season tickets by June 10 will receive the newly-formatted game book set of tickets, which includes a free clear bag (12"x12"x5") that complies with the Liberty Bowl's new clear bag policy that takes effect in 2017.

Parking for the 2017 season is also on sale now. Parking passes can also be purchased for $70 ($10/game) at www.GoTigersGo.com/FootballTickets. Fans who purchase their parking by the June 10^th date will also get that included in their season ticket game book.

Memphis opens its 2017 season with camp on Thursday, July 27^th and will start its second season under head coach Mike Norvell on Aug. 31^st against Louisiana-Monroe. The Tigers will open their AAC schedule the following week on the road at UCF, Sept. 9^th.