IRVING — UTSA senior Marcus Davenport has been named the 2017 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, the league office announced Wednesday.
Davenport, who earned first-team all-conference accolades on Tuesday, posted 55 tackles and set school records with 17.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and eight quarterback hurries this season. A member of the Chuck Bednarik Award and Wuerffel Trophy watch lists and a Senior CLASS Award candidate, he also tallied four pass breakups, three forced fumbles and a fumble return for a touchdown.
He posted a tackle for loss in eight different contests and he registered 44 tackles, 14 TFLs, 6.5 sacks and all three of his forced fumbles in league play. The 6-7 defensive end was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 23 after recording 11 stops, 3.5 TFLs and a pair of sacks and returning a fumble 34 yards for a TD in the 20-7 win against Rice. Davenport posted eight tackles, four tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks for a loss of 24 yards and a forced fumble against North Texas and he turned in six stops, 2.5 TFLs and a sack in the 44-14 victory at Texas State.
Davenport started all 11 contests for a defense that leads C-USA in five different statistical categories. UTSA allowed just 287.8 total yards, 160.1 passing yards and 17 points per game, marks that rank seventh, third and eighth, respectively, in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Additionally, the San Antonio Stevens High School product ranks 10th in the FBS in tackles for loss per game (1.5) and 13th nationally in sacks per contest (0.77).
Davenport finished his UTSA career as the program's all-time leader in tackles for loss (38.0), sacks (22.0) and QB hurries (21), and he has accepted an invitation to play in the Reese's Senior Bowl on Jan. 27 in Mobile, Ala.
He becomes the second Roadrunner to receive a conference player of the year award, joining 2016 C-USA Freshman of the Year Josiah Tauaefa.
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