NEW ORLEANS – A year after being named the league’s Freshman of the Year, UL Lafayette sophomore running back Elijah McGuire headlined the All-Sun Belt Conference honorees and individual award winners as he was named the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year on Wednesday.

McGuire becomes the first Sun Belt Conference student-athlete to win the football Freshman of the Year award followed by the Player of the Year award in back-to-back seasons.

The selections were made by a vote of the league head coaches and selected members of the media.

McGuire also earned the Offensive Player of the Year award. He is the first UL Lafayette student-athlete to win both the Sun Belt Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year award in the same season. It is also the first time since 2008 that the Ragin’ Cajuns claimed both awards in the same season when Tyrell Fenroy (POY) and Michael Desormeaux (OPOY) accomplished the feat.

McGuire rushed for a team-high 1,165 yards and 14 touchdowns during the regular season to rank fourth and tied for fourth respectively on the school single season record list. He led the Ragin’ Cajuns with 40 receptions while leading the Sun Belt Conference and ranking 19th nationally in all-purpose yards per game at 141.2. He has scored a rushing touchdown in nine consecutive games and recorded five 100-yard rushing games this season. His best game came in a nationally-televised contest against Arkansas State in which he rushed for 265 yards on 19 carries and scored four touchdowns.

A Sun Belt Conference record-tying 154 tackles helped Texas State linebacker David Mayo earn the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award. Mayo ranked second nationally and led the Sun Belt Conference with an average of 12.8 tackles per game. The senior notched 22 tackles in a win at UL Monroe this season, the third-highest total in a single game in conference history. He became the only student-athlete in the FBS this season and the first in conference history to record 20 or more tackles in two games when he also recorded 20 in a win at Tulsa. He ranked third in the conference and 17th nationally in solo tackles per game at 6.0. He is the first Texas State football student-athlete to earn a Sun Belt Conference football individual honor.

Quarterback Taylor Lamb earned the Appalachian State starting quarterback job three games into the season and has since set team freshman records in passing yards (2,381) and touchdown passes (17). For his efforts, Lamb was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. Lamb finished the regular season sixth in the conference in total offense (2,864 and 238.7 ypg) and passing yardage (2,381 yards and 198.4 ypg). The Mountaineers closed the year on a six-game winning streak during which Lamb accounted for 1,394 yards of total offense and 12 touchdowns with only two interceptions.

Georgia Southern gained national attention as it went 9-3 with a perfect 8-0 mark in Sun Belt play en route to claiming the outright conference title. Head coach Willie Fritz earned this year’s Coach of the Year honor after he took a Georgia Southern team picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches’ poll and claimed the league championship in his first season at the helm. The Eagles led the nation in rushing yards per game (381.1) and total rushing yards (4,573) this season.

UL Lafayette led all teams with eight All-Conference honorees on both squads. The Ragin’ Cajuns had five first team honorees and three on the second team. The Ragin’ Cajuns (8-4, 7-1) accepted a bid for the fourth consecutive year to the R+L Carries New Orleans Bowl and will take on Nevada at 10 a.m. CT from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Saturday, Dec. 20.

The Arkansas State Red Wolves (7-5, 5-3) will also head to a bowl game for the fourth consecutive year after accepting a bid to the GoDaddy Bowl. The Red Wolves take on Toledo at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., at 8 p.m. CT on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015. Rounding out the bowl bids was a first-ever bid for the South Alabama Jaguars (6-6, 5-3) to the inaugural Raycom Media Camellia Bowl at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. The Jaguars will take on Bowling Green at 8:15 p.m. CT on Saturday, Dec. 20.

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Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year

Elijah McGuire (UL Lafayette, So., RB)

Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year

Elijah McGuire (UL Lafayette, So., RB)

Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year

David Mayo (Texas State, Senior, LB)

Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year

Taylor Lamb (Appalachian State, Fr., QB)

Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year

Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern

All-Sun Belt Conference First Team Offense

Fredi Knighten (Arkansas State, Jr., QB)

Matt Breida (Georgia Southern, So., RB)

Elijah McGuire (UL Lafayette, So., RB)

Donovan Harden (Georgia State, Jr., WR)

Joshua McCain (Idaho, Sr., WR)

Rashon Ceaser (UL Monroe, Jr., WR)

Brad Miller (Texas State, Sr., TE)

Kendall Lamm (Appalachian State, Sr., OL)

Garrett Frye (Georgia Southern, Sr., OL)

Manrey Saint-Amour (Georgia Southern, Sr., OL)

Daniel Quave (UL Lafayette, Sr., OL)

Valerian Ume-Ezeoke (New Mexico State, Sr., OL)

All-Sun Belt Conference First Team Defense

Justin Hamilton (UL Lafayette, Sr., DL)

Christian Ringo (UL Lafayette, Sr., DL)

Gerrand Johnson (UL Monroe, Jr., DL)

Michael Odiari (Texas State, Sr., DL)

Qushaun Lee (Arkansas State, Sr., LB)

Edwin Jackson (Georgia Southern, Sr., LB)

David Mayo (Texas State, Sr., LB)

Doug Middleton (Appalachian State, Jr., DB)

Artez Brown (Arkansas State, Sr., DB)

