IRVING — Seven UTSA players, led by first-team selection Josiah Tauaefa and second-teamers Marcus Davenport and Michael Egwuagu, earned All-Conference USA accolades in a vote of the league's 13 head coaches, the conference office announced on Tuesday.
Tauaefa, who also earned a spot on the circuit's All-Freshman Team earlier in the day, is the first Roadrunner to earn first-team C-USA accolades in UTSA's four years in the league and the second player to earn a spot on a league's top team overall, as Triston Wade was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection back in 2012.
Tauaefa leads the Roadrunners with a program single-season record 104 tackles through the campaign's first 12 games and he also has racked up 7.5 TFLs, five sacks, seven QB hurries and an interception. He currently ranks third among Football Bowl Subdivision freshmen in tackles this year. The redshirt freshman linebacker opened his career with 13 stops and a pair of sacks against Alabama State (Sept. 3) and just missed the school's single-game record when he registered 15 at Old Dominion three weeks later (Sept. 24). The 6-foot-1, 230-pound former defensive end added another 12 against Southern Miss (Oct. 8) en route to C-USA Defensive Player of the Week accolades and 10 more at Rice the following week (Oct. 15).
Davenport, a preseason all-conference selection and honorable mention choice a year ago, leads UTSA's defensive linemen with 62 tackles, including 10 for loss, and he also has team-leading marks of 6.5 sacks and a program-record eight QB hurries this fall. He finished the regular season strong by posting 32 stops, seven TFLs and 4.5 sacks in the Roadrunners' final five outings. The junior defensive end from San Antonio accumulated a career-high 11 tackles at then-No. 22 Texas A&M (Nov. 19) and also added 1.5 TFLs, one sack and a fumble recovery in that contest. The 6-foot-7, 245-pounder had seven stops, including two sacks, at Louisiana Tech (Nov. 12) and also recorded a pair of sacks in the season opener against Alabama State (Sept. 3).
Egwuagu, also a preseason all-conference pick and honorable mention selection last season, ranks third on the club with 76 tackles, 6.5 of which have come behind the line of scrimmage, to go along with a team-leading eight passes defended, one interception, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. The senior safety racked up a career-high 12 tackles at Colorado State (Sept. 10) and he also returned a blocked field goal 82 yards for a touchdown at Louisiana Tech (Nov. 12).
The other four Roadrunners to be recognized were honorable mention selections Matt Bayliss (Jr., LS), Jevonte Domond (Sr., OL), Jordan Moore (Sr., DB) and Josh Stewart (Jr., WR).
UTSA (6-6) will play in its first-ever bowl game on Saturday, Dec. 17, when it squares off with New Mexico (8-4) at the Gildan New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. (CT) and the contest can be seen nationally on ESPN.
