2008
College Football
Season Preview

2008 CUSA Football Coaches Preseason Awards

CUSA Press Release
July 16, 2008

Southern Miss junior running back Damion Fletcher was chosen as the league's preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Fletcher carried the ball 29 times for 155 yards in the Papajohns.com Bowl to finish last season with a single-season best 1,586 yards and 15 touchdowns. He has recorded a total of 16 100-yard rushing games in his first two seasons, along with seven multi-touchdown games and 26 career scores.

Another Golden Eagle, reigning C-USA Defensive Player of the Year Gerald McRath, was picked as the preseason favorite to repeat as the conference's top defensive player. He led C-USA in tackles with 139 (71 solo, 68 assist) in 2007 and averaged 10.7 per game.

UCF cornerback Joe Burnett was tabbed as preseason Special Teams Player of the Year for the second straight season. Burnett has 926 career punt return yards, which ranks first among active players in the NCAA FBS and his three career touchdowns are tied for the most among active players. His average of 13.23 yards per punt return is also tops among all active players.

The 2008 C-USA Football season kicks off on Thursday, August 28 when UTEP travels to Buffalo. C-USA's first televised game follows on Friday, August 29 when Rice will host division foe SMU in a league contest on ESPN. Seven more games will take place on Saturday, August 30, highlighted by East Carolina's contest in Charlotte, N.C. against Virginia Tech that will be televised by ESPN.