CLEVELAND, Ohio – Old Dominion running back Ray Lawry and linebacker TJ Ricks were named to the Phil Steele All-Conference USA first-team to lead four Monarchs receiving recognition on the team, Phil Steele announced on Thursday. Zach Pascal earned second-team honors while Fellonte Misher received third-team accolades.
Lawry received first-team accolades after leading Conference USA in rushing with 1,136 yards and rushing for 11 touchdowns and catching one touchdown pass. He tied for the league-lead with six 100-yard rushing games and a pair of 200-yard rushing games, including a career-high 223 yards and four touchdowns in the opener at Eastern Michigan.
Ricks led Conference USA and set an ODU single-season record with 123 tackles and had 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, seven pass breakups and an interception. He recorded double-digit tackles in six games and led the team in tackles in a game four times. Ricks set an ODU single-game record with 18 tackles in the win over Charlotte.
Pascal led the Monarchs with 68 receptions for 970 yards and tied for the team-lead with eight touchdowns catches. He also had 15 carries for 165 yards and a 75-yard touchdown run, the longest play on offense this season. Pascal registered five games of 100 or more yards receiving including an Old Dominion FBS high of 231 yards in the win over Charlotte. He also recorded three games in double-digit receptions, including 11 twice against Charlotte and UTEP.
Misher finished second on the team and seventh in Conference USA in tackles with 99 and tied for the C-USA lead with four interceptions. Misher recorded four double-digit tackle games including a career-best 15 tackles in the season finale against Florida Atlantic. He finished his career as the second leading tackler in ODU history with 288 stops, behind only Craig Wilkins’ 340 tackles.