MOBILE, Ala. — UTSA seniors Joshua Cephus, De'Corian Clark, Joe Evans and Frank Harris have been chosen for the 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl Watch List.
The four Roadrunners are part of a total of 26 players from the American Athletic Conference named to this year's list.
Cephus, who also is on the preseason watch list for the Paul Hornung Award, was a second-team All-Conference USA selection at wide receiver and honorable mention all-league choice at punt returner in 2022. The Houston native caught 87 passes for 985 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 11.3 yards per catch and 75.8 yards per contest. He returned nine punts for 36 yards with a long of 17. He logged three 100-yard receiving games including a season-high 114 and a score on five receptions in the 52-24 win over Texas Southern. An honorable mention all-conference performer in 2020 and 2021, he has played in 51 career contests with 43 starts for the Roadrunners. He will enter his final campaign with 224 catches for 2,504 yards and 18 touchdowns, marks that each rank second on UTSA's career list.
Clark, who also is on watch lists for the Biletnikoff Award, Comeback Player of the Year Award, Wuerffel Trophy and Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, was a second-team all-conference performer in 2022. The Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt High School product hauled in 51 passes for 741 yards and eight touchdowns despite missing the last five games due to an injury. He averaged 82.3 receiving yards per game and 14.5 yards per catch last fall and he set the program record for single-game receiving yards with 217 and matched his own single-game touchdown standard with three in the 52-24 win over Texas Southern. He will enter the 2023 campaign with 112 receptions for 1,559 yards and 16 touchdowns for his career.
Evans is entering his second season with the Roadrunners after transferring from LSU. A native of Haynesville, Louisiana, he earned honorable mention all-conference honors on the defensive line last fall. He played in 11 games and drew four starts, registering 18 total tackles, eight solo stops, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries. He posted three tackles, including 1.5 TFLs and a half-sack, in his UTSA debut versus No. 24 Houston, and he made three stops in the 41-38 overtime victory over Army. He also had a hand in three tackles in the 51-7 rout of Louisiana Tech and posted a pair of stops, including one behind the line of scrimmage, in the 45-30 road triumph over Middle Tennessee.
Harris, who also appears on preseason watch lists for the Davey O'Brien Award, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, Manning Award, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, owns more than 30 school records and a 31-11 record as the starting quarterback. The 2022 Conference USA Most Valuable Player and first-team all-conference performer completed 328 of 471 passes (69.6%) for 4,063 yards and 32 TDs and a 160.7 passing efficiency, all school records to help lead UTSA to an 11-3 record and a second straight league crown last fall. The Schertz Clemens High School product added 602 rushing yards — the program standard for a QB — and nine scores on the ground. For his career, Harris has thrown for 9,356 yards and 74 touchdowns on 816-of-1210 passing to go with 1,822 rushing yards and 24 scores on 372 carries. He holds UTSA's total offense record with 11,178 yards, which ranks fifth among active FBS quarterbacks, and his 42 career starts are the fourth-best total nationally.
The Reese's Senior Bowl is widely regarded as the preeminent college football all-star game and the first stage in the NFL Draft process. The longest continual-running all-star game has taken place in Mobile, Alabama the past 74 years. Former Roadrunners Spencer Burford and Tariq Woolen played in the 2022 game while Marcus Davenport appeared in the 2018 contest. The 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl game will be played Feb. 3 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, and it will be televised nationally on NFL Network.
Under the direction of two-time conference coach of the year Jeff Traylor, the Roadrunners are coming off an 11-3 campaign that saw them capture their second straight Conference USA crown and play in a bowl game for the third year in a row. UTSA has been ranked in the top 25 in each of the last two seasons and boasts a combined 23 wins over that span, the fourth-best total among all FBS teams behind only Georgia (29), Michigan (25) and Alabama (24).
UTSA, which has been picked to finish second in the AAC Preseason Media Poll and is receiving votes in both major preseason rankings, will open its 13th season of play next Saturday, Sept. 2, against Houston. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at TDECU Stadium and the game will be televised nationally on FS1.
UTSA will face Texas State for the home opener at 2:30 p.m. the following Saturday at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners will host Army at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15, UAB on Oct. 14, East Carolina on Oct. 28, Rice on Nov. 11 and South Florida at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 17.
Season and single-game tickets are on sale now by calling 210-458-UTSA (8872) or visiting goUTSA.com/tickets.
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