2021 Conference USA football season explained

The 2021 Conference USA football season was the 26th season of college football play for Conference USA (C-USA). The season started on August 28, 2021 and ended on December 23, 2021.^[1] The conference consisted of 14 members in two divisions. It was part of the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

Previous season

See main article: 2020 Conference USA football season.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Old Dominion did not play the 2020 season, leaving the conference with 13 participating teams.^[2] The rest of the conference played the full season, with some games postponed or cancelled for reasons relating to the pandemic. The Marshall Thundering Herd won the East Division, while the UAB Blazers won the West Division. In the 2020 Conference USA Football Championship Game, the Blazers defeated the Thundering Herd 22–13.

Preseason

Preseason Media Poll

The Preseason Media Poll was released on July 19. Marshall was voted the favorite to win the East Division, while UAB was voted favorite for the West Division.^[3]

East Division (votes for 1st):
1. Marshall (17)
2. Florida Atlantic (6)
3. Western Kentucky (1)
4. Charlotte
5. Middle Tennessee
6. FIU
7. Old DominionWest Division (votes for 1st):
1. UAB (15)
2. UTSA (9)
3. Louisiana Tech
4. Southern Miss
5. Rice
6. North Texas
7. UTEP

Preseason player awards

Preseason player awards were announced on July 20.^[4]

• Offensive Player of the Year: Sincere McCormick (Junior, UTSA runningback)
• Defensive Player of the Year: DeAngelo Malone (Senior, Western Kentucky defensive back)
• Special Teams Player of the Year: Lucas Dean (Junior, UTSA punter)

Preseason awards

The following list contains C-USA players who were included on preseason watch lists for national awards.

Award	Head coach/Player	School	Position	Link
Maxwell Award	Chris Reynolds	style=	Charlotte	QB	[5]
	Grant Wells	style=	Marshall	QB
	Frank Gore Jr.	style=	Southern Miss	RB
	Sincere McCormick	style=	UTSA	RB
Bednarik Award	Tyler Grubbs	style=	Louisiana Tech	LB	[6]
	Reed Blankenship	style=	Middle Tennessee	S
	Kris Moll	style=	UAB	LB
	Praise Amaewhule	style=	UTEP	DE
	Rashad Wisdom	style=	UTSA	S
	DeAngelo Malone	style=	Western Kentucky	DE
Davey O'Brien Award	Frank Harris	style=	UTSA	QB	[7]
	Grant Wells	style=	Marshall	QB
Doak Walker Award	Frank Gore Jr.	style=	Southern Miss	RB	[8]
	DeWayne McBride	style=	UAB	RB
	Sincere McCormick	style=	UTSA	RB
Fred Biletnikoff Award	Jacob Cowing	style=	UTEP	WR	[9]
	Zakhari Franklin	style=	UTSA	WR
	Bradley Rozner	style=	Rice	WR
John Mackey Award	Joshua Simon	style=	Western Kentucky	TE	[10]
	Hayden Pittman	style=	UAB	TE
	Leroy Watson	style=	UTSA	TE
Rimington Trophy	Alex Salguero	style=	Marshall	C	[11]
Outland Trophy	Spencer Burford	style=	UTSA	OT	[12]
	Colby Ragland	style=	UAB	OT
	Sidney Wells	style=	UAB	OT
Bronko Nagurski Trophy	Jamare Edwards	style=	Marshall	DT	[13]
	Tyler Grubbs	style=	Louisiana Tech	LB
	DeAngelo Malone	style=	Western Kentucky	DE
	Kris Moll	style=	UAB	LB
	Dion Novil	style=	North Texas	DT
Lou Groza Award	Jacob Barnes	style=	Louisiana Tech	K	[14]
	Hunter Duplessis	style=	UTSA	K
	Brayden Narveson	style=	Western Kentucky	K
	Matt Quinn	style=	UAB	K
Paul Hornung Award	Jacob Adams	style=	Louisiana Tech	FB	[15]
	Jake Bailey	style=	Rice	WR
	Jermaine Brown Jr.	style=	UAB	RB
	DeAndre Torrey	style=	North Texas	RB
Wuerffel Trophy	Peter Agabe	style=	Charlotte	LB	[16]
	Joshua Mate	style=	Louisiana Tech	OL
	Reeves Blankenship	style=	Louisiana Tech	LS
	Alex Mollette	style=	Marshall	OL
	Reed Blankeship	style=	Middle Tennessee	S
	Jordan Young	style=	Old Dominion	LB
	Ikenna Enechukwu	style=	Rice	DL
	Colby Ragland	style=	UAB	OL
	Hunter Duplessis	style=	UTSA	K
Walter Camp Award	Sincere McCormick	style=	UTSA	RB	[17]
Manning Award	Frank Harris	style=	UTSA	QB	[18]
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award	Deion Hankins	style=	UTEP	RB	[19]
	Sincere McCormick	style=	UTSA	RB
	Jordan Myers	style=	Rice	TE
	Bailey Zappe	style=	Western Kentucky	QB
Ray Guy Award	Bernardo Rodriguez	style=	North Texas	P	[20]
	Cesar Barajas	style=	Louisiana Tech	P
	Jacob Barnes	style=	Louisiana Tech	K
	John Haggerty	style=	Western Kentucky	P
	Kyle Greenwell	style=	UAB	P
	Kyle Ulbrich	style=	Middle Tennessee	P
	Lucas Dean	style=	UTSA	P
	Matthew Hayball	style=	Florida Atlantic	P
	Tommy Heatherly	style=	FIU	P
Polynesian College Football Player Of The Year Award	Ahofitu Maka	style=	UTSA	OL	[21]
	Manase Mose	style=	North Texas	OL
	Luke Anthony	style=	Louisiana Tech	QB	[22]
	Bailey Hockman	style=	Middle Tennessee	QB
	Tyler Johnston III	style=	UAB	QB
	Chris Reynolds	style=	Charlotte	QB

