SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Eight Southern Conference football players, representing six different programs, earned All-America honors from the Sports Network as announced Wednesday (Dec. 18). Furman offensive lineman Dakota Dozier and Samford’s Justin Shade (linebacker) and Fabian Truss (All-purpose) were selected to the first team.
The Citadel’s Darien Robinson was named one of the second team running backs, while Chattanooga’s Davis Tull (defensive end) and Samford’s Jaquiski Tartt (safety) were named to the second team defense. Georgia Southern offensive lineman Dorian Byrd and Appalachian State punter Bentlee Critcher garnered third-team honors.
A 6-foot-4, 303-pound tackle, Dozier was the recipient of the Southern Conference Jacobs Blocking Award this fall and was a unanimous three-time all-league selection during his career in balloting by league coaches and media. As a junior he was named second team All-America by the Sports Network. The West Columbia, S.C., product played in 45 games and earned 44 starts during his Paladin tenure, logging 2,741 plays. He helped pave the way for three consecutive 1,000-yard rushers at Furman (2011-13) and served as a team captain as a senior.
Truss led the SoCon and ranked third in the nation in all-purpose yards per game at 183.8 yards per contest. He ranked second nationally in kickoff return average at 32.1 yards per return. Despite missing the final two games of the season with an injury, Truss rushed for 877 yards and eight touchdowns.
Shade, who was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year by the media, led the SoCon and ranked 24th in the nation is sacks with a school-record 9.5. He also led the SoCon in tackles per game at 9.9 per contest, finishing with a team-high total of 129 for the season. Shade finished third in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the top defensive player in all of Division I-FCS football.
Robinson, who wrapped up his stellar Citadel career in 2013, rushed for 966 yards and seven touchdowns during his senior season, falling 34 shy of posting consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns. His average of 80.5 yards per game ranked him sixth in the SoCon. Robinson rushed for 100 yards four times his senior year and 13 times in his career, tied for the fourth most in school history. He posted a career-high 227 yards and scored twice against Old Dominion and also eclipsed the 100-yard plateau this past season against Chattanooga (129), VMI (115) and Appalachian State (109).
Chattanooga’s Tull repeated on The Sports Network’s second team and becomes the 14th two-time All-American in school history. He was second in the league in sacks, posting 9.0 in 2013 while adding 52 tackles and 15.0 TFLs. The Knoxville, Tenn., native had a league-best four forced fumbles with one recovery and led the Mocs with eight quarterback hurries.
Samford's Tartt ranked second in the Southern Conference in total passes defended (10) during the 2013 season. He ranked third on the team in tackles with 98, including a team-high 69 solo stops.
A four-year starter from Macon, Ga., Georgia Southern’s Byrd was credited for 12 knockdowns against Florida’s 15th-ranked rushing defense last month. The Eagles lead the nation in team rushing average at 360.4 yards per game and recorded three games with 500 or more yards total offense. Georgia Southern’s 576 rushing yards in the season opener ranks as the top single-game total for both NCAA Division I FBS and FCS in 2013. In the season finale, a victory over the Gators in “The Swamp,” the Eagles ran for 429 yards, the fourth-highest rushing total ever posted by a Florida opponent.
Critcher is only the second Appalachian State player to be named all-America as a true freshman (joining Armanti Edwards in 2006) and the first walk-on true freshman to ever earn all-America honors in Appalachian’s 84-season football history. He set Appalachian State and Southern Conference freshman records by averaging 45.9 yards per punt in 2013, good for third and fourth overall in the school’s and conference’s all-time annals, respectively. Eighteen of his 51 punts traveled 50 yards or more and 15 were downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.