Singletary named Conference USA most valuable player
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic running back Devin “Motor” Singletary can add another accomplishment to his record-breaking season.
On Wednesday, Singletary was named the Conference USA’s most valuable player.
“That’s obviously a big accomplishment, a lot of great players in this conference,” FAU coach Lane Kiffin said. “I don’t think it was a surprise he won it as you looked at the stats and how he played.”
Singletary put together one of the most impressive seasons in FAU history. He has run for a school-record 1,794 yards and leads the nation with 29 rushing touchdowns, which is tied for most in Conference USA history.
Just a sophomore, Singletary already holds the school’s career record for touchdowns and is second behind FAU great Alfred Morris in yardage. After being held to 94 yards in losses to Navy and Wisconsin, he finished the year with 11 consecutive 100-yard games.
He topped 200 yards in consecutive wins against Western Kentucky and Marshall and had nine multi-touchdown games, including four scores against Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky.
“You got to remember, too, he’s doing that as a true sophomore,” Kiffin said. “I don’t think he was mid-year [enrollee] when he got here. I wasn’t here, so he’s probably in his third semester of college. It’s pretty amazing what he’s done.”
The staggering numbers helped FAU gain national recognition for the first time in program history. He was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award and athletic department launched a Heisman campaign by distributing buttons on campus that read, “Motor For Hei5man.”
He was not named a Heisman finalist, however. The honor continued a year full of postseason recognition for the Owls. They had seven players make firstteam all-conference.
“Obviously, that takes players around [Singletary] playing really well like they did,” Kiffin said. “As a team, I was excited that we had seven first-team all-conference players but yet preseason when it came out, there were zero on the team. There were zero picked to be first-team and seven of them did it. That’s kind of the theme of the team.”
Kiffin and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair were in contention for the coaching and defensive top honors. However, UAB’s Bill Clark was chosen as Coach of the Year, and Texas-San Antonio end Marcus Davenport was named the conference’s top defender.
The Owls (10-3) will play Akron in the Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 19 at FAU Stadium.