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Ragone good enough to earn C-USA POY

The C-USA Update

Stuart H. Clements

Conference USA has officially divvied up bragging rights for those bright, shining stars in the league. Translation: Louisville and Texas Christian split the 2003 Player of the Year awards.

The Cards' senior quarterback Dave Ragone captured, for the third consecutive year, Offensive POY, and I'm forced to ask — like my mother would ask when I'd make a 95 on a math test — why wasn't that 100 percent?

Still, I suppose 3 of 4 isn't bad — especially since no one's ever won three consecutive in C-USA.

Despite his last name looking suspiciously like the title of an Italian food dish, Ragone did earn the prize. Ragone threw for nearly 55 percent this season, adding up to 2,687 yards of total offense.

The senior completed 23 touchdown passes and averaged 242 yards passing per game. Ragone will lead the Cards onto the field in the postseason when they take on Marshall in the GMAC Bowl. It will be Louisville's fifth consecutive postseason appearance.

The Cards' redshirt freshman kick returner Broderick Clark walked away with the Special Teams Player of the Year award. Clark averaged 34.1 yards per return, the highest in the nation.

The Horned Frogs finally got the respect and honor they deserved all season long. Senior linebacker LaMarcus McDonald took Defensive Player of the Year after helping the Horned Frog defense claim the No. 2 overall ranking in the nation.

McDonald tallied 28 tackles for a loss, the league leader, with 113 tackles overall — 73 were solo tackles. The champion linebacker also registered 10 sacks and recovered three fumbles. The TCU defense led the nation in rushing defense, holding an average of 62.9 yards per game.

The Horned Frogs are the current leaders in C-USA and will either hold the title or share the title with Cincinnati, pending the Bearcats' Friday evening game results against East Carolina. Either way, TCU will be the team representing the league in the Liberty Bowl.

Horned Frog running back Lonta Hobbs picked up the final POY award for the season. Hobbs, a true freshman, is this year's Freshman of the Year. Even after sitting out the first four games, Hobbs ranked No. 6 in the league among running backs.

The freshman rushed for 950 yards in eight games and scored 12 touchdowns while closing out the season with five consecutive games rushing over 100 yards. Hobbs led the league average of 6.9 yards per carry.

Drum roll, please. The 2002 C-USA Coach of the Year is Gary Patterson from TCU with a 9-2 record — the highest in the league — and a nine-game winning streak capped off on each end.

Patterson started at TCU Dec. 8, 2000, and has racked up a 15-9 record.

The powers that be in deciding these annual awards did a fine job of picking the best and brightest this year, and I applaud the effort made to do so.

And in other news, Army has one more chance to play for a win this season. Navy will travel to West Point to face the Black Knights in the final installment of the Commander-in-Chief series.

What will ensue at noon Saturday will be a dancing match to rival any that you'll see at the ballet. Though these two schools are the pride of the armed services, they're the butt of every joke in college football. Enjoy.

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