Postseason accolades continued rolling in for the Thundering Herd. CollegeFootballNews.com named quarterback Rakeem Cato, tight end Gator Hoskins and wide receiver Tommy Shuler to the All-Conference USA team.
The trio had already been selected for all-conference teams by the C-USA coaches, CollegeSportsMadness.com and Phil Steele. CollegeFootballNews.com also named punter Tyler Williams as a first-team Freshman All-American.
CFN described Marshall’s second-year quarterback as the biggest surprise of 2012 and rated him as the top player in the league this season. CFN ranked the conference’s top 30 players and Cato’s favorite target, Tommy Shuler, ranked 10th on the list. Cato was also named the Offensive Player of the Year by CFN.
Cato leads the FBS in completions per game (33.83) and passing yards per game (350.08) and is third in TD passes (37), fifth in total offense (352.67) and completion percentage (69.5). He also leads C-USA in pass efficiency (147.1). He led a Herd unit that is second in the nation in third-down conversion percentage (54.59) and first downs per game (29.42) and his 66.2 percent career completion mark (588-of-888) is currently a school record, just ahead of Herd legends Chad Pennington (65.1) and Byron Leftwich (63.4). Earlier this season, he was named to the Manning Award Watch List (nation’s top collegiate quarterback). The Herd quarterback has also been named the league’s MVP, CollegeSportsMadness.com’s Offensive Player of the Year and one of the Touchdown Club of Columbus’ 2013 Players to Watch. His MVP honor marked the first time C-USA awarded it to an underclassman and it was the Herd’s first since joining Conference USA. He also became the first Marshall offensive player to win a top conference award since Leftwich was named the Mid-American Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2002.
Hoskins had 10 touchdown catches this season, the highest total nationally among tight ends and a mark that is tied for the most in C-USA. His 72-yard touchdown catch against league-leading Tulsa was the Herd’s longest play of the season. He was named to the John Mackey Award Watch List and the National Tight End of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards after his three-touchdown performance in West Lafayette.
Shuler is tied for second nationally with 9.17 catches per game and his 110 total catches set a school record, becoming just the fifth C-USA player to record 100-plus single-season catches and the first underclassman to accomplish the feat. He is also currently second in the league in receiving yards per game (94.8). Midway through the season, he was named a Biletnikoff Award Watch List honoree. His 19 catches at Purdue not only set a school record, but were the most in the nation since the 2009 C-USA championship game. His 200 receiving yards in that game also were the most by a Herd player in more than a decade.