Head coaches

Doc Holliday was released from the Head Coach position at Marshall after 11 seasons with the program. He was replaced by Charles Huff, who had previously been the running backs coach at Alabama.^[23]

Will Hall took over as the new permanent Head Coach at Southern Miss, filling the vacancy left after Jay Hopson had resigned one game into the previous season.^[24]

Note: All stats shown are before the start of the 2021 season.

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	CUSA Record
style=	Charlotte	Will Healy	3	22–31	9–10	7–5
style=	FIU	Butch Davis	4	86–64	23-21	14–13
style=	Florida Atlantic	Willie Taggart	2	61–66	5–4	4–2
style=	Louisiana Tech	Skip Holtz	9	149–112	61–41	41–21
style=	Marshall	Charles Huff	1	0–0	0–0	0–0
style=	Middle Tennessee	Rick Stockstill	16	94–92	94–92	71–45
style=	North Texas	Seth Littrell	6	31–31	31–31	21–18
style=	Old Dominion	Ricky Rahne	2	0–0	0–0	0–0
style=	Rice	Mike Bloomgren	4	7–23	7–23	6–15
style=	Southern Miss	Will Hall	1	56–20	0–0	0–0
style=	UAB	Bill Clark	6	51–26	40–22	26–10
style=	UTEP	Dana Dimel	4	35–66	5–27	1–19
style=	UTSA	Jeff Traylor	2	7–5	7–5	5–2
style=	Western Kentucky	Tyson Helton	3	14–11	14–11	10–5

Post-season changes

• On November 10, Butch Davis announced that he would not return to FIU after the school declined to extend his contract.^[25]
• On November 26, Louisiana Tech announced that they were firing head coach Skip Holtz. Holtz was allowed to coach the final game of the season before being dismissed immediately after.^[26] The school announced on November 30 that Texas Tech offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie would take over as the new head coach.^[27]

Rankings

See main article: 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings.

