Brown Named Preseason First-Team All-Sun Belt; Six Cajuns Named To Squad

NEW ORLEANS – Defensive back Savion Brown highlighted six members of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team that was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team that was released by the league office on Friday.

Brown, a first-team selection, was joined by second-team selections running back Elijah McGuire, defensive linemen Karmichael Dunbar and Taboris Lee, linebacker Otha Peters and defensive back Tracy Walker.

Brown, who was a second-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection last season, finished with 43 tackles, three interceptions, six pass breakups and a fumble recovery. The Shreveport, La., native helped seal Louisiana's 23-21 win at Georgia State with a fourth-quarter interception and recorded a season-high seven tackles and ran back an interception 85 yards – the fifth-longest in school history – at South Alabama.

McGuire, a senior from Houma, La., enters the 2016 season as the only active NCAA player with 3,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving. He rushed for a team-high 1,058 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Ragin' Cajuns while hauling in 34 passes and three TDs. McGuire joined Tyrell Fenroy (2005-08) as the second running back in school to rush for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. He became the first running back in Ragin' Cajuns history to record 100 receptions in a career.

Dunbar appeared in 12 games for the Ragin' Cajuns recording 23 tackles on the season with three stops for loss. He posted a career-best five tackles at South Alabama and recorded four tackles in games against Akron and Troy.

Lee, a junior, led all defensive linemen and was seventh overall in tackles (40), with 29 stops coming in the Ragin' Cajuns final four games. He joined Dominique Tovell and Otha Peters as the only defensive players to start in all 12 games last season for the Ragin' Cajuns. He recorded season-highs in tackles (10) and tackles for loss (3.0) while adding a sack in a nationally-televised game at South Alabama and recorded nine tackles with a fumble recovery and quarterback hurry at Appalachian State.

Peters, a senior from Covington, earned honorable mention All-Sun Belt notice last season after he finished as the third-leading tackler for the Ragin' Cajuns with 68 stops (41 solo) and six tackles for loss. He recorded a career-high 13 tackles with a pass breakup at South Alabama and added 11 tackles, with one stop for loss at Arkansas State.

Walker finished as the second-leading tackler for the Ragin' Cajuns, recording 74 tackles (54 solo) with five stops for loss. The junior posted two games with double-digit tackles, highlighted by career-best 13 stops at Louisiana Tech before coming back the following week with 10 tackles and a pair of pass breakups against Texas State.

Louisiana will report for fall camp on Aug. 3 and will open the season at home on Sept. 3 against Boise State.

Season tickets are available by calling the Cajundome Ticket Office at (337) 265-2357 or visiting RaginCajuns.com/tickets.

2016 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Football Teams
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Larry Rose III (New Mexico State, RB, Jr., Communications)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: John Law (Appalachian State, LB, Sr., Health Promotion)

First Team Offense
Name, School - Pos, Year, Major
Taylor Lamb !, Appalachian State - QB, Jr., Physical Education
Matt Breida *^, Georgia Southern - RB, Sr., Accounting
Larry Rose III ^, New Mexico State - RB, Jr., Communications
Dijon Paschal !, Arkansas State - WR, Jr., Sport Management
Robert Davis ^, Georgia State - WR, Jr., Interdisciplinary Studies
Penny Hart ^, Georgia State - WR, So., Exercise Science
Gerald Everett ^, South Alabama - TE, Sr., Interdisciplinary Studies
Parker Collins #, Appalachian State - OL, Sr., Interdisciplinary Studies
Jemar Clark ^, Arkansas State - OL, Sr., General Studies
Colton Jackson *^, Arkansas State - OL, Sr., General Studies
Andy Kwon #, Georgia Southern - OL, Sr., Sport Management
Antonio Garcia !, Troy - OL, Sr., Post Graduate-Criminal Justice

First Team Defense
Waylon Roberson, Arkansas State - DL, Sr., General Studies
Ja'Von Rolland-Jones *^, Arkansas State - DL, Jr., Sport Management
Bernard Dawson #, Georgia Southern - DL, Sr., Information Technology
Jay Ellison *#, Georgia Southern - DL, Sr., General Studies
Rashad Dillard, Troy - DL, Sr., Psychology
Eric Boggs #, Appalachian State - LB, Jr., Physical Education
John Law *^, Appalachian State - LB, Sr., Health Promotion
Xavier Woodson-Luster *#, Arkansas State - LB, Sr., Sport Management
Cody Brown #, Arkansas State - DB, Sr., Communication Studies
Bobby Baker, Georgia State - DB, Sr., Speech
Savion Brown #, Louisiana - DB, Sr., General Studies
Jeremy Reaves #, South Alabama - DB, Jr., Sports and Recreation Management

First Team Special Teams
Austin Rehkow *^, Idaho - P, Sr., Exercise Science and Health
Austin Rehkow #, Idaho - PK, Sr., Exercise Science and Health
Blaise Taylor *, Arkansas State - RS, Jr., Business Administration

Second Team Offense
Matt Linehan !, Idaho - QB, Jr., Broadcast and Digital Media
Marcus Cox *#, Appalachian State - RB, Sr., Management
Elijah McGuire *!, Louisiana - RB, Sr., General Studies
Callen Hightower, Idaho - WR, Sr., General Studies
AJalen Holley *, ULM - WR, Sr., Kinesiology
Josh Magee, South Alabama - WR, Sr., Communication
Keith Rucker #, Georgia State - TE, Sr., Speech
Colby Gossett, Appalachian State - OL, Jr., Management
Devin Mondie, Arkansas State - OL, Sr., Communication Studies
Anthony McMeans !, New Mexico State - OL, Sr., Individualized Studies
Curtis Williams, South Alabama - OL, Sr., Interdisciplinary Studies
Ryan Melton *!, Texas State - OL, Sr., Agriculture

Second Team Defense
Darrius Sapp, Georgia Southern - DL, Jr., General Studies
Shawanye Lawrence, Georgia State - DL, Sr., Psychology
Karmichael Dunbar, Louisiana - DL, Sr., Criminal Justice
Taboris Lee, Louisiana - DL, Jr., General Studies
Khari Lain !, Arkansas State - LB, Jr., Strategic Comm./Public Relations
Otha Peters !, Louisiana - LB, Sr., General Studies
Roman Buchanan *, South Alabama - LB, Sr., Exercise Science
Chris Humes, Arkansas State - DB, Sr., Health Promotions
Blaise Taylor *, Arkansas State - DB, Jr., Business Administration
Tracy Walker *, Louisiana - DB, Jr., Sports Management
Tre' Hunter, ULM - DB, Sr., General Studies
Kalen Jackson !, South Alabama - DB, Sr., Communication

Second Team Special Teams
Lumi Kaba, Texas State - P, Sr., Exploratory Professional Studies
Aleem Sunanon !, South Alabama - PK, Sr., Masters of Public Administration
Xavier Johnson !, South Alabama - RS, Jr., Interdisciplinary Studies

* - named to 2015 Preseason Teams
^ - named to 2015 All-Sun Belt First Team
# - named to 2015 All-Sun Belt Second Team
! - named to 2015 All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention Team

Brown Named Preseason First-Team All-Sun Belt; Six Cajuns Named To Squad

Players Mentioned

Savion Brown

Karmichael Dunbar

Taboris Lee

Elijah McGuire

Otha Peters

Dominique Tovell

Tracy Walker

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