Football: The Belt’s Finest: Fenroy among Cajuns honored by Sun Belt’s 10th anniversary celebration

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • December 21, 2010

The Sun Belt Conference released its 10th Anniversary Football Team, Top 10 Moments and Top 10 Plays on Monday, and UL was represented in each category.

Former Ragin’ Cajuns Tyrell Fenroy (tailback from 2005-08), Chris Fisher (center, 2006-09) and Charles Tillman (defensive back, 1998-2002) made the league’s 10th Anniversary Team.

Fenroy became the seventh player in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards four times. He finished as the leading rusher in UL and Sun Belt history with 4,646 yards and was the 2008 Sun Belt Player of the Year. His No. 32 jersey was retired prior to his final collegiate game.

A former walk-on from St. Thomas More, Fisher earned first-team all-conference honors twice and was once second-team all-conference. He was named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List as a junior and senior and to the Lombardi Award Watch List and Outland Trophy Watch List as a senior.

Tillman, now playing for the Chicago Bears, received first-team all-conference recognition as a junior and senior for the Cajuns. He finished with 278 tackles and 12 interceptions at UL.

"It means a lot to me to be named to that team," said Fenroy, who has been working as a corrections deputy for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office while completing his undergraduate degree. "That really is a privilege to be on that team. It shows what we had as a team when I was at UL."

UL had one of the Top 10 Moments when the Cajuns upset Big 12 member Kansas State, 17-15, on Tyler Albrecht’s 48-yard field goal with 32 seconds left on Sept. 12, 2009.

The Cajuns had two of the Top 10 Plays. The first was Albrecht’s field goal to beat Kansas State in 2009. The second was when Fenroy surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth time in his collegiate career against Florida International on Nov. 1, 2008.

"That was a really special moment for me," Fenroy said. "I couldn’t stay calm at all in that game knowing that I was so close to reaching that milestone. It was a big goal to reach."

Each category was selected by fan voting over the course of the season as well as voting from the Sun Belt head coaches and media panel. All nominations came from the Sun Belt institutions.

The Sun Belt’s 10th Anniversary Team includes quarterback Rusty Smith (Florida Atlantic), tailbacks Fenroy and Patrick Cobbs (North Texas), receivers Casey Fitzgerald (UNT) and Jerrel Jernigan (Troy), tight end Jason Harmon (FAU) and offensive linemen Fisher, Matt Mandich (Arkansas State), Brandon Westbrook (Middle Tennessee), Nick Zuniga (UNT) and Dion Small (Troy).

The league’s defensive unit features defensive linemen Alex Carrington (Arkansas State), Jeff Littlejohn (MTSU), Brandon Kennedy (UNT) and Demarcus Ware (Troy), linebackers Frantz Joseph (FAU), Cardia Jackson (ULM) and Boris Lee (Troy) and defensive backs Tillman, Tyrell Johnson (Arkansas State), Chris Harris (ULM) and Leodis McKelvin (Troy).

The special teams team consists of kicker Josh Arauco (Arkansas State), punter Joel Stelly (ULM) and return specialist Leodis McKelvin (Troy).

Cobbs (Most Outstanding Offensive Player) and Kennedy (Most Outstanding Defensive Player) and Troy’s Larry Blakeney (Most Outstanding Head Coach) earned the Specialty Awards.

Here are the Top 10 Moments other than the Cajuns beating Kansas State in 2009:

n FAU winning back-to-back bowl games in 2007 and ’08.

n ULM upsetting Alabama in 2007.

n MTSU knocking off Vanderbilt in 2001.

n MTSU quarterback Dwight Dasher being the 2009 New Orleans Bowl MVP.

n MTSU’s final drive to beat Maryland in 2009.

n Tailbacks Patrick Cobbs (2003) and Jamario Thomas (’04) helped UNT become the first school in NCAA history to have two national rushing champions in the same backfield.

n Troy rallied from a 20-7 deficit with less than three minutes left to beat MTSU in 2006.

n UNT winning the 2002 New Orleans Bowl.

n Troy beating nationally ranked Missouri in 2004.

In addition to Fenroy’s record-setting run against FIU and Albrecht’s field goal vs. Kansas State, the other eight Top 10 Plays were part of some thrilling wins:

n Corey Leonards’ go-ahead TD pass to Kevin Jones in Arkansas State’s 18-14 win over Texas A&M in 2008.

n Leonards’ Hail Mary TD pass to help Arkansas State beat Memphis in ’06.

n James Truxillo’s forced fumble in ULM’s win over Alabama in ’07.

n Jeremiah Weaver’s blocked field goal in MTSU’s win at Vanderbilt in ’05.

n Malcolm Beyah’s catch on a Hail Mary pass in MTSU’s win over FAU in ’08.

n Alan Gendreau’s 19-yard field goal for MTSU in an upset win against Maryland in ’09.

n Troy tailback DeWhitt Betterson lost a fumble that was recovered by offensive lineman Junior Louissaint, who ran 63 yards for a TD to spark 24 unanswered points in a win over Missouri in ’04.

n Smokey Hampton made a 19-yard catch on fourth down from Omar Haugabook to set up a game-winning score seconds later in Troy’s win over MTSU in ’06.