Per GoBearcats:
A league-best 17 University of Cincinnati football players earned All-American Athletic Conference honors with the Bearcats snagging a pair of major awards as the league announced its postseason honors Tuesday.
QB Desmond Ridder (Louisville, Kentucky/St. Xavier) was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year and Head Coach Luke Fickell was tabbed as the league’s coach of the year for the second time.
UC’s eight first-team selections included: CB Coby Bryant (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville), RB Gerrid Doaks (Indianapolis, Indiana/Lawrence Central), CB Ahmad Gardner (Detroit, Michigan/Martin Luther King), OT James Hudson (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic/Michigan), Ridder, DL Myjai Sanders (Jacksonville, Florida/Camden County), LB Jarell White (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle) and S James Wiggins (Miami, Florida/South Dade).
Seven Bearcats earned second-team recognition: LB Darrian Beavers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain/UConn), DL Marcus Brown (Naples, Florida/Lely), DL Elijah Ponder (Atlanta, Georgia/South Cobb), P James Smith, (Wangaratta, Australia), KR Tre Tucker, (Akron, Ohio/CVCA), TE Josh Whyle, (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle), WR Michael Young Jr. (Saint Rose, La./Destrehan/Notre Dame)
S Darrick Forrest (Columbus, Ohio/Walnut Ridge) and OT Darius Harper (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) were honorable mention All-AAC.
The 17 all-conference selections are the most in the AAC this year and a UC record, breaking the mark of 11 hit in 1995, 1996, 2004 and 2019. The eight first teamers are also a school record, breaking the previous mark of seven, set in 2019.
Smith closes out his career with four all-conference honors, earning first-team recognition in 2017 and 2018 and second-team plaudits in 2019 and 2020. Gardner was a repeat first-team selection while Forrest, Ponder and Wiggins each earned their second all-league accolades.
Ridder is the first UC player to win the offensive honor since Isaiah Pead was BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2011. Ridder was AAC Rookie of the Year in 2018. He earned his bachelor’s degree on Dec. 12 and is a semifinalist for the Maxwell and O’Brien Awards. Ridder passed for 1,821 yards and 16 TDs while rushing for 526 yards and 11 scores. Ridder has 21 career rushing TDs, most ever for a UC QB and tied for No. 9 all-time. Over the past five games, Ridder has accounted for 21 TDs, passing for 1,224 yards and 10 TDs while running for 455 yards (8.8 YPR) and 11 TDs. He was named the Davey O’Brien National QB of the Week on Oct. 28 following the Bearcats win at SMU and was tabbed for the award’s Great 8 twice this season. He has earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors four times this season.
Brown, Ponder and Sanders anchor a front line which has helped the Bearcats lead the American in rushing, scoring, pass efficiency and total defense. A semifinalist for the Bednarik Award, Sanders has been rated by Pro Football Focus College as one of the top edge defenders in the NCAA FBS, Sanders has a team-best 5.0 sacks and 8.5 tackles for a loss, both marks which rank among the top seven defenders in the American Athletic Conference. Brown has added 4.5 tackles for a loss and a pair of sacks for a defense which has allowed just over three yards a carry on the ground. Ponder tallied a career-high eight tackles vs. Army and has 19 stops on the season, including 3.0 for a loss, a sack, QB hurry and a forced fumble.
Bryant, Forrest, Gardner and Wiggins lead a secondary which has totaled 37 career interceptions while UC’s 13 interceptions and 48 passes defended this season leads the American. Bryant and Gardner ranks tied for second in the AAC’s in passes defended with nine apiece and tied for fourth with three interceptions each. Forrest has a pair of interceptions and three passes defended to go along with 24 tackles. Wiggins has accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl and is a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. He has 31 tackles, a sack and TFL along with seven passes defended and an interception.
White has been UC’s leading tackler all season long, currently totaling 68 stops, 7.0 for a loss with three QB hurries, three passes defended, a pair of sacks and an interception. Tied for seventh in the AAC with 68 tackles White was named the Walter Camp FBS National Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 14 after a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown to go along with seven tackles, a sack and QB hurry in UC’s 55-17 win over East Carolina. He has three double-digit tackles games, including a career-best 15 against Army West Point and was twice named AAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Offensively, Doaks has nine total TDs in 2020 (7 rsh/2 rec), matching his career totals entering 2020. The senior has three 100-yard rushing games, with a career-best 184 yards vs. Houston, SMU (105) and USF (102). His 184 yards against the Cougars was UC’s sixth-best, single-game total over the last 20 years and fifth-best yards per carry average (11.5). Overall, Doaks has carried 137 times for 660 yards, seven scores and a 4.8 ypc average.
Harper and Hudson bookend a line which was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award. UC has averaged 5.9 ypc this season and currently leads the American in rushing offense, grinding up 234.2 yards per game on the ground while allowing just nine sacks, fewest in the AAC.
Whyle and Young have been UC’s two leading receivers on the season. Whyle has 24 receptions for 291 yards and five TDs. He made his first career start against Memphis and had four receptions for 36 yards on five targets. He has 17 catches and two scores in the last four games. Young has 23 receptions for 260 yds and three TDs, making a catch in each UC game this season. He hauled in a career-best five receptions for 60 yards and a TD against Army and tied it with five receptions against Memphis, including a six-yard TD strike in the second quarter.
Smith became UC’s all-time leader in punting yardage during the Houston game. The three-time All-AAC honoree has kicked 224 times for 9,759 yards and just three touchbacks. In 2020, he has kicked 29 times for 1,268 yards, averaging 43.7 yards per punt with on touchback, 13 fair catches, 15 punts inside the 20 and seven kicks over 50. UC has only had 10 punts returned with a long return of 16 yards and only three returns of 10+ yards. In the UC record book, Smith sits No. 2 in punting average (43.6) and fourth in punts (224).
Fickell, in his fourth year at Cincinnati, also took home the AAC honor in 2018. He is 34-13 at UC with back-to-back 11-win seasons in 2018 and 2019, two-straight appearances in the AAC Championship Game and consecutive bowl wins in the Military (2018) and Birmingham (2019) bowls. He was also named the AFCA’s Region 1 FBS Coach of the Year and is on the watch list for the 2020 Dodd Trophy and Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year award.
The 8-0 Bearcats are ranked in the Top-10 of all three national polls and playing host to the 2020 American Athletic Conference Championship Game against Tulsa on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. ET inside Nippert Stadium.
2020 CINCINNATI ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES
Offensive Player of the Year – Desmond Ridder
Coach of the Year – Luke Fickell
First Team All-Conference
Coby Bryant, CB
Gerrid Doaks, RB
Ahmad Gardner, CB
James Hudson, OT
Desmond Ridder, QB
Myjai Sanders, DL
Jarell White, LB
James Wiggins, S
Second Team All-Conference
Darrian Beavers, LB
Marcus Brown, DL
Elijah Ponder, DL
James Smith, P
Tre Tucker, RS
Josh Whyle, TE
Michael Young Jr., WR
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Darrick Forrest, S
Darius Harper, OT