	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Final
Charlotte	AP
C		RV
CFP	Not released
FIU	AP
C
CFP	Not released
Florida Atlantic	AP
C
CFP	Not released
Louisiana Tech	AP															RV
C
CFP	Not released
Marshall	AP
C	RV	RV	RV
CFP	Not released
Middle Tennessee	AP
C
CFP	Not released
North Texas	AP
C
CFP	Not released
Old Dominion	AP
C
CFP	Not released
Rice	AP
C
CFP	Not released
Southern Miss	AP
C
CFP	Not released
UAB	AP	RV	RV														RV
C	RV	RV
CFP	Not released
UTEP	AP
C
CFP	Not released
UTSA	AP					RV	RV	RV	24	23	16	15	15	15	RV	24	RV
C			RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	22	18	16	18	20	RV	25	RV
CFP	Not released										23	22	22
Western Kentucky	AP
C
CFP	Not released

Legend

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
		No change in ranking from previous week
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Schedule

Index to colors and formatting
C-USA member won
C-USA member lost
C-USA teams in bold

All times Eastern time.

Conference USA Championship Game

See also: 2021 Conference USA Football Championship Game.

Postseason

Bowl Games

See also: 2021–22 NCAA football bowl games.

Legend
	C-USA Win
	C-USA Loss

Bowl game	Date	Site	Television	Time (EST)	C-USA team	Opponent	Score	Attendance
Bahamas Bowl	December 17	Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, Bahamas	ESPN	12:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Toledo	W 31–24	13,596
Boca Raton Bowl	December 18	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	ESPN	11:00 a.m.	Western Kentucky	Appalachian State	W 59–38	15,429
New Mexico Bowl	December 18	University Stadium • Albuquerque, NM	ESPN	2:15 p.m.	UTEP	Fresno State	L 24–31	16,422
Independence Bowl	December 18	Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA	ABC	3:30 p.m.	UAB	No. 13 BYU	W 31–28	26,276
New Orleans Bowl	December 18	Caesars Superdome • New Orleans, LA	ESPN	9:15 p.m.	Marshall	No. 23 Louisiana	L 21–36	21,642
Myrtle Beach Bowl	December 20	Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC	ESPN	2:30 p.m.	Old Dominion	Tulsa	L 17–30	6,557
Frisco Bowl	December 21	Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX	ESPN	7:30 p.m.	UTSA	San Diego State	L 24–38	15,801
Frisco Football Classic	December 23	Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX	ESPN	3:30 p.m.	North Texas	Miami (OH)	L 14–27	11,721

Conference USA records vs other conferences

2021–2022 records against non-conference foes:

Power Conferences 5	Record
ACC	1–3
Big Ten	1–3
Big 12	0–2
Pac-12	0–0
BYU/Notre Dame	0–0
SEC	0–6
Power 5 Total	2–14
Other FBS Conferences	Record
American	3–4
Independents (Excluding Notre Dame and BYU)	2–5
MAC	0–2
Mountain West	2–2
Sun Belt	1–5
Other FBS Total	8–18
FCS Opponents	Record
Football Championship Subdivision	14–0
Total Non-Conference Record	24–32

Conference USA vs Power 5 matchups

This is a list of games C-USA has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, BYU, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.

Date	Conference	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 3	ACC	Old Dominion	Wake Forest	Truist Field • Winston-Salem, NC	L 10–42
September 3	ACC	Duke	Charlotte	Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, NC	W 31–28
September 4	SEC	Rice	Arkansas	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR	L 17–38
September 4	SEC	Louisiana Tech	Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, MS	L 34–35
September 4	SEC	Florida Atlantic	No. 13 Florida	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	L 14–35
September 4	Big Ten	UTSA	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	W 37–30
September 11	ACC	Middle Tennessee	No. 19 Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium • Blacksburg, VA	L 14–35
September 11	SEC	UAB	No. 2 Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	L 7–56
September 18	Big 12	FIU	Texas Tech	Jones AT&T Stadium • Lubbock, TX	L 21–54
September 18	Big 12	Rice	Texas	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX	L 0–58
September 25	Big Ten	Indiana	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	L 31–33
September 25	SEC	Southern Miss	No. 1 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	L 14–63
October 2	Big Ten	Western Kentucky	No. 17 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	L 31–48
October 2	ACC	Louisiana Tech	No. 23 NC State	Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC	L 27–34
October 2	Big Ten	Charlotte	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	L 14–24
October 9	SEC	North Texas	Missouri	Farout Field • Columbia, MO	L 35–48

Conference USA vs Group of Five matchups

The following games include C-USA teams competing against teams from the American, MAC, Mountain West, or Sun Belt.

