ECU’s Harvey named AAC Defensive Player of the Year

The senior defensive end leads the nation in tackles for loss and ranks among the leaders with 13.5 sacks

Nate Harvey led the nation in tackles for loss while recording 13.5 sacks for ECU (Rob Goldberg/ECU athletics photo)

  Despite a lack of team success, the East Carolina football team has racked up its share of individual honors this season.

  Wednesday, senior defensive end Nate Harvey was named the American Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for a record-setting performance in which he set a conference record with 24 tackles for losses.

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  In addition to Harvey, two other Pirates — wide receiver Trevon Brown and placekicker Jake Verity — were also named to the All-AAC first team.

  Harvey, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound native of Knightdale, is a converted fullback who came to ECU as an invited walkon after two seasons at Georgia Military College. Be burst onto the scene this season by leading the nation in TFLs and ranking third nationally with 13.5 sacks. With one game still to play, he is just 1.5 sacks shy of the Pirates’ school record of 15 set in 1997 by Rod Coleman and one away from the AAC mark of 14.5 by Louisville’s Marcus Smith in 2013.

  His 24 TFLs surpassed the old AAC record of 23, set by Houston’s Ed Oliver.

  Brown, a second-team All-AAC selection last year, put together another strong season by leading ECU in six statistical categories, including receptions (71), receiving yards (1,075), and receiving touchdowns (nine). He has amassed 100 or more all-purpose yards six times this season and has scored in six of his last eight games.

  Verity, meanwhile, leads the AAC in field goals per game (1.64) and field goal percentage (90.0) while connecting on 18 of his 20 attempts, including a career-long 52-yarder against Memphis. His 38-yard field goal against Old Dominion was the first game-winning kick of his career.

  Here is the complete list of AAC postseason awards:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

McKenzie Milton, QB, UCF (Jr., Kapolei, Hawaii)

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Nate Harvey, DE, ECU (Sr., Knightdale, N.C.)

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Isaiah Wright, WR/KR, Temple (Jr., West Hartford, Conn.)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati (Fr., Louisville, Ky.)

COACH OF THE YEAR

Luke Fickell, Cincinnati

ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM

Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown
WR Trevon Brown 2 ECU Sr. 6-2 215 Wilmington, N.C.
WR Marquez Stevenson Houston So. 6-0 190 Shreveport, La.
WR James Proche SMU Jr. 5-11 190 Dallas, Texas
OT Dino Boyd Cincinnati Sr. 6-4 300 Newark, N.J.
OT Jake Brown UCF Jr. 6-3 305 Encinitas, Calif.
OG Cole Schneider UCF Fr. 6-4 312 Fort Myers, Fla.
OG Dustin Woodard Memphis Jr. 6-2 285 Chandler, Ariz.
C Jordan Johnson 1 UCF Jr. 6-2 320 Jacksonville, Fla.
TE Mitchell Wilcox USF Jr. 6-5 245 Tarpon Springs, Fla.
QB McKenzie Milton 1 UCF Jr. 5-11 185 Kapolei, Hawaii
RB Darrell Henderson * 2 Memphis Jr. 5-9 200 Batesville, Miss.
RB Ryquell Armstead Temple Sr. 5-11 215 Millville, N.J.
DL Cortez Broughton 2 Cincinnati Sr. 6-2 290 Warner Robbins, Ga.
DL Nate Harvey ECU Sr. 6-1 225 Knightdale, N.C.
DL Ed Oliver 1 1 Houston Jr. 6-3 292 Houston, Texas
DL Michael Dogbe Temple Gr. 6-3 280 Morris Plains, N.J.
LB Nate Evans UCF Jr. 6-1 241 Waggaman, La.
LB Perry Young Cincinnati Jr. 5-11 215 Birmingham, Ala.
LB Austin Robinson Houston Sr. 6-3 240 Pearland, Texas
LB Shaun Bradley Temple Jr. 6-1 225 Mt. Holly, N.J.
CB Nevelle Clarke UCF Jr. 6-1 187 Miami, Fla.
CB Rock Ya-Sin Temple Sr. 6-2 190 Decatur, Ga.
S Richie Grant UCF So. 6-0 194 Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
S Delvon Randall 1 Temple Sr. 6-1 210 Pittsburgh, Pa.
K Jake Verity ECU Jr. 6-1 185 Bremen, Ga.
P James Smith 1 Cincinnati So. 6-5 220 Wangaratta, Australia
RS John “Pop” Williams Memphis Jr. 5-9 172 Destrehan, La.
RS Isaiah Wright Temple Jr. 6-2 220 West Hartford, Conn.

  * unanimous selection

ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM

Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown
WR Gabriel Davis UCF So. 6-3 212 Sanford, Fla.
WR Damonte Coxie Memphis So. 6-3 200 Reserve, La.
WR Ventell Bryant Temple Gr. 6-3 200 Tampa, Fla.
OT Wyatt Miller 2 UCF Sr. 6-4 306 Douglas, Ga.
OT Trevon Tate 1 Memphis Jr. 6-4 295 Houston, Texas
OG Jovahn Fair Temple Jr. 6-2 300 Akron, Ohio
OG Tyler Bowling 2 2 Tulsa Jr. 6-6 325 Yukon, Okla.
C Garrett Campell Cincinnati Sr. 6-5 315 Cincinnati, Ohio
TE Josiah Deguara Cincinnati Jr. 6-3 242 Folsom, Calif.
QB D’Eriq King Houston Jr. 5-11 195 Manvel, Texas
RB Michael Warren II Cincinnati So. 5-11 218 Toledo, Ohio
RB Adrian Killins Jr. 1 UCF Jr. 5-8 164 Daytona Beach, Fla.
DL Titus Davis UCF Sr. 6-3 250 Atlanta, Ga.
DL Marquise Copeland 2 Cincinnati Sr. 6-3 290 Cleveland, Ohio
DL Brendon Hayes UCF Jr. 6-3 293 New Orleans, La.
DL Kimoni Fitz Cincinnati Sr. 6-3 257 Ringgold, Va.
DL Patrick Johnson Tulane So. 6-3 255 Chattanooga, Tenn.
LB Pat Jasinski UCF Sr. 6-1 236 Roswell, Ga.
LB Bryce Huff Memphis Jr. 6-3 245 Mobile, Ala.
LB Khalid McGee USF Sr. 5-10 213 Miami, Fla.
LB Zachery Harris Tulane Sr. 6-0 220 New Orleans, La.
CB T.J. Carter 2 Memphis So. 5-11 180 Nashville, Tenn.
CB Donnie Lewis Jr. H Tulane Sr. 6-0 195 Baton Rouge, La.
S James Wiggins Cincinnati So. 6-0 202 Homestead, Fla.
S Roderic Teamer Jr. Tulane Sr. 6-0 205 New Orleans, La.
K Matthew Wright 2 UCF Sr. 6-0 179 Lancaster, Pa.
P Thomas Bennett Tulsa Jr. 6-3 180 Carlsbad, Calif.
RS Adrian Killins Jr. UCF Jr. 5-8 164 Daytona Beach, Fla.