Ten Toppers picked to Phil Steele’s Midseason All-Sun Belt teams

Brad Stephens

WKU saw 10 players selected to Phil Steele’s Midseason All-Sun Belt Conference teams Thursday.

Five Toppers (senior running back Bobby Rainey, junior tight end Jack Doyle, senior left tackle Wes Jeffries, sophomore linebacker Andrew Jackson and sophomore kick returner Antonio Andrews) were named to the first team.

Senior right guard Adam Smith, junior defensive tackle Jamarcus Allen, junior cornerback Derrius Brooks and sophomore punter Hendrix Brakefield all earned second-team selections,.

Junior defensive end Quanterus Smith was tabbed for the third team.

In addition to the league picks, Rainey, Doyle and Jackson earned midseason honorable mention All-America accolades.

Rainey is the only Sun Belt running back to average more than 100 yards per game (114.6), an average that ranks him at No. 14 nationally.

Doyle has 19 catches this season for 227 yards and on Wednesday was named the Mackey Award Tight End of the Week after a 100-yard performance on Oct. 6 against Middle Tennessee State.

Meanwhile Jackson currently leads the Sun Belt and is ranked No. 10 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in tackles, averaging 11 per game.

WKU’s five first-team Sun Belt selections tied the Toppers with Troy and Louisiana-Lafayette as the league’s most well-represented teams.