Nine Bulls Earn Phil Steele All-Conference Honors
December 19, 2014 | Football
TAMPA, DEC. 19, 2014 – The USF Football team saw nine players recognized when nationally respected Phil Steele Publications announced its 2014 Post-season All-Conference Teams.
Freshman running back Marlon Mack (Sarasota), junior punter Mattias Ciabatti (Tampa) and senior kick returner Chris Dunkley (Pahokee) were all named to the American Athletic Conference first team. All three led the conference is a statistical category. Mack led The American in rushing (86.8 ypg), Ciabatti led the conference in punting average (44.4 ypk) and Dunkley led the conference in kickoff return average (24.0 ypr).
Senior tight end Mike McFarland (Tampa) and senior tackle Quinterrius Eatmon (Prichard, Ala.) earned second team honors. McFarland posted career bests with 27 catches for 315 yards while Eatmon finished second all-time in career starts at USF with 46.
Senior wide receiver Andre Davis (Tampa), senior center Austin Reiter (Bradenton), senior kicker Marvin Kloss (Naples) and sophomore linebacker Nigel Harris (Tampa) earned third team honors.
Davis led USF with 36 catches for 594 yards and a team-record tying seven touchdowns despite missing four games due to injury. He finished his career as the Bulls first 2,000-yard receiver (2,136) with 13 USF receiving records. Reiter, a two-time Rimington Trophy candidate, completed his third straight season starting every game at center while Kloss, a Lou Groza Award finalist in 2013, made 13-of-17 field goals and 23-of-23 PAT to finish his career as the Bulls' all-time leader in career field goal percentage at 77.5 percent (31-40).
Harris had a break-out season tying for the national lead with six forced fumbles on the year and finishing second on the team with a career-best 77 tackles. Harris ranked sixth in the AAC and led USF with 10.5 tackles for loss and added two sacks and two fumble recoveries on the year while leading the Bulls in tackles in three games.
USF returns 14 starters (6 offense, 7 defense and 1 specialist) for Taggart's third season at the helm. The Bulls will return their top five tacklers (9 the top 12 overall) and players that accounted for 73 percent of the team's tackles in 2014. USF returns 100 percent of its rushing and passing yardage from 2014, including 1,000-yard rusher Marlon Mack, and 50 percent of its receptions and receiving yards.
The USF Football program completed its 18th season and 15th at the FBS level. The Bulls have made six bowl appearances, including every season between 2005-10, and have four bowl game victories. USF has produced 14 All-America selections, 23 NFL Draft picks and reached the No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press Poll in 2007.
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