Where QB Vantrease, other Georgia Southern football players landed on All-Sun Belt teams
A dozen Georgia Southern players have received Sun Belt Conference postseason honors in Clay Helton's first year at the helm of the bowl-bound Eagles.
None of the league's major awards are coming to Statesboro, and no Eagle was picked for the first team in a vote of the 14 head coaches and select media representatives.
The Eagles went 6-6 overall, 3-5 in the SBC in the regular season.
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Voted to the second team are redshirt-senior offensive lineman Khalil Crowder, senior receiver Khaleb Hood and redshirt-sophomore linebacker Marques Watson-Trent.
Crowder, who has started every game for an offensive line that yielded the fewest sacks (seven) in the league and tied for second in FBS, was a third-team selection in 2021.
Hood, an honorable mention last season, has 80 receptions for 896 yards, 11.20 yards per catch and 74.67 yards per game. He set GS single-season and career receptions records.
Watson-Trent, who was injured in the 2021 season opener and missed the rest of that campaign, returned in 2022 to rank third in the league in tackles per game (8.8) and totaled 105 (41 solo, 61 assisted) in 12 games.
The third team includes Georgia Southern redshirt-junior defensive back Derrick Canteen, sixth-year defensive end Justin Ellis, sixth-year offensive lineman Caleb Kelly, sixth-year quarterback Kyle Vantrease and junior running back Jalen White.
For White, it's been his first season as the most-featured back and he delivered with 162 carries for 914 yards, 5.6 per carry, 83.1 per game and 10 rushing touchdowns in 11 games. He injured his knee and missed the regular-season finale, when the Eagles knocked off rival Appalachian State 51-48 in double overtime to qualify for a bowl game.
Canteen was coming off a breakthrough season in 2020 when he was a Freshman All-America and All-SBC first-team pick after tying for the FBS lead and tying the GS record with six interceptions.
He was injured in the second game of 2021 and lost for the season. He returned in 2022 and was fifth in the Sun Belt with 1.09 passes defended per game. He had 11 pass break-ups and one interception in 11 games.
Ellis, one of the team leaders and a co-captain, was an honorable-mention pick in 2021. He returned for his sixth year and has started every game. He made 46 tackles (23 solo, 23 assisted), had team highs with 10 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, as well as one pass break-up, two quarterback hurries and one forced fumble.
Kelly had been included in the Pro Football Network's 2021 All-SBC team as an honorable mention. He also made the 2018-19 Sun Belt Conference Academic Honor Roll. Kelly, like Crowder, has started every game this season on an offensive line adjusting to a new coaching staff and offensive scheme.
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Running that new playbook is Vantrease, who transfered in January to Statesboro from Buffalo, where he was a three-year starter. He was specifically brought in to operate offensive coordinator Bryan Ellis' offense that's more balanced — even pass-happy — compared to the Eagles' historically run-heavy attack.
Vantrease started all 12 games and led the league in passing yards (3,901), yards per game (325.08), completions (343), attempts (559) and interceptions (15), and tied for second with 25 TD passes.
A team co-captain, Vantrease was third in the FBS in yards per game and passing yards, and broke many of the Eagles' single-game and single-season passing records.
Four honorable mentions
Vantrease spread the ball around, which helps account for three receivers earning accolades. In addition to Hood on second team, sophomore Derwin Burgess Jr. and redshirt senior Jeremy Singleton are honorable mentions.
Burgess played in 10 games before he was injured, and compiled 58 catches for 717 yards, 12.4 yards per catch, 5.8 receptions per game and 71.7 yards per game. Among his team-high seven TD receptions were acrobatic, highlight film-worthy catches.
Singleton transferred to GS from Houston to be a bigger part of an offense. He came through with 66 catches for 714 yards, 59.5 yards per game and two TDs while battling through a late-season ankle injury.
Redshirt-junior safety Anthony Wilson was All-SBC honorable mention in 2020 and a third-teamer in 2021. He's honorable mention again after starting all 12 games and ranking eighth in the SBC in tackles per game (7.7). He collected 57 solo and 35 assisted, along with three TFL, 1.5 sacks, one interception, five pass break-ups, two QB hurries and one forced fumble.
Alex Raynor, who faced significant competition to keep his kicking duties in fall camp, improved in 2022 to be a highly dependable kicker. He led all Sun Belt kickers at 8.0 points per game (96 total).
He was 48 of 49 on extra-point attempts and 16 of 18 on field-goal attempts, including a long of 46.
Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Southern football players on All-Sun Belt Conference teams
