AAC announces All-Conference teams, individual award winners

The American Athletic Conference coaches have voted, and Navy quarterback Malcolm Perry is the 2019 AAC Offensive Player of the Year, while Temple defensive end Quincy Roche is the AAC Defensive Player of the Year.

Perry has stamped his name on the Navy record books as the Midshipmen defied odds this season to win nine games. He leads the conference in rushing, and is fifth in the nation in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. The senior needs 88 yards against rival Army to break Napoleon McCallum’s 1983 record of 1,587 rushing yards in a single season. Perry is the second Navy quarterback to win the award, joining Keenan Reynolds, who won the award in 2015.

Roche is the second Owl to win the award as former Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich took the honor in 2015. The redshirt junior leads the American in both sacks (13) and tackles for loss (18). He is the AAC career leader in total sacks with 26, and is 1.5 sacks away from tying the conference record of 14.5 sacks set by Louisville’s Marcus Smith (2013) and ECU’s Nate Harvey a year ago.

Houston senior punter Dane Roy and Memphis’ return man Antonio Gibson were named the Special Teams Players of the year. Roy is one of three finalist for the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s top punter. Gibson gives Memphis six winners of the Special Teams of the Year honor in the conference’s seven years of existence.

Memphis running back Kenneth Gainwell took home AAC Rookie of the Year, the second Tiger in three seasons to receive the award. Gainwell ranks fifth in the nation in all-purpose yards (1,873) and 11th in rushing yards (1,381), which leads all freshman. He is the conference leader in all-purpose yards (156.1 yards per game) and joins cornerback T.J. Carter as recent winners.

Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo was selected by his fellow coaches as the AAC Coach of the Year. It is the third time he has received the honor, previously winning in 2015 and 2016. That gives Niumatalolo three Coach of the Year awards in the last five seasons. Coming off a three-win campaign and predicted to finish fifth in the AAC West, the Midshipmen will enter the Army-Navy game ranked and 9-2 overall.

Listed below are the all-conference teams. Here are the breakdowns by team:

• Memphis Tigers - 14: 3 First Team, 6 Second Team, 5 Honorable Mention
• UCF Knights - 12: 3 First Team, 5 Second Team, 4 Honorable Mention
• Cincinnati Bearcats - 11: 7 First Team, 2 Second Team, 2 Honorable Mention
• SMU Mustangs - 9: 4 First Team, 5 Second Team
• Temple Owls - 7: 4 First Team, 3 Second Team
• Navy Midshipmen - 5: 3 First Team, 2 Honorable Mention
• Tulsa Golden Hurricane - 5: 2 First Team, 3 Second Team
• Houston Cougars - 4: 2 First Team, 2 Second Team
• East Carolina Pirates - 4: 2 Second Team, 2 Honorable Mention
• Tulane Green Wave - 4: 1 Second Team, 3 Honorable Mention
• South Florida Bulls - 2: 1 Second Team, 1 Honorable Mention
• UConn Huskies - 1: First Team

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

All-Conference First Team

Malcolm Perry, QB, Navy

Shane Buechele, QB, SMU

Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Memphis

Xavier Jones, RB, SMU

Gabriel Davis, WR, UCF,

Marquez Stevenson, WR, Houston

James Proche, WR, SMU

Josiah Deguara, TE, Cincinnati

Jake Brown, OT, UCF

Matt Peart, OT, UConn

Morgan James, OG, Cincinnati

David Forney, OG, Navy

Matt Hennessy, C, Temple

Quincy Roche, DE, Temple

Ifeanyi Maijeh, DT, Temple

Elijah Ponder, DT, Cincinnati

Trevis Gipson, DE, Tulsa

Bryan Wright, LB, Cincinnati

Perry Young, LB, Cincinnati

Diego Fagot, LB, Navy

Patrick Nelson, LB, SMU

Shaun Bradley, LB, Temple

Ahmad Gardner, CB, Cincinnati

Reggie Robinson II, CB, Tulsa

Richie Grant, S, UCF

Darrick Forrest, S, Cincinnati

Riley Patterson, K, Memphis

Dane Roy, P, Houston

Antonio Gibson, RS, Memphis

All-Conference Second Team

Brady White, QB, Memphis

Adrian Killins, RB, UCF

Michael Warren, RB, Cincinnati

Shamari Brooks, RB, Tulsa

Damonte Coxie, WR, Memphis

Antonio Gibson, WR, Memphis

Jadan Blue, WR, Temple

Joey Magnifico, TE, Memphis

Kylen Granson, TE, SMU

Josh Jones, OT, Houston

Jaylon Thomas, OT, SMU

Cole Schneider, OG, UCF

Jovahn Fair, OG, Temple

Dustin Woodard, C, Memphis

Brendon Hayes, DL, UCF

Kendall Futrell, DL, ECU

Bryce Huff, DL, Memphis

Delontae Scott, DL, SMU

Nate Evans, LB, UCF

Sam Franklin, LB, Temple

Patrick Johnson, LB, Tulane

Cooper Edmiston, LB, Tulsa

Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa

Aaron Robinson, CB, UCF

KJ Sails, CB, USF

Grant Stuard, S, Houston

Rodney Clemons, S, SMU

Jake Verity, K, ECU

James Smith, P, Cincinnati

CJ Sanders, RS, SMU

All-Conference Honorable Mention

Otis Anderson, RB, UCF

Neville Clark, CB, UCF

Tre Nixon, WR, UCF

Kenny Turnier, DL, UCF

Sam Crosa, K, Cincinnati

Ja’Von Hicks, S, Cincinnati

CJ Johnson, WR, ECU

D’Ante Smith, OT, ECU

Billy Honaker, OT, Navy

Jacob Springer, LB, Navy

T.J. Carter, CB, Memphis

Joseph Dorceus, DL, Memphis

O’Bryab Goodson, DL, Memphis

Austin Hall, LB, Memphis

Dylan Parham, OG, Memphis

Mitchell Wilcox, TE, USF

Corey Dublin, OG, Tulane

Thakarius Keyes, CB, Tulane

P.J. Hall, S, Tulane