Dec. 11, 2007

The Jags placed six on the second team: Senior wide receiver Gerard Landry, senior center Demarcus Stewart, senior offensive tackle Trent Thomas, senior running back Darren Coates, sophomore quarterback Bryant Lee and senior cornerback Efe Osawemwenze.

"I'm proud of them," said Southern head coach PETE RICHARDSON. "We had some kids who had an opportunity to play, and a lot of them matured as the season went on."

Jarmaul George

Josh Duran

The conference's honors for offensive, defensive, newcomer and freshman of the year will be announced today.

George, the SWAC's preseason defensive player of the year, had a career-high 64 tackles along with four interceptions, four breakups and a blocked PAT. He was also the SWAC Freshman of the Year in 2003, and has made the All-SWAC first team in each of his three seasons on the bluff.

Landry, who missed almost all of two games with an ankle injury and half of another game with a suspension, had 575 yards and a career-best nine touchdowns on 48 catches. He was named to the All-SWAC second team for the second straight season. He had a touchdown catch in eight of the nine games in which he played at least a half.

"We depended on (George and Landry) for their maturity level, and they stepped up and did well," Richardson said.

Lands, a senior who may return next season, was a standout in the classroom, in the weight room and on the field, an unofficial third team captain. He had 60 tackles, with 71/2 sacks and 22 tackles for loss, along with seven breakups, 11 quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery.

"He just plays hard. His leadership and dedication, academically and athletically, showed people you can be effective at doing both," Richardson said.

Duran led the SWAC with 40.3 yards per punt. He landed 18 of his 65 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Though recruited primarily to be a field-goal kicker, Duran impressed with his punting.

"He surprised as far as punting, and he's still going to develop into a fine field-goal kicker for us," Richardson said.

Thomas was a tight end until offseason attrition forced his move to left tackle in the preseason. Along with the Thomas' move, Stewart went from right guard to center and then, because of injuries, played both guard spots and later center.

"They had outstanding seasons," Richardson said of the linemen. "They showed what happens when you're unselfish and willing to improve."

Coates began the season with a 90-yard touchdown run on SU's first offensive play and had a spectacular year. He ran for 759 yards and seven touchdowns and had another 566 yards and five touchdowns receiving -- after establishing career totals of just 119 yards and one TD on the ground and seven catches for 56 yards the year before. Coates is the first Jaguar to lead SU in rushing, receiving and scoring since Melvin Williams accomplished the feat in 1995.

Osawemwenze had six interceptions -- with five of those in SU's last six games -- along with 44 tackles, eight breakups and a blocked PAT. He had 22 stops and two breakups in 2006.

"As the season went on, he really matured," Richardson said.

Lee, in his first full year as a starter, led the SWAC in passing average, total offense and pass efficiency -- despite missing the Alcorn State game with an ankle injury and half of the Bayou Classic with a broken thumb.

Lee was 199-for-303 (65.7 percent) for 2,326 yards, 23 touchdowns and four interceptions (two of which first bounced off the intended receiver and a third after the thumb injury).

"He had an outstanding season in his first year really starting," Richardson said. "He still has a lot of upside to go. He'll come back a little bigger and stronger (next season). He understood what it took to be a success and did an outstanding job for us."