CCU

Football Picked as Big South Preseason Favorite

       

Football Picked as Big South Preseason Favorite



(portions courtesy Big South Conference)   CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Coastal Carolina has been tabbed as the favorite in the Big South Conference’s annual preseason football poll, as voted by the League’s head coaches, sports information directors and media panel, it was announced today at The Westin Hotel in downtown Charlotte as part of the 2006 Big South Conference Football Kickoff Media Luncheon.  Coastal Carolina, champions of the Big South in 2004 and co-champs in 2005, was the preseason favorite last year.   Coastal returns 21 starters from last year’s Big South co-champion squad that finished 9-2 overall, 3-1 in the Big South and ranked in three of the final Top 25 polls.  David Bennett’s Chanticleers received 15 first-place votes and 90 total points in this year’s preseason poll.    The Chanticleers also had eight players earn Preseason All-Big South Conference honors at the preseason event. On the offensive side of the ball, four Coastal players were honored, senior running back Aundres Perkins, junior wide receiver Jerome Simpson and senior offensive linemen Brad Poston and Brian Kepple.   Perkins played in all 11 games in 2005 to earn Second Team All-Big South honors, splitting time between running back and fullback during the season. He rushed for 349 yards on 68 carries (5.1 yards per carry) and ranked second in the league with 12 touchdowns, tops among running backs. He had five games with two or more touchdowns this season, including against Gardner-Webb, Liberty and Charleston Southern. He holds the league’s career record for touchdowns scored with 38 and ranks second on CCU’s career rushing chart with 1,744 yards.

Also a second-team selection in 2005, Simpson set new school records with 33 receptions, 527 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Last year's Big South Freshman of Year tied for seventh in the league with 54 points on nine touchdowns, ranking second in the league among wide receivers. He set a new school record with 10 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns in the dramatic win over defending national champion James Madison. He is already CCU's career leader in receptions (59), receiving yards (946) and receiving touchdowns (17).

Poston earned first-team accolades in 2005 and second-team honors in 2004, while Kepple his first All-Big South award as a second teamer in 2005. These linemen led Coastal to league-bests 202.5 rushing yards and 360.6 total yards per contest, as well as blocking for a passing game that improved 31 percent from 2004.   Defensively, senior defensive lineman Adrain Grady, senior linebacker Jamar Leath and senior defensive back Quinton Teal were named to the preseason squad. Grady picked up his third Second Team All-Big South selection in 2005 after starting all 11 contests for the Chanticleers. He ranked sixth among the league’s defensive linemen with 4.4 tackles per contest (48 total tackles) and finished with 12.5 tackles for loss, tying for second in the Big South among all defenders. He posted a career-high 10 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, in the road win at Liberty. He also chipped in six tackles in the win over James Madison and had five at Charleston Southern.   Leath, who finished third in the league's Defensive Player of the Year voting and was a First Team honoree in 2005, led Coastal and ranked fourth in the League with a career-high 108 tackles and posted 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception. A starter in all 11 games, he was the Big South Defensive Player of the Week the first two weeks of the season after recording then career-highs of 14 tackles at Elon and then 15 against James Madison (including five in the last six plays against JMU). He also was named The Sports Network National Defensive Player of the Week for his play in the win over James Madison and earned the Big South's weekly honor after posting a career-best 15 tackles in the overtime win against Gardner-Webb, Oct. 15.    Teal, a First-Team All-Conference selection in 2004 and 2005, led the Big South in interceptions for the second-straight season with five, and owns the career record (13). A Third Team All-Eastern Region award winner last year, Teal started all 11 games at safety for Coastal, recording 66 tackles on the season (38 of them solo), which ranked fifth in the league among defensive backs. He had a career-high 11 tackles and one forced fumble at SoCon Champion Appalachian State and later matched that mark with 11 tackles, nine of them solo, and one interception in the dramatic road win at South Carolina State. Teal is on track to earn back his fourth year of eligibility at the end of this academic year.   Senior kicker Josh Hoke was also named to the Preseason All-Big South team. Hoke captured first-team honors for the second-straight year, as he tied for the Conference scoring lead with 80 points. He hit all 38 PAT attempts and was 14-of-22 on field goals. Hoke was named National Weekly Football Gazette National Special Teams Player of the Week twice, had three field goals of 45 yards or more and posted 28 touchbacks on 57 kickoffs in 2005. He was also named to the conference's All-Academic Team for the second consecutive season, as Hoke has a 4.0 in communications.   2006 Preseason Poll (first-place votes)     1         2         3         4         5       Points 1. Coastal Carolina (15)                                 75       12         3        --        --              90 2. Charleston Southern                                     --       32       24         4         1              61 3. Gardner-Webb (1)                                         5       20       27         6         1              59 4. Liberty (3)                                                   15       12         3       16         4              50 5. VMI                                                                --        --        --       12       13              25   2006 Coastal Carolina Football Television Schedule (All Times EST) Date                      Game                                                                             Time        Network/Affiliate Sat., Sept. 16        Coastal Carolina at Georgia Southern                     7:00pm        CSS Sat., Sept. 23        South Carolina State at Coastal Carolina              12:30pm        ETV Sat., Oct. 7           Furman at Coastal Carolina                                      7:00pm        CSS Sat., Nov. 11        Coastal Carolina at Gardner-Webb *                       1:30pm        Turner South Sat., Nov. 18        Charleston Southern at Coastal Carolina *             1:30pm        Turner South * - Big South Conference game