2017 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL AWARDS



OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

McKenzie Milton, QB, UCF (So., Kapolei, Hawaii)



DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Ed Oliver, DT, Houston (So., Houston, Texas)



SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Tony Pollard, WR/KR, Memphis (So., Memphis, Tenn.)



ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

T.J. Carter, CB, Memphis (Fr., Nashville, Tenn.)



COACH OF THE YEAR

Scott Frost, UCF *



TEAM ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD

Cincinnati

ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Last School WR Anthony Miller 2 Memphis Sr. 5-11 190 Memphis, Tenn./Christian Brothers WR Trey Quinn SMU Jr. 6-0 202 Lake Charles, La./LSU WR Courtland Sutton 1 SMU Jr. 6-4 215 Brenham, Texas/Brenham OT Aaron Evans UCF Sr. 6-6 325 Seffner, Fla./Armwood OT Trevon Tate Memphis Jr. 6-4 290 Houston, Texas/North Shore OG Gabe Kuhn Memphis Sr. 6-4 295 Wildwood, Mo./Lyafayette OG Jeremi Hall USF Sr. 6-5 332 Atlanta, Ga./Tri-Cities C Jordan Johnson UCF So. 6-2 320 Jacksonville, Fla./Ed White TE Jordan Akins UCF Sr. 6-4 262 Atlanta, Ga./Union Grove QB McKenzie Milton UCF So. 5-11 185 Kapolei, Hawaii/Milliani QB Riley Ferguson Memphis Sr. 6-4 210 Matthews, N.C./Coffeyville CC RB Adrian Killins Jr. UCF So. 5-8 158 Daytona Beach, Fla./Mainland RB D'Angelo Brewer 2 Tulsa Sr. 5-9 190 Tulsa, Okla./Central DL Jamiyus Pittman 2 UCF Sr. 6-1 319 Moultrie, Ga./Colquitt County DL Ed Oliver 1 Houston So. 6-2 290 Houston, Texas/Westfield DL Deadrin Senat 2 USF Sr. 6-1 305 Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee DL Justin Lawler 1 SMU Sr. 6-4 265 Pottsboro, Texas/Pottsboro LB Shaquem Griffin * 1 UCF Sr. 6-2 229 St. Petersburg, Fla./Lakewood LB D'Juan Hines Houston Sr. 6-1 230 Spring, Texas/Dekaney LB Genard Avery 1 Memphis Jr. 6-2 230 Byhalia, Miss./Byhalia LB Auggie Sanchez 2 2 USF Sr. 6-2 245 St. Petersburg, Fla./Northeast CB Mike Hughes UCF Jr. 5-11 191 New Bern, N.C./Garden City CC CB Parry Nickerson H 2 Tulane Sr. 6-0 180 Algiers, La./West Jefferson S Kyle Gibson UCF Jr. 5-11 182 Tampa, Fla./Armwood S Delvon Randall Temple Jr. 6-1 210 Pittsburgh, Pa./Gateway K Emilio Nadelman USF Sr. 5-6 173 Miami, Fla./Central P James Smith Cincinnati Fr. 6-5 220 Wangaratta, Australia/Galen College RS Tony Pollard 1 Memphis So. 5-11 200 Memphis, Tenn./Melrose * unanimous selection

ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Last School WR Tre'Quan Smith UCF Jr. 6-1 210 Delray Beach, Fla./Village Academy WR Trevon Brown ECU Jr. 6-2 211 Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover WR Justin Hobbs Tulsa Jr. 6-4 218 Overland Park, Kan./Shawnee Mission West OT Korey Cunningham Cincinnati Sr. 6-6 305 Montevallo, Ala./Montevallo OT Wyatt Miller UCF Jr. 6-4 306 Douglas, Ga./Coffee OT Marcus Norman USF So. 6-6 305 Sebastian, Fla./Sebastian River OG Brian Carter Temple Sr. 6-1 300 Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg OG Tyler Bowling 2 Tulsa Jr. 6-6 325 Yukon, Okla./Yukon C Chandler Miller 1 Tulsa Jr. 6-3 293 Bixby, Okla./Bixby TE Joey Magnifico Memphis So. 6-4 235 Cordova, Tenn./St. Benedict QB Quinton Flowers 1 USF Sr. 6-0 210 Miami, Fla./Miami Jackson RB Dontrell Hilliard Tulane Sr. 6-0 205 Baton Rouge, La./Scotlandville Magnet RB Darrell Henderson Memphis So. 5-9 200 Batesville, Miss./South Panola DL Trysten Hill UCF So. 6-2 330 Lee, Fla./Suwannee DL Bruce Hector USF Sr. 6-2 296 Tampa, Fla./Robinson DL Sharif Finch Temple Sr. 6-5 250 Henrico, Va./Henrico DL Jacob Martin Temple Sr. 6-2 250 Aurora, Colo./Cherokee Trail DL Jeremy Smith Tulsa Sr. 6-5 265 Tulsa, Okla./Berryhill LB Chequan Burkett UCF Sr. 6-2 230 Montgomery, Ala./Carver LB Jaylyin Minor Cincinnati Sr. 6-1 233 Navasota, Texas/Navasota LB D.J. Palmore Navy Sr. 6-3 236 Bartlett, Tenn./Christian Brothers LB Rae Juan Marbley Tulane Sr. 6-0 245 Destrehan, La./Destrehan CB T.J. Carter Memphis Fr. 5-11 180 Nashville, Tenn./Stratford CB Deatrick Nichols 1 2 USF Sr. 5-10 189 Miami, Fla./Miami Central S Khalil Williams Houston Sr. 5-11 210 Missouri City, Texas/Hightower S Devin Abraham USF Sr. 5-9 185 Tarpon Springs, Fla./East Lake K Matthew Wright UCF Jr. 6-0 179 Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg P Mac Loudermilk UCF Jr. 6-1 234 Valdosta, Ga./Valdosta RS Mike Hughes UCF Jr. 5-11 191 New Bern, N.C./Garden City CC ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Last School DL Marquise Copeland Cincinnati Jr. 6-3 290 Cleveland, Ohio/Bedford LB Junior Joseph H UConn Sr. 6-1 232 Sinking Springs, Pa./Wilson Westlawn DL Kiante Anderson ECU Sr. 6-4 243 Greenville, N.C./St. Augustine's WR Davon Grayson ECU Gr. 6-2 187 Suffolk, Va./Kings fork WR Steven Dunbar Houston Sr. 6-3 202 Metarie, La./Rummel S Terrell Williams Houston Sr. 6-4 212 Lawton, Okla./Northeastern Okla. A&M LB Micah Thomas 2 Navy Sr. 6-1 241 Cedar Park, Texas/Vista Ridge S Sean Williams Navy Jr. 6-1 190 Memphis, Tenn./Cordova C Cameron Ruff USF Sr. 6-3 320 Tampa, Fla./Jesuit C Evan Brown SMU Sr. 6-3 307 Southlake, Texas/Carroll CB Jordan Wyatt SMU Jr. 6-0 195 Wylie, Texas/East S Sean Chandler 2 2 Temple Sr. 6-0 195 Camden, N.J./Camden CB Donnie Lewis Jr. Tulane Jr. 6-1 190 Baton Rouge, La./Central OT Evan Plagg 2 Tulsa Sr. 6-3 295 Guthrie, Okla./Guthrie S McKinley Whitfield Tulsa Jr. 6-3 216 Sprio, Okla./Spiro 1 2 H indicates previous selections to first team, second team, or honorable mention

American Athletic Conference Offensive Players of the Year 2013 Blake Bortles, QB, UCF 2014 Shane Carden, QB, East Carolina 2015 Keenan Reynolds, QB, Navy 2016 Quinton Flowers, QB, USF 2017 McKenzie Milton, QB, UCF American Athletic Conference Defensive Players of the Year 2013 Marcus Smith, DE, Louisville 2014 Jacoby Glenn, CB, UCF Tank Jakes, LB, Memphis 2015 Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple 2016 Shaquem Griffin, LB, UCF 2017 Ed Oliver, DT, Houston American Athletic Conference Special Teams Players of the Year 2013 Demarcus Ayers, WR/KR, Houston Tom Hornsey, P, Memphis 2014 Jake Elliott, K, Memphis 2015 Jake Elliott, K, Memphis 2016 Tony Pollard, WR/RS, Memphis 2017 Tony Pollard, WR/RS, Memphis American Athletic Conference Rookies of the Year 2013 John O’Korn, QB, Houston 2014 Marlon Mack, RB, USF 2015 Tre’Quan Smith, WR, UCF 2016 Ed Oliver, DT, Houston 2017 T.J. Carter, CB, Memphis American Athletic Conference Coaches of the Year 2013 George O’Leary, UCF 2014 Justin Fuente, Memphis 2015 Tom Herman, Houston Ken Niumatalolo, Navy 2016 Ken Niumatalolo, Navy 2017 Scott Frost, UCF American Athletic Conference Team Academic Excellence Award 2013 UCF 2014 UCF 2015 Cincinnati 2016 Cincinnati 2017 Cincinnati

UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton, who led the Knights to a perfect regular season, has been chosen as the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year while Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who is a finalist for two major national honors, was named The American’s Defensive Player of the Year by the league’s 12 head coaches.Memphis running back Tony Pollard was a repeat choice as The American’s Special Teams Player of the Year, while Tigers cornerback TJ Carter was chosen as Rookie of the Year.UCF head coach Scott Frost, who has the Knights ranked No. 11 in the Amway Coaches’ Poll in his second year in Orlando, was the unanimous choice by his colleagues as The American’s Coach of the Year.Cincinnati was the winner of The American’s Team Academic Excellence Award as the team with the highest cumulative grade-point average.Milton enjoyed a breakout year as a sophomore on his way to Offensive Player of the Year honors. He enters Saturday’s American Athletic Conference Championship against Memphis ranked second nationally in pass efficiency rating (182.9), trailing only Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma. Milton has thrown for 3,301 yards and 30 touchdowns against six interceptions and has added 429 rushing yards and six TDs on the ground. He is eighth nationally in yards per completion (14.94), 10th in passing yards (300.1 ypg) and seventh in total offense (339.1) as the engineer of a UCF offense that leads the nation in scoring (48.3 ppg). He is the second UCF player to be named American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, joining Blake Bortles, who won the inaugural award in 2013.Oliver entered the 2017 season as an Associated Press Preseason All-America selection and further established himself as arguably the nation’s top defensive player as a sophomore. Oliver plays the nose tackle position in the Cougars’ three-man front and has registered 69 tackles in 11 games, despite missing significant portions of two games due to injury. Oliver has 5.5 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, three pass breakups and seven quarterback hurries. Oliver is one of three finalists for both the Nagurski Trophy, as the nation’s top defensive player, and the Outland Trophy, as the nation’s top interior lineman. He is the first player from Houston to win The American’s Defensive Player of the Year honor.Pollard was chosen as Special Teams Player of the Year for the second straight season as he managed to improve on his already-impressive numbers as a return specialist. Pollard leads the nation in kickoff return average at 44.2 yards - a mark that would shatter the NCAA’s single-season record if it holds. He also leads the nation with four touchdowns on kickoff returns and has six TDs on kickoffs in his first two seasons. Pollard continues Memphis’ remarkable hold on The American’s Special Teams Player of the Year award; a Memphis player has won the award in five straight seasons (punter Tom Hornsey won in 2013, kicker Jake Elliott won in 2014 and 2015).Carter is the first Memphis player to be named as The American’s Rookie of the Year. He has started all 11 games as a true freshman and has a team-high four interceptions with two fumble recoveries to account for six takeaways in 2017. He was chosen as the Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week Oct. 21 following a 14-tackle performance against Houston in which he forced two turnovers in the final minutes to seal the Tigers’ win.Frost was the clear choice as The American’s Coach of the Year award after he led the Knights to an 11-0 overall record and an 8-0 mark in conference play, capped by the East Division title. Frost, whose roster includes more than 50 players from the Knights’ winless team of 2015, brought UCF to a 6-7 record in his first year before turning in this year’s perfect regular season. Frost’s 2017 team became first American Athletic Conference squad to go unbeaten in the regular season and the second to finish unbeaten in conference play, joining UCF’s 2013 team. He joins former UCF coach George O’Leary as the Knights’ American Coach of the Year winners.Cincinnati was named the winner of the Team Academic Excellence Award for the third consecutive season. That honor goes to the conference team with the highest cumulative GPA of all student-athletes on the roster at the beginning of the academic year.In addition to the major award-winners, The American also named its first, second and honorable mention all-conference teams. UCF linebacker Shaquem Griffin was a unanimous selection of the coaches to the first team, becoming the seventh American Athletic Conference player in league history to appear on every eligible first-team ballot. Griffin joins Oliver, Pollard, SMU wide receiver Courtland Sutton, SMU defensive end Justin Lawler and Memphis linebacker Genard Avery as repeat selections to the first team.UCF set two league records with 16 selections to the all-conference teams, and nine players named to the first team.