Eight Hilltoppers land on PFF’s Preseason All-Conference USA Teams

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Credit: WKU Athletics

WKU head football coach Tyson Helton chats with FIU head football coach Butch Davis after the Hilltoppers’ 20-14 win at Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Fla. on September 7, 2019.

Wyatt Sparkman, Football Reporter

Pro Football Focus (PFF) named WKU redshirt junior offensive tackle Cole Spencer and redshirt sophomore kicker Brayden Narveson to its 2021 Preseason All-Conference USA First Team. Two other Hilltoppers were named to the Second Team, three made the Third Team and one Hilltopper received an honorable mention.

Spencer has started 23 consecutive games on the Hill, 31 in total, protecting the quarterback’s blindside. This is his second straight season on PFF’s C-USA Preseason First Team. 

PFF gave the Louisville native a 78.2 overall blocking rating in 2020, second in C-USA behind his teammate junior offensive tackle Mason Brooks. He was the highest rated C-USA lineman for the 2019 season after surrendering zero sacks all year.

Narveson was 13-of-14 on his field goals in 2020, good for 93% accuracy, ranking him third in all of FBS. His 93% success rate was the second-highest in WKU history for a single season. Garrett Schwettman completed 96% of his attempts in 2015. 

The Iowa State transfer completed 27 of 27 extra points during the 2020 season. Narveson was named to the PFF All-American Third Team and C-USA First Team and was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award which serves to recognize the NCAA’s best placekicker. 

Mason Brooks and senior Antwon Kincade were the pair of Hilltoppers who made the PFF C-USA Second Team. Brooks and Kincade made the First and Second teams last season respectively. 

Houston Baptist transfer quarterback Bailey Zappe and graduate guard Boe Wilson made PFF’s C-USA Third Team along with redshirt senior punter John Haggerty III. Zappe’s former teammate at HBU, junior Jerreth Sterns, earned an honorable mention.

Football reporter Wyatt Sparkman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @wyattsparkman3.