Date	Conference	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 4	American	Marshall	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	W 49–7
September 4	Sun Belt	Southern Miss	South Alabama	Hancock Whitney Stadium • Mobile, AL	L 7–31
September 10	Mountain West	UTEP	Boise State	Albertsons Stadium • Boise, ID	L 13–54
September 11	Sun Belt	Georgia Southern	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	W 38–6
September 11	American	Houston	Rice	Rice Stadium • Houston, TX	L 7–44
September 11	American	North Texas	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX	L 12–35
September 11	Sun Belt	Texas State	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Miami, FL	L 17–23 OT
September 18	American	SMU	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	L 37–39
September 18	American	East Carolina	Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV	L 38–42
September 18	Sun Belt	Charlotte	Georgia State	Center Parc Stadium • Atlanta, GA	L 9–20
September 18	Sun Belt	Troy	Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS	L 9–21
September 23	Sun Belt	Marshall	Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC	L 30–31
September 25	MAC	Buffalo	Old Dominion	S.B. Ballard Stadium • Norfolk, VA	L 34–35
September 25	Mountain West	New Mexico	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	W 20–13
September 25	MAC	FIU	Central Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium • Mount Pleasant, MI	L 27–31
September 25	American	UAB	Tulane	Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 28–21
September 25	American	UTSA	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN	W 31–28
September 25	Mountain West	Florida Atlantic	Air Force	Falcon Stadium • Colorado Spring, CO	L 7–31
October 2	Mountain West	UNLV	UTSA	Alamodome • San Antonio, TX	W 24–17

Conference USA vs FBS independents matchups

The following games include C-USA teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, UConn, or UMass.

Date	Conference	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
August 28	Independent	UTEP	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	W 30–3
September 11	Independent	Western Kentucky	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY	L 35–38
September 18	Independent	Old Dominion	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	L 17–45
October 2	Independent	Liberty	UAB	Protective Stadium • Birmingham, AL	L 12–36
October 9	Independent	Middle Tennessee	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	L 13–41
October 22	Independent	Middle Tennessee	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	W 44–13
October 23	Independent	Liberty	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX	L 26–35

Conference USA vs FCS matchups

Date	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 1	UAB	Jacksonville State	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL	W 31–0
September 2	LIU	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Miami, FL	W 48–10
September 2	UT Martin	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	W 59–21
September 4	Monmouth	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	W 50–15
September 4	Northwestern State	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX	W 44–14
September 4	Bethune–Cookman	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	W 38–28
September 11	Gardner–Webb	Charlotte	Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, NC	W 38–10
September 11	Lamar	UTSA	Alamodome • San Antonio, TX	W 54–0
September 11	North Carolina Central	Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV	W 44–10
September 11	Southeastern Louisiana	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	W 45–42
September 11	Hampton	Old Dominion	S.B. Ballard Stadium • Norfolk, VA	W 47–7
September 11	Grambling State	Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS	W 37–0
September 18	Fordham	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	W 45–14
September 25	Texas Southern	Rice	Rice Stadium • Houston, TX	W 48–34

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Week		Offensive				Defensive				Special Teams
		Player	Team	Position		Player	Team	Position		Player	Team	Position
Week 0 (August 30)[28]		Jacob Cowing	UTEP	WR		Dy'Vonne Inyang	UTEP	S		Gavin Baechle	UTEP	K
Week 1 (September 6)[29]		Chris Reynolds	Charlotte	QB		Eli Neal	Marshall	LB		Hunter Duplessis	UTSA	K
Week 2 (September 13)[30]		Bailey Zappe N'Kosi Perry	Western Kentucky Florida Atlantic	QB QB		BeeJay Williamson	Louisiana Tech	DB		Sheldon Jones	UTSA	PR
Week 3 (September 20)[31]		Gerrit Prince	UAB	TE		Trumane Bell II	UTSA	DL		Kyle Greenwell	UAB	P
Week 4 (September 27)[32]		Chris Reynolds (2)	Charlotte	QB		Clarence Hicks A.J. Brathwaite	UTSA Western Kentucky	LB S		Hunter Duplessis (2)	UTSA	K
Week 5 (October 4)[33]		Bailey Zappe (2)	Western Kentucky	QB		Reed Blankenship	Middle Tennessee	S		Cameron Harrell	Southern Miss	KR
Week 6 (October 11)[34]		Frank Harris	UTSA	QB		Alex Wright	UAB	DE		Shadrick Byrd	Charlotte	KR
Week 7 (October 18)[35]		Jerreth Sterns	Western Kentucky	WR		Jadrian Taylor	UTEP	DE		Grayson Cash	UAB	S
Week 8 (October 25)[36]		Wiley Green	Rice	QB		Gabe Taylor	Rice	S		Brayden Narveson	Western Kentucky	K
Week 9 (November 1)[37]		Bailey Zappe (3)	Western Kentucky	QB		DQ Thomas	Middle Tennessee	LB		Nick Rice	Old Dominion	K
Week 10 (November 8)[38]		DeWayne McBride	UAB	RB		Beanie Bishop	Western Kentucky	DB		Jayden Harrison	Marshall	KR
Week 11 (November 15)[39]		Bailey Zappe (4)	Western Kentucky	QB		Jason Henderson	Old Dominion	LB		R'Tarriun Johnson	Old Dominion	S
Week 12 (November 22)[40]		Frank Harris (2)	UTSA	QB		Clarence Hicks (2)	UTSA	LB		Hunter Duplessis (3)	UTSA	K
Week 13 (November 29)[41]		Ali Jennings	Old Dominion	WR		DeAngelo Malone	Western Kentucky	DE		Brayden Narveson (2)	Western Kentucky	K

Conference USA Individual Awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Conference USA football coaches at the end of the season.^{[42] [43]}

Award	Player	School
Player of the Year	Bailey Zappe, QB, Grad.	Western Kentucky
Offensive Player of the Year	Sincere McCormick, RB, So.	UTSA
Defensive Player of the Year	DeAngelo Malone, DE, Sr.	Western Kentucky
Special Teams Player of the Year	Tommy Heatherly, P, Sr.	FIU
Freshman Player of the Year	Elijah Spencer, WR	Charlotte
Newcomer of the Year	Jerreth Sterns, WR, Jr.	Western Kentucky
Coach of the Year	Jeff Traylor	UTSA

All-Conference Teams

The following players were selected as part of the Conference USA's All-Conference Teams.^[44]

Position	Player	Team
First Team Offense
WR	Jerreth Sterns	style=	Western Kentucky
WR	Jacob Cowing	style=	UTEP
WR	Zakhari Franklin	style=	UTSA
OL	Alex Mollette	style=	Marshall
OL	Cole Spencer	style=	Western Kentucky
OL	Spencer Burford	style=	UTSA
OL	Colby Ragland	style=	UAB
OL	Mason Brooks	style=	Western Kentucky
TE	Zack Kuntz	style=	Old Dominion
QB	Bailey Zappe	style=	Western Kentucky
RB	Sincere McCormick	style=	UTSA
RB	Rasheen Ali	style=	Marshall
First Team Defense
DE	Praise Amaewhule	style=	UTEP
DL	Elijah Garcia	style=	Rice
DL	Tyree Turner	style=	UAB
DE	DeAngelo Malone	style=	Western Kentucky
LB	KD Davis	style=	North Texas
LB	Abraham Beauplan	style=	Marshall
LB	Clarence Hicks	style=	UTSA
DB	Reed Blankenship	style=	Middle Tennessee
DB	Rashad Wisdom	style=	UTSA
DB	Beanie Bishop	style=	Western Kentucky
DB	Quincy Riley	style=	Middle Tennessee
First Team Special Teams
K	Hunter Duplessis	style=	UTSA
P	Tommy Heatherly	style=	FIU
LS	Reeves Blankenship	style=	Louisiana Tech
KR	Cameron Harrell	style=	Southern Miss
PR	Jaylin Lane	style=	Middle Tennessee

