By Bane Rossi

DALLAS – Redshirt senior quarterback Austin Reed has been selected Conference USA’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while junior linebacker JaQues Evans was tabbed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, league officials announced Monday afternoon.

Reed is coming off a 2022 season in which he was the leading passer in all of college football with 4,746 yards. The Florida native also tossed 40 touchdowns while rushing for an additional eight. Reed’s biggest performance of the season came in WKU’s win over South Alabama in the New Orleans Bowl when he threw for 497 yards and four touchdowns, which led to him being named the bowl game’s MVP. Reed was also named Conference USA’s Newcomer of the Year at the end of the season.

Evans was WKU’s leading tackler in 2022 with 106 takedowns, including 14 tackles for loss and nine sacks. The sophomore linebacker also broke up four passes, hurried the quarterback eight times and recovered two fumbles. In WKU’s bowl-clinching victory against Rice, Evans returned a fumble for a touchdown, one of the WKU defense’s six touchdowns on the season, which led all of college football. Evans and the Hilltopper defense also forced 32 turnovers on the season, which was the best mark in the country. He hit double-digit tackles on three games throughout the year, his season-high being 15 against North Texas. Evans was named to CUSA’s First Team at season’s end for his big year.

Reed and Evans will represent WKU at the Conference USA Media Day tomorrow, July 25 in Arlington, Texas at Globe Life Field alongside head coach Tyson Helton.

Season tickets for the 2023 WKU Football season are still available starting as low as $85. For more information about season tickets, call the WKU Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-5-BIGRED or click here.

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COURTESY WKU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS