|
2017 Southern Conference Football Season
The 2017 Southern Conference football season was the 96th season of college football for the Southern Conference (SoCon) and formed a part of the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Head coaches *Tom Arth, Chattanooga – 1st year * Brent Thompson, The Citadel – 2nd year *Carl Torbush, East Tennessee State – 3rd year * Clay Hendrix, Furman – 1st year * Bobby Lamb, Mercer – 5th year * Chris Hatcher, Samford – 3rd year *Scott Wachenheim, VMI – 3rd year *Mark Speir, Western Carolina – 6th year *Mike Ayers, Wofford – 30th year Preseason poll results ''First place votes in parentheses'' Preseason All-Conference Teams Offensive Player of the Year: Devlin Hodges Devlin Patrick "Duck" Hodges (born April 12, 1996) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Samford, after playing at Mortimer Jordan High School. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free ..., R-Jr., QB, Samford Defensive Player of the Year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NCAA Division I Football Championship
The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. The game serves as the final match of an annual postseason bracket tournament between top teams in FCS. Since 2013, 24 teams normally participate in the tournament, with some teams receiving automatic bids upon winning their conference championship, and other teams determined by a selection committee. The reigning national champions are the North Dakota State Bison, who won the championship game for the 2021 season (their 9th overall). The FCS is the highest division in college football to hold a playoff tournament sanctioned by the NCAA to determine its champion, as the four-team College Football Playoff currently used by the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) is not NCAA-sanctioned. Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the offense, and is often responsible for calling the play in the huddle. The quarterback also touches the ball on almost every offensive play, and is almost always the offensive player that throws forward passes. When the QB is tackled behind the line of scrimmage, it is called a sack. Overview In modern American football, the starting quarterback is usually the leader of the offense, and their successes and failures can have a significant impact on the fortunes of their team. Accordingly, the quarterback is among the most glorified, scrutinized, and highest-paid positions in team sports. '' Bleacher Report'' describes the signing of a starting quarterback as a Catch- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Missouri Valley Football Conference
The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. History The Missouri Valley Football Conference has a complex history that involves three other conferences: * Missouri Valley Conference (MVC): A long-established conference, in existence since 1907, that sponsored football until 1985. In its last years as a football conference, it was a hybrid league that included teams in NCAA Divisions I-A (today's FBS) and I-AA (now FCS). * Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (Gateway): A women's sports conference founded in 1982 by MVC member schools. * Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU): An all-sports conference, also founded in 1982, that sponsored football at the I-AA level through the 1984 season. The AMCU had absorbed the Mid-Continen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonial Athletic Association
The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universities, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond. The CAA was historically a Southern conference until the addition of four schools in the Northeast (of five that joined from rival conference America East) after the turn of the 21st century, which added geographic balance to the conference. The CAA was founded in 1979 as the ECAC South basketball league. It was renamed the Colonial Athletic Association in 1985 when it added championships in other sports (although a number of members maintain ECAC affiliation in some sports). As of 2006, it organizes championships in 21 men's and women's sports. The addition of Northeastern University in 2005 gave the conference the NCAA minimum of six football programs needed to sponsor football. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Big South, founded in 1983, is firmly rooted in the South Atlantic region of the United States, with full member institutions located in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Associate members are located in Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. History Charter members included Armstrong State (later Armstrong Atlantic State University and now merged into Georgia Southern University as its Armstrong Campus) (1983–1987), Augusta (later Augusta State University and now merged into Augusta University) (1983–1990), Campbell University (1983–1994; 2011–present), Baptist College (now Charleston Southern University) (1983–present), Coastal Carolina University (1983–2016), Radford Univ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Return Specialist
A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position such as wide receiver, defensive back, or running back. The special teams counterpart of a return specialist is a kicking specialist. According to All-American Venric Mark, "Returning punts is harder. You have to judge the ball more, you have to know when to fair catch and when not to. You can't be a superhero and try to catch everything. With kickoff returns, you catch the ball and — boom — you're going." Kickoff returner A kickoff returner (KR) is the player on special teams who is primarily responsible for catching the opposing team's kickoff and attempting to run it towards the end zone to score a touchdown. If the ball is kicked into his own end zone, the kick returner must assess the situation on the field while the ball is i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Punter (football)
A punter (P) in gridiron football is a special teams player who receives the snapped ball directly from the line of scrimmage and then punts (kicks) the football to the opposing team so as to limit any field position advantage. This generally happens on a fourth down in American football and a third down in Canadian football. Punters may also occasionally take part in fake punts in those same situations, when they throw or run the football instead of punting. Skills and usage The purpose of the punt is to force the team that is receiving the kick to start as far as possible from the kicking team's end zone. Accordingly, the most effective punts land just outside the receiving team's end zone and land either out of bounds (making it impossible to advance the ball until the next play) or after being kicked exceptionally high (allowing the kicking team time to run down the field and prevent the punt returner from advancing the ball). Punters therefore must be able to kick the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Specialized role The kicker initially was not a specialized role. Prior to the 1934 standardization of the prolate spheroid shape of the ball, drop kicking was the prevalent method of kicking field goals and conversions, but even after its replacement by place kicking, until the 1960s the kicker almost always doubled at another position on the roster. George Blanda, Lou Groza, Frank Gifford and Paul Hornung are prominent examples of players who were stars at other positions as well as being known for their kicking abilities. When the one-platoon system was abolished in the 1940s, the era of "two-way" players gave way to increased specialization, teams would employ a specialist at the punter or kicker position. Ben Agajanian, who started his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defensive Back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the defensive linemen who play directly on the line of scrimmage, and the linebackers, who play in the middle of the defense, between the defensive line and the defensive backs. Among the defensive backs, there are two main types, cornerbacks, which play nearer the line of scrimmage and the sideline, whose main role is to cover the opposing team's wide receivers, and the Safety (gridiron football position), safeties, who play further back near the center of the field, and who act as the last line of defense. American defensive formations usually includes two of each, a left and right cornerback, as well as a strong safety and a free safety, with the free safety tending to play further back than the strong safety. In Canadian football, which ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, playing closer to the line of scrimmage than the defensive backs (secondary), but farther back than the defensive linemen. As such, linebackers play a hybrid role and are often the most versatile players on the defensive side of the ball; they can be asked to play roles similar to either a defensive lineman (such as stopping the runner on a running play) or a defensive back (such as dropping back into pass coverage). How a linebacker plays their position depends on the defensive alignment, the philosophy of the coaching staff, and the particular play the offense may call. Linebackers are divided into middle linebackers, sometimes called inside linebackers, and outside linebackers. The middle linebacker, often called "Mike", is frequently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defensive Line
In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A number of NFL rules specifically address restrictions and requirements for the offensive line, whose job is to help protect the quarterback from getting sacked for a loss, or worse, fumbling. The defensive line is covered by the same rules that apply to all defensive players. Linemen are usually the largest players on the field in both height and weight, since their positions usually require less running and more strength than skill positions. Offensive line The offensive line consists of the center, who is responsible for snapping the ball into play, two guards who flank the center, and two offensive tackles who flank the guards. In addition, a full offensive line may also include a tight end outside one or both of the tackles. An offensi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Offensive Line
In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A number of National Football League, NFL rules specifically address restrictions and requirements for the offensive line, whose job is to help protect the quarterback from getting Quarterback sack, sacked for a loss, or worse, Fumble, fumbling. The defensive line is covered by the same rules that apply to all defensive players. Linemen are usually the largest players on the field in both height and weight, since their positions usually require less running and more strength than skill positions. Offensive line The offensive line consists of the Center (American football), center, who is responsible for snapping the ball into play, two Guard (American football), guards who flank the center, and two offensive tackles who flank the guards. In addit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