Position	Player	Team
Second Team Offense
WR	Mitchell Tinsley	style=	Western Kentucky
WR	Jason Brownlee	style=	Southern Miss
WR	Tyrese Chambers	style=	FIU
OL	Will Ulmer	style=	Marshall
OL	Quantavious Leslie	style=	Western Kentucky
OL	Ahofitu Maka	style=	UTSA
OL	Manase Mose	style=	North Texas
OL	Boe Wilson	style=	Western Kentucky
TE	Gerrit Prince	style=	UAB
QB	Frank Harris	style=	UTSA
RB	DeWayne McBride	style=	UAB
RB	DeAndre Torrey	style=	North Texas
Second Team Defense
DE	Jordan Ferguson	style=	Middle Tennessee
DL	Dion Novil	style=	North Texas
DL	Jaylon Haynes	style=	UTSA
DE	Alex Wright	style=	UAB
LB	Breon Hayward	style=	UTEP
LB	Tyler Grubbs	style=	Louisiana Tech
LB	DQ Thomas	style=	Middle Tennessee
DB	Steven Gilmore	style=	Marshall
DB	Micah Abraham	style=	Marshall
DB	Grayson Cash	style=	UAB
DB	Richard Dames	style=	FIU
Second Team Special Teams
K	Brayden Narveson	style=	Western Kentucky
P	Lucas Dean	style=	UTSA
LS	Caleb Cantrell	style=	UTSA
KR	Jayden Harrison	style=	Marshall
PR	Smoke Harris	style=	Louisiana Tech

All-Americans

The 2021 College Football All-America Teams are composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF), The Sporting News (TSN), Sports Illustrated (SI), USA Today (USAT) ESPN, CBS Sports (CBS), FOX Sports (FOX) College Football News (CFN), Bleacher Report (BR), Scout.com, Phil Steele (PS), SB Nation (SB), Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus (PFF) and Yahoo! Sports (Yahoo!).

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. Football consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
Second Team All-Americans
WR	Jerreth Sterns	style=	Western Kentucky	AP, FWAA, USAT
RB	Sincere McCormick	style=	UTSA	CBS, FWAA, USAT

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
Third Team All-Americans
RB	Sincere McCormick	style=	UTSA	AP

NFL Draft

The following list includes all C-USA players who were drafted in the 2022 NFL draft.

Player	Position	School	Draft Round	Round Pick	Overall Pick	Team
Alex Wright	DE	UAB	3	14	78	Cleveland Browns
DeAngelo Malone	LB	Western Kentucky	3	18	82	Atlanta Falcons
Spencer Burford	OT	UTSA	4	29	134	San Francisco 49ers
Bailey Zappe	QB	Western Kentucky	4	32	137	New England Patriots
Tariq Woolen	CB	UTSA	5	10	153	Seattle Seahawks
Nazeeh Johnson	S	Marshall	7	38	259	Kansas City Chiefs

