USF Athletics

Mack, Amichia and Sanchez Named to The American's Fifth Anniversary Team

July 23, 2018

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, JULY 23, 2018 – The USF Football program had three super-productive Bulls of the past named to the American Athletic Conference's Fifth Anniversary Football Team announced Monday at the conference's annual Summer Kickoff and Media Days in Newport, R.I.

Record-breaking running back Marlon Mack and USF all-time leading tackler Auggie Sanchez, both Bay Area products, were joined by offensive tackle Kofi Amichia, who plowed the way for record setting Bulls' offenses, on The American's prestigious fifth anniversary roster. Selection to the Fifth Anniversary Team consisted of three components – fan balloting, votes from the league's 12 football-playing schools and votes from local and national media members that cover The American.

Shining for the Bulls from 2014-16, Mack grabbed the spotlight immediately by rushing for an AAC record and USF record-tying 275 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman in the 2014 season opener. The 2014 AAC Rookie of the Year became USF's first three-time first team all-conference pick and set then program records for career rushing yards (3,609) and touchdowns (32) that were subsequently broken by Quinton Flowers. Mack now ranks second on USF's career rushing charts and his 1,381 rushing yards in 2015 are the sixth-best season total in conference history.
 
A fourth-round NFL Draft pick in 2017, Mack, a Sarasota, Fla. native, is entering his second season with the Indianapolis Colts and still owns the top USF mark of 20 career 100-yard rushing games.

Amichia paved the way for many of Mack's explosive runs in three seasons playing for USF (2014-16) and racked up 28 starts (26 straight at left tackle from 2015-16). The 2016 first team all-conference selection made his senior year a special one, helping USF's offense set school records with 77 touchdowns, 47 rushing touchdowns (second in the FBS), 3,714 rushing yards and 6,650 yards of total offense.

In two seasons as USF's starting left tackle, Amichia played a key role in USF producing 12,391 total offensive yards from 2015-16, including a previous school record of 3,205 rushing yards in 2015. Following his solid USF career, Amichia was selected in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft and is in his second season with the Green Bay Packers.
 
While Mack and Amichia kept USF's offense motoring along, Sanchez was a constant presence leading the Bulls' defense and provided many big stops. USF's starting middle linebacker from 2014-17, Sanchez owns the program's career tackles record with 388, which ranks the St. Petersburg native third on the all-time conference chart. He also earned all-conference honors three times during his career and tied the USF record for career starts with 50.

Sanchez registered 120 tackles in 2016, one off the school season record, and finished off his USF career in impressive fashion in 2017 with a team-best 84 tackles, including 10.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, two pass breakups and two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Sanchez recently joined his former coach Willie Taggart's staff at Florida State as a graduate assistant.
 
Although they all generated stellar stats, Mack, Amichia and Sanchez were most proud of their efforts in helping to lead a program resurgence for USF. The rebuilding Bulls won a nine games in three seasons from 2012-14 before going 8-5 in 2015 and then setting a school record with an 11-2 finish and final AP poll ranking of No. 19 in 2016. Sanchez returned to help lead the Bulls to a 10-2 record in 2017 and made eight tackles in USF's second straight Birmingham Bowl victory, which was the third consecutive postseason trip for the program.

View The American's complete Fifth Anniversary Team HERE.
 
USF has gone 24-16 in its first five seasons in The American, including posting six or more conference wins in each of the last three seasons, highlighted by a 7-1 conference record in 2016. The Bulls own a 16-6 record vs. opponents in the East Division and have posted a victory over every conference team except Houston.
 
The Bulls have had nine players earn first team American Athletic All-Conference honors and have earned 35 all-conference selections (first and second team) overall in the first five years of the conference, including a record 10 in each of the last two seasons.
 
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF posted its second straight 10-win season in 2017 (10-2) by winning its second straight Birmingham Bowl with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech. USF is one of just 15 teams nationally to win 20-plus games in the last two seasons (21-4) and posted a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the top 25, reaching as high as No. 13 in Week 8 of the 2017 season. The Bulls have won five of their last six bowl appearances and made nine (6-3) total bowl appearances in 21 seasons, including a current run of three straight bowls. USF won a program-record 11 games in 2016 (11-2) and has posted 14 winning seasons. The USF program, which first took the field in 1997, reached No. 2 in the rankings in 2007 and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and had 28 first-team all-conference selections.
 
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