Goff, Vanlier first-team all-OVC, Mouton, McCoin and Hall named second-team
Tennessee Tech seniors Tra'Darius Goff and Ladarius Vanlier have earned first-team all-conference honors, while second-team selections went to Brock McCoin, Charles Mouton and Maleek Hall in voting announced Tuesday by the Ohio Valley Conference.
Click here to view the complete 2015 all-OVC team (PDF)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech seniors Tra'Darius Goff and Ladarius Vanlier have earned first-team all-conference honors, while second-team selections went to Brock McCoin, Charles Mouton and Maleek Hall in voting announced Tuesday by the Ohio Valley Conference.
Ohio Valley Conference champion Jacksonville State took home two of the four major 2015 postseason OVC football awards and had 17 All-Conference selections in voting conducted by league head coaches and sports information directors.
Jacksonville State junior quarterback Eli Jenkins was named OVC Offensive Player of the Year while his coach John Grass won his second-straight Roy Kidd OVC Coach of the Year honors. The Defensive Player of the Year was split between two players with Eastern Illinois senior defensive tackle Dino Fanti and Eastern Kentucky junior defensive end Noah Spence sharing the honors while Southeast Missouri State quarterback Dante Vandeven was tabbed OVC Freshman of the Year. Eastern Kentucky was second with 10 selections across the three teams while Eastern Illinois had eight. The All-OVC first-team included 16 seniors, five juniors and four sophomores while the second-team included 11 seniors, 13 juniors and four sophomores.
Goff, who was a second-team all-OVC selection in 2013 before sitting out the 2014 season due to injury, returned to the field and led the conference in total tackles with 132, ranking fifth in the nation (12.0 per game). A 5-foot-11, 240-pound senior linebacker from Columbia, Tenn., Goff finished his Golden Eagle career ranked third all-time in tackles with 373, becoming the first player since 1983 to record three separate seasons with 100 or more tackles. He also recorded seven tackles-for-loss as a senior, two quarterback sacks, caused one fumble and recovered one fumble.
He was a preseason all-OVC selection as well as a preseason All-America pick by College Sports Madness. Following his game against Murray State in which his tackle on a two-ppoint conversion attempt helped clinch the Golden Eagle victory, Goff was voted the OVC Defensive Player of the Week. He posted 18 career games in which he had tackles in double digits, finishing last week with 16 in the win over Tennessee State.
Vanlier was named as the first-team return specialist after leading the OVC and ranking 22nd nationally in kick returns with an average of 25.8 yards per try. He alo led the OVC in all-purpose yards, recording 147.55 per game. Topping 200 all-purpose yards in each of the final three games of the season, Vanlier climbed to second in Tech history with 5,392 all-purpose yards. He leaves Tech as the career record-holder for most kickoff return yards. The 5-foot-8, 175-pound senioor from Nashville was named second-team all-OVC last year and earned a spot on the 2012 OVC All-Newcomer team.
McCoin and Mouton was listed on the all-OVC second team offensive side, while earned the same honor for the defensive unit.
A 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore from Livingston, Tenn., McCoin spent most of the season leading the conference in receiving and receptions per game, before moving to quarterback for the final three games of the year and leading the team to two victories. His receiving numbers dropped dramatically over the final three games since he was no longer playing the position, but he still finished the year ranked fifth in the league in receptions per game and seventh in receiving yards per game finishing with 61 catches for 747 yards. He was well on pace to break school records in both categories, before unselfishly yielding those chances in order to play quarterback, where he wound up ranked first in the OVC in passing efficiency and ninth in passing yards per game.
The versatile McCoin became the only player in NCAA Division I (FBS and FCS) in the past 20 years to accomplish a 100-yard rushing game, 200-yard passing game and 200-yard receiving game in the same season. His season-opening effort of 264 receiving yards at the University of Houston ranks as the second-most this season by any FCS player.
Mouton, a 6-foot-3, 305-pound junior from Victorville, Calif., started every game at center for the Golden Eagles in his first year on the field following a medical redshrt year in 2014. Mouton graded at 88 percent or higher every week, based on his assignments, technique and effort.
Hall, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior from Clarksville, Tenn., ranked first in the nation (FCS) in passes defended, leading the league with 17. He ranked fourth on the team and 20th in the OVC with 64 total tackles, including three tackles-for-loss. He returned a blocked PAT 90 yards for two points for the Golden Eagles last week in the win over Tennessee State. Earlier in the year he was named the OVC and National Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking two kicks in Tech's victory at Murray State.