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2021 Football Schedule Released. January 27, 2021. July 22, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
2. Web site: Old Dominion Athletics Announces Cancellation of Fall Sports Season. ODUsports.com. August 10, 2020. July 17, 2021.
3. Web site: C-USA Announces Media's Predicted Order of Finish For 2021. July 19, 2021. July 24, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
4. Web site: C-USA Announces Preseason Awards. July 20, 2021. July 24, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
5. Web site: 2021 Maxwell Award Watch List – Maxwell Football Club. 19 July 2021.
6. Web site: 2021 Bednarik Award Watch List – Maxwell Football Club. 19 July 2021.
7. Web site: Davey O’Brien Award Announces 30-Player Preseason Watch List. July 20, 2021. July 20, 2021.
8. Web site: 2021 Doak Walker Award Candidates. July 21, 2021. www.smu.eduaccess-date=July 21, 2021.
9. Web site: 2021 Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List Released. July 22, 2021. July 22, 2021.
10. Web site: 2021 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released. July 23, 2021. July 23, 2021.
11. Web site: Rimington Trophy Press Release. July 23, 2021. July 23, 2021.
12. Web site: 2021 Outland Trophy Award Watchlist Unveiled. July 27, 2021. July 27, 2021.
13. Web site: 2021 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watchlist Unveiled. July 27, 2021. July 27, 2021.
14. Web site: Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Announces 2021 Preseason Watch List. July 28, 2021. July 28, 2021.
15. Web site: 57 PLAYERS NAMED TO 2021 PAUL HORNUNG AWARD WATCH LIST. July 29, 2021. July 29, 2021. July 29, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210729150819/https://www.louisvillesports.org/ph-article/57-players-named-to-2021-paul-hornung-award-watch-list/. dead.
16. Web site: Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2021 Watch List. July 29, 2021. July 29, 2021.
17. Web site: Walter Camp Foundation Announces 2021 Player of the Year Preseason Watch List. July 30, 2021. July 30, 2021.
18. Web site: Allstate Sugar Bowl announces Manning Award Watch List. August 5, 2021. August 5, 2021.
19. Web site: Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award announces 2021 Preseason Watch List . August 5, 2021. August 5, 2021.
20. Web site: Ray Guy Award announces 2021 Preseason Watch List . August 13, 2021. August 13, 2021.
21. Web site: 2021 Polynesian College Football Player Of The Year Award Watch List. August 19, 2021. August 19, 2021.
22. Web site: The 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Announces 2021 Preseason Watch List. August 19, 2021. August 19, 2021.
23. Web site: Sources: Alabama assistant Charles Huff set to be hired as Marshall's new football coach. ESPN. July 17, 2021.
24. Web site: Will Hall named 22nd Southern Miss head football coach. December 7, 2020. July 17, 2021. wxxv25.com. WXXV-TV.
25. Web site: Vannini . Chris . November 15, 2021 . Butch Davis won't return to FIU in 2022 after 5 seasons: Source . November 15, 2021 . . en.
26. News: Jeyarajah . Shehan . November 26, 2021 . Louisiana Tech fires Skip Holtz: Bulldogs opt for coaching change after nine years amid 3-8 season . en . . November 26, 2021.
27. Web site: The Athletic. Olson. Max. Louisiana Tech to hire Texas Tech offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie: Source. November 30, 2021. November 30, 2021.
28. Web site: Week Zero Players of the Week. August 30, 2021. September 6, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
29. Web site: FB: September 6 Players of the Week. September 6, 2021. September 6, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
30. Web site: FB: September 13 Players of the Week. September 13, 2021. September 13, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
31. Web site: FB: Sept. 20 Players of the Week. September 20, 2021. September 20, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
32. Web site: FB: Sept. 27 Players of the Week. September 27, 2021. September 27, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
33. Web site: FB: Oct. 4 Players of the Week. October 4, 2021. October 4, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
34. Web site: FB: Oct. 11 Players of the Week. October 11, 2021. October 11, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
35. Web site: FB: Oct. 18 Players of the Week. October 18, 2021. October 18, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
36. Web site: FB: Oct. 25 Players of the Week. October 25, 2021. October 27, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
37. Web site: FB: Nov. 1 Players of the Week. November 1, 2021. November 1, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
38. Web site: FB: Nov. 8 Players of the Week. November 8, 2021. November 8, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
39. Web site: FB: Nov. 15 Players of the Week. November 15, 2021. November 15, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
40. Web site: FB: Nov. 22 Players of the Week. November 22, 2021. November 22, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
41. Web site: FB: Nov. 29 Players of the Week. November 29, 2021. November 29, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
42. Web site: C-USA Announces Football Players of the Year. December 8, 2021. December 8, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
43. Web site: UTSA's Traylor Named Conference USA Coach of the Year. December 8, 2021. December 8, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
44. Web site: FB: C-USA Announces 2021 All-Conference Teams. December 7, 2021. December 7, 2021. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.