• Complete FCS Football Central All-America Team
Six Big South-OVC football players have been named to the 2023 FCS Football Central All-America Team.
The selections included three first-team, two second-team and a third-team pick. Additionally, Tennessee State's
Terrell Allen, one of the first-team picks, was named its Defensive Player of the Year.
The other first-team picks were Gardner-Webb defensive lineman
Ty French and UT Martin punter
Aidan Laros. The second-team picks were UT Martin running back
Sam Franklin and defensive lineman
Daylan Dotson while the third-team pick was Southeast Missouri running back
Geno Hess.
Allen, the Big South-OVC Defensive Player of the Year and one of three player invited to the Buck Buchanan Award announcement, led the FCS in sacks (14.5), sack yardage (123), tackles for loss (28) and tackle yardage for loss (149) in the regular season. The 6-foot, 275-pound senior finished with 65 tackles, including 44 solos, had 10 quarterback hurries, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup.
French set a new school record for career sacks (30.5) and tackles for loss (58). His 17.5 tackles-for-loss this season are tied with Jason Burns (1990) for the eighth-most in a single season and are the 10th most in the FCS. French has also forced three fumbles this season, the seventh most in the FCS. He also added 53 tackles (31 solo), five pass breakups and 17 quarterback hurries.
In his first year with the UT Martin program, Laros, a semifinalist for the FCS Punter of the Year, led the FCS in punting by averaging 47.2 yards per attempt. That also established a program record (breaking the previous mark of 43.62 yards per punt). Overall, he punted 51 times with a long punt of 71 yards – one of three 70-yard punts this season, and averaged more than 50.0 yards per punt in four games. A total of 18 of his punts were 50 yards or longer, 16 were downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line and he had just seven touchbacks. Laros also handled kicking duties for the Big South-OVC Co-Champion Skyhawks, making 10-of-16 field goals (with a long of 43) and converting 43-of-45 point after attempts for 73 total points. He ranked sixth in the Association in scoring (6.67 points/game).
Franklin had a near historic season in his first season as the team’s feature back after accumulating 1,378 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. His yardage total finished just 34 yards shy of the program’s single-season rushing record held by Don Chapman and ranked second nationally. He also ranked third in the FCS with 125.3 rushing yards per game.
Dotson became a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award after earning a spot on the preseason watch list. He lived up to his preseason billing by tallying 51 total tackles and adding 19.5 tackles for loss which ranked fourth nationally while accumulating 82 yards of loss. Along with his work in the defensive backfield, he also registered 7.0 sacks, 17 quarterback hurries, seven pass breakups, a forced fumble and a recovery.
Hess finished off his six-year career by becoming the first player in SEMO history to rush for 5,000 yards. The Redhawks all-time leading rusher, Hess ran for over 1,000 yards for the third-straight season. He carried the ball 186 times for 1,007 yards and 10 touchdowns and caught 28 passes for 220 yards in 11 starts this year. Hess went over 100 yards on six occasions and gained a season-high 179 yards in his final game as a Redhawk at Bryant (Nov. 18). Hess racked up 5,119 yards and 63 touchdowns in 56 games during his career. He also posted a school record 5,520 all-purpose yards.
Big South-OVC Players on FCS Central All-America Team
DL - Terrell Allen, Tennessee State (1st Team and Defensive Player of the Year)
DL - Ty French, Gardner-Webb (1st Team)
P - Aidan Laros, UT Martin (1st Team)
RB - Sam Franklin, UT Martin (2nd Team)
DL - Daylan Dotson, UT Martin (2nd Team)
RB - Geno Hess, Southeast Missouri (3rd Team)