Mitch Lane (UL Monroe, Jr., DB)

Montres Kitchens (Troy, Jr., DB)

David Mims (Texas State, Jr., DB)

All-Sun Belt Conference First Team Special Teams

Justin Manton (UL Monroe, Sr., PK)

Austin Rehkow (Idaho, So., P)

Chandler Worthy (Troy, Sr., RS)

Elijah McGuire (UL Lafayette, So., All Purpose)

All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team Offense

Kevin Ellison (Georgia Southern, So., QB)

Marcus Cox (Appalachian State, So., RB)

Michael Gordon (Arkansas State, Jr. RB)

Ajalen Holley (UL Monroe, So., WR)

Teldrick Morgan (New Mexico State, So., WR)

Shavarez Smith (South Alabama, Sr., WR)

Joel Ruiz (Georgia State, Jr., TE)

Mike Marboe (Idaho, Sr., OL)

Mykhael Quave (UL Lafayette, Jr., OL)

Ucambre Williams (South Alabama, Sr., OL)

Terrence Jones (Troy, Sr., OL)

Adrian Bellard (Texas State, Jr., OL)

All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team Defense

Ronald Blair (Appalachian State, Jr., DL)

Ja’Von Rolland-Jones (Arkansas State, Fr., DL)

Jerome McClain (South Alabama, Sr., DL)

Theo Rich (South Alabama, Sr., DL)

John Law (Appalachian State, So., LB)

Joseph Peterson (Georgia State, Jr., LB)

Hunter Kissinger (UL Monroe, Jr., LB)

Maleki Harris (South Alabama, Sr., LB)

Matt Dobson (Georgia Southern, JR., DB)

Corey Trim (UL Lafayette, Sr., DB)

Terrell Brigham (South Alabama, Sr., DB)

Craig Mager (Texas State, SR., DB)

All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team Special Teams

Hunter Stover (UL Lafayette, Sr., PK)

Justin Manton (UL Monroe, Sr., P)

Blaise Taylor (Arkansas State, Fr., RS)

Chandler Worthy (Troy, Sr., All Purpose)

All-Sun Belt Conference Honorable Mention

Drew Bailey (Appalachian State, Sr., TE)

Parker Collins (Appalachian State, So., OL)

Kennan Gilchrist (Appalachian State, So., LB)

Joel Ross (Appalachian State, Sr., DB)

Tres Houston (Arkansas State, Jr., WR)

Chris Stone (Arkansas State, Jr., DL)

Andrew Tryon (Arkansas State, Sr., DB)

Xavier Woodson (Arkansas State, So., LB)

Logan Daves (Georgia Southern, Sr., OL)

Deion Stanley (Georgia Southern Sr., S)

Jay Ellison (Georgia Southern, So., DL)

Antwione Williams (Georgia Southern, Jr., LB)

Nick Arbuckle (Georgia State, Jr., QB)

Tim Wynn (Georgia State, Sr., OL)

LynQuez Blair (Georgia State, Sr., WR)

Robert Davis (Georgia State, So., WR)

Marc Millan (Idaho, Jr., LB)

Quinton Bradley (Idaho, Jr., DE)

Matt Linehan (Idaho, Fr., QB)

Elijhaa Penny (Idaho, Jr., RB)

Dominique Tovell (UL Lafayette, Jr., LB)

Larry Pettis (UL Lafayette, Sr., TE)

Terrance Broadway(UL Lafayette, Sr., QB)

Terry Johnson (UL Lafayette, Sr., OL)

Trey Caldwell (UL Monroe, Jr., DB)

Kenzee Jackson (UL Monroe, Sr., WR)

Michael Johnson (UL Monroe, Jr., LB)

Ray Stovall (UL Monroe, Grad., LB)

Rodney Butler (New Mexico State, So., LB)

Winston Rose (New Mexico State, Sr., DB)

Larry Rose III (New Mexico State, Fr., RB)

Derek Ibekwe (New Mexico State, Fr., LB)

Chris May (South Alabama, Jr., OL)

Melvin Meggs (South Alabama, Sr., OL)

Jesse Kelley (South Alabama, Sr., DL)

Montell Garner (South Alabama, Sr., DB)

Will Johnson (Texas State, Sr., P)

Tyler Jones (Texas State, So., QB)

Robert Lowe (Texas State, Jr., RB)

Ryan Melton (Texas State, So., OL )

Dalton Bennett (Troy, Jr., OL)

Brandon Burks (Troy, Jr., RB)

Tyler Roberts (Troy, Jr., DL)

Bryan Holmes (Troy, Jr., WR)

Sun Belt Conference Newcomer Team

Beau Nunn (Appalachian State, Fr., OL)

Dijon Paschal (Arkansas State, Fr., WR)

Nick Arbuckle (Georgia State, Jr., QB)

L.A. Ramsby (Georgia Southern, Fr., RB)

Jordan Rose (Idaho, Fr., OL)

Tracy Walker (UL Lafayette, Fr., DB)

Pete Thomas (UL Monroe, Grad, QB)

Larry Rose III (New Mexico State, Fr., RB)

Braedon Bowman (South Alabama, Jr., TE)

CJ Best (Texas State, Jr., WR)

Brandon Silvers (Troy, Fr., QB)