Three Eastern Michigan Football Players Named All-MAC

Updated EMU Record Book (PDF).

CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) — Three members of the Eastern Michigan University football team were named to the All-Mid-American Conference teams announced by the league office Wednesday, Dec. 3. Junior defensive lineman Pat O'Connor (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Rita) earned first team honors, redshirt-junior linebacker Great Ibe (Hanover, Md.-Meade-Concordia) claimed a spot on the second team, and senior tight end Tyreese Russell (Chicago, Ill.-Walther Lutheran) was named Third Team All-MAC.

O'Connor and Ibe earned all-conference postseason recognition for the first time in their respective careers, while Russell finds himself as an All-MAC selection for the second-straight year.

As a defensive team captain, O'Connor gobbled up the opposition behind the line of scrimmage this season. The team co-captain led the Mid-American Conference in sacks as well as ranking fourth in tackles-for-loss, pushing opponents back a combined 73 yards on 14 tackles-for-loss.

The first EMU defensive player to collect first team accolades since the 2007 season, O'Connor is among the top-50 sack leaders throughout the country, sitting at No. 44 with 7.5 sacks. The Windy City native also becomes just the second EMU player to lead the conference in sacks, joining Troy Campbell who turned in eight quarterback takedowns during the 1998 campaign.

Right in the middle of the Eastern defense, Ibe showed his versatility between rushing the quarterback and dropping back into coverage. Finding the ball carrier from all over the field, Ibe's 133 stops paced EMU by a substantial margin as the next closest Eagle recorded 97 tackles this season. The linebacker's total is the third-most by an individual MAC defender as well as ranking ninth in the nation. Overall, Ibe's total ranks 13th in the EMU record book for a single-season while his 69 solo tackles are the eighth-most.

In total, the Hanover, Md. native finished nine contests with double-digit tackles. Against UMass, Oct. 18, Ibe recorded a career-high 21 tackles, the most by any Eagle since 2001. The mark was also the highest by an individual defender in the MAC since the 2011 season.

Throughout his senior season, Russell proved why he was named to the John Mackey Award Midseason Watch List, especially over the last half of the year. The Chicago, Ill. native led the team in receiving with 39 catches for 523 yards, more than double the amount of yardage of his nearest teammate. The next closest Eagle in the receiving category was Dustin Creel, who had 227 yards on 23 receptions. Russell was the Green and White's leading receiver in four of the last six games of his career. He hauled in 24 catches for 372 yards during the six-game stretch, including a career-best 113-yard game against Ball State, Nov. 22, where he made a spectacular one-handed catch to land a spot on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays.

The Chicago, Ill. native finished his career with 101 catches for 1,417 yards and 11 touchdowns. Russell's 11 touchdown receptions is tied for sixth-most in EMU history while his receiving yardage total ranks 10th.

Western Michigan Head Coach P.J. Fleck was named MAC Head Coach of the Year, while Western Michigan true freshman running back Jarvion Franklin was honored as both the MAC Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Miami defensive back Quinten Rollins was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year and Ball State kicker Scott Secor was named MAC Special Teams Player of the Year. Toledo senior offensive lineman Greg Mancz was tabbed as the winner of the 33rd Vern Smith Leadership Award.

The All-MAC teams and the Vern Smith Leadership Award were selected by the MAC head coaches, while the other awards were voted by the MAC News Media Association.

Central Michigan led the way in 2014 with five first team selections, followed by Northern Illinois and UMass with four apiece and Toledo and Western Michigan with three each. Overall, Toledo and Western Michigan set the pace with 11 All-MAC honorees, followed by Northern Illinois with 10 honorees, while Ball State and Central Michigan each had eight honorees.

The Eagles finished the regular season ranked nationally in the top-60 in nine statistical categories to go along with six top-five rankings in the MAC standings. Nationally, EMU finished the year tied with Georgia Tech, Northwestern and Oklahoma State for most blocked kicks with six. The six rejections were the most since the 2009 season when the Green and White also blocked six kicks.

The defense improved from a season prior, as the squad recorded more tackles-for-loss (63), pass breakups (36), fumbles forced (9), fumbles recovered (6), and kicks blocked (6) than it did in all of 2013. Meanwhile, EMU's offense racked up 1,654 yards on the ground and 1,821 yards though the air.

Individually, senior Tyler Allen (Lansing, Mich.-Eastern) saw his name etched into both EMU and MAC record books, becoming the leader in career kick returns with 131, surpassing former Eagle Trumaine Riley for the top spot on both charts. Allen ends his career as not only the career kick return leader, but also the EMU career kick return yardage leader with 2,664 yards, which also ranks second all-time in the conference.

Redshirt-freshman quarterback Reginald Bell Jr. (Los Angeles, Calif.-Susan Miller Dorsey) also burst on the national scene, as he was one of just eight quarterbacks nationally to lead his team in both passing and rushing yardage. Bell finished the year with the 19th-most total yards of offense in EMU single-season history, while posting the second-most yardage by one individual in program history when he piled up 510 yards of total offense at Ball State, Nov. 22.

2014 MAC Specialty Award Winners
Coach of the Year: P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan
Freshman of the Year: RB Jarvion Franklin, Western Michigan
Offensive Player of the Year: RB Jarvion Franklin, Western Michigan
Defensive Player of the Year: DB Quinten Rollins, Miami
Special Teams Player of the Year: K Scott Secor, Ball State
Vern Smith Leadership Award Winner: OL Greg Mancz, Toledo

2014 All-MAC First Team Offense
Quarterback – Blake Frohnapfel, UMass
Offensive Linemen – Greg Mancz, Toledo @!
Offensive Linemen – Nick Beamish, Central Michigan
Offensive Linemen – Andy Phillips, Central Michigan @
Offensive Linemen – Andrew Ness, Northern Illinois
Offensive Lineman – Tyler Loos, Northern Illinois ^+
Tight End – Jean Sifrin, UMass
Wide Receiver – Tajae Sharpe, UMass
Wide Receiver – Titus Davis, Central Michigan ^+%
Wide Receiver – Corey Davis, Western Michigan @
Wide Receiver – Roger Lewis, Bowling Green
Running Back – Jarvion Franklin, Western Michigan
Running Back – Kareem Hunt, Toledo
Placekicker – Scott Secor, Ball State #

2014 All-MAC First Team Defense
Outside Linebacker – Jatavis Brown, Akron ^
Outside Linebacker – Junior Sylvestre, Toledo ^
Inside Linebacker – Justin Cherocci, Central Michigan #
Inside Linebacker – Jovan Santos-Knox, UMass
Down Lineman – Jason Meehan, Northern Illinois
Down Lineman – Leterrius Walton, Central Michigan
Down Lineman – Pat O'Connor, Eastern Michigan
Down Lineman – Cody Grice, Akron
Defensive Back – Quinten Rollins, Miami
Defensive Back – Nate Holley, Kent State
Defensive Back – Donald Celiscar, Western Michigan #
Defensive Back – Paris Logan, Northern Illinois
Punter – Anthony Melchiori, Kent State @

2014 All-MAC First Team Specialists
Kickoff Return Specialist – Eric Patterson, Ball State
Punt Return Specialist –Ryan Burbrink, Bowling Green @

2014 All-MAC Second Team Offense
Quarterback – Zach Terrell, Western Michigan
Offensive Lineman – Alex Huettel, Bowling Green @
Offensive Lineman – Willie Beavers, Western Michigan
Offensive Lineman – Josh Hendershot, Toledo
Offensive Lineman – Jake Silas, Buffalo
Offensive Lineman – Jeff Myers, Toledo #
Tight End – Casey Pierce, Kent State
Wide Receiver – Da'Ron Brown, Northern Illinois @
Wide Receiver – David Frazier, Miami
Wide Receiver – Corey Jones, Toledo
Wide Receiver – Jordan Williams, Ball State #
Running Back – Anthone Taylor, Buffalo
Running Back – Thomas Rawls, Central Michigan
Placekicker – Jeremiah Detmer, Toledo ^!

2014 All-MAC Second Team Defense
Outside Linebacker – Gabe Martin, Bowling Green @&
Outside Linebacker – Adam Redden, Buffalo #
Inside Linebacker – Boomer Mays, Northern Illinois
Inside Linebacker – Great Ibe, Eastern Michigan
Down Lineman – Orion Jones, Toledo
Down Lineman – Treyvon Hester, Toledo #
Down Lineman – Nordly Capi, Akron
Down Lineman – Perez Ford, Northern Illinois
Defensive Back – Randall Jette, UMass
Defensive Back – Nick Johnson, Bowling Green
Defensive Back – Jordan Haden, Toledo
Defensive Back – Dechane Durante, Northern Illinois #
Punter – Zach Paul, Akron #

2014 All-MAC Second Team Specialists
Kickoff Return Specialist – Devin Campbell, Buffalo
Punt Return Specialist – Daz Patterson, Ohio

2014 All-MAC Third Team Offense
Quarterback – Andrew Hendrix, Miami
Offensive Lineman – James Kristof, Western Michigan
Offensive Lineman – Lucas Powell, Ohio
Offensive Lineman – Jake Richard, Ball State #
Offensive Lineman – Andre Davis, Buffalo
Offensive Lineman – Zach Lewis, Miami
Tight End – Tyreese Russell, Eastern Michigan @
Wide Receiver – Daniel Braverman, Western Michigan
Wide Receiver – Alonzo Russell, Toledo #!
Wide Receiver – Ron Willoughby, Buffalo
Wide Receiver – KeVonn Mabon, Ball State
Running Back – Cameron Stingily, Northern Illinois
Running Back – Jahwan Edwards, Ball State @!
Placekicker – Tyler Tate, Bowling Green

2014 All-MAC Third Team Defense
Outside Linebacker – Jovon Johnson, Ohio
Outside Linebacker – Rasheen Lemon, Northern Illinois
Inside Linebacker – Stanley Andre, UMass
Inside Linebacker – Lee Skinner, Buffalo
Down Lineman – Bryan Thomas, Bowling Green
Down Lineman – Tarrell Basham, Ohio
Down Lineman – Joe Ostman, Central Michigan
Down Lineman – Darnell Smith, Ball State
Defensive Back – Eric Patterson, Ball State
Defensive Back – Tony Annese, Central Michigan
Defensive Back – Ronald Zamort, Western Michigan
Defensive Back – Justin Currie, Western Michigan
Punter – J. Schroeder, Western Michigan

2014 All-MAC Third Team Specialists
Kickoff Return Specialist – Darius Phillips, Western Michigan
Punt Return Specialist – Fred McRae, Miami

^ 2013 First-Team All-MAC
@ 2013 Second-Team All-MAC
# 2013 Third-Team All-MAC

& 2012 First-Team All-MAC
+ 2012 Second-Team All-MAC
! 2012 Third-Team All-MAC

% 2011 Third-Team All-MAC

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Allen

Reginald Bell

Dustin Creel

Great Ibe

Pat O'Connor

Tyreese Russell

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