DALLAS – Conference USA announced its 2024 Players of the Year Wednesday, as selected by the league’s 10 head football coaches.
 
Jax State quarterback Tyler Huff was selected as the CUSA Most Valuable Player and Newcomer of the Year after a remarkable debut season for the Gamecocks (9-4, 7-1 CUSA), who captured a CUSA Championship in just their second year in the league and first year of eligibility. The Furman transfer is responsible for 27 touchdowns and 3,522 yards of total offense. Huff set the league’s single season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (14) and needs just 85 yards in the StaffDNA Cure Bowl to break the single season record for rushing yards by a quarterback. He enters bowl season ranked in the top 25 in rush yards per carry (6.25), rushing touchdowns (14) and rushing yards per game (103.3). Huff also leads CUSA and ranks in the top 30 nationally in yards per completion (13.88), total offense (270.9) and yards per attempt (8.41). He rushed for more than 100 yards in six games, including two of the top five values in CUSA single-game history by a quarterback and a CUSA Championship record 167 yards in last week’s title game.
 
WKU quarterback Caden Veltkamp is the league’s Offensive Player of the Year after leading the Hilltoppers (8-5, 6-2 CUSA) to a sixth-straight bowl game and their first CUSA Championship Game appearance since 2021. He replaced injured starter TJ Finley in this year’s edition of the 100 Miles of Hate game and threw for a career-high 398 yards with six total touchdowns to earn the starting role for the remainder of the season. He enters bowl season having completed 233-350 passes for 2,806 yards, 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, along with seven touchdowns on the ground. Veltkamp ranks in the top 25 in completion percentage (.674), passing efficiency (149.9), passing touchdowns (23) and points responsible for per game (15.0). He threw multiple touchdowns in seven of his 11 starts and was responsible for at least four touchdowns in four games. In the Hilltoppers’ three Weekday CUSA victories, he completed 70.5 percent of his passes (55-78) and averaged 273.7 passing yards per game with 13 total touchdowns and just one interception.
 
FIU linebacker Travion Barnes has earned CUSA Defensive Player of the Year honors. Barnes led CUSA and ranked third nationally in total tackles (11.7), while ranking eighth in solo tackles per game (5.4). His 70 assisted tackles set a program record, and his 129 total tackles fell just three shy of the school’s best mark. Barnes also tied for third in CUSA with 10.5 tackles for loss, along with four quarterback hurries, three sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. He recorded double-digit tackles in eight of his 11 starts and registered 13 or more tackles in six contests, including a season-high 16 stops in an overtime loss against Liberty. He also added a season-high three TFL, two sacks and a fumble recovery versus the Flames.
 
WKU kicker Lucas Carneiro is the league’s Special Teams Player of the Year after a spectacular season for the Hilltoppers. He enters bowl season 17-18 on field goal attempts and has made a program-record 17-straight after missing his first try of the season. Carneiro (6-6) joins Michigan’s Dominic Zvada (7-7) as the only FBS kickers that are perfect on kicks over 50 yards with at least six attempts. Carneiro is also a perfect 39-39 on PAT tries. He ranks fourth in FBS in field goal percentage (.944) and ranks second in CUSA in field goals per game (1.31). Carneiro is 3-3 on 50-yard field goal attempts in the previous two weeks, including a game-winning 50-yarder to punch WKU’s ticket to the CUSA Championship Game. He had a season-high 14 points in a 44-17 win over UTEP, converting all five extra-point attempts and three field goals, including a season-long 54-yarder.
 
Sam Houston running back DJ McKinney was selected as the CUSA Freshman of the Year after a breakout campaign for the Bearkats (9-3, 6-2 CUSA). He contributed to a three-headed rushing attack that helped Sam Houston to a six-win improvement from 2023 and its first FBS bowl game in the first year of eligibility. McKinney led all CUSA freshmen with 479 yards and three touchdowns and hauled in 11 passes for 79 yards. He ran for season-highs in yards (138) and touchdowns (two) on just 14 carries in a 41-21 win over UTEP and scored the Bearkats’ lone touchdown in a 10-7 win at FIU.
 
2024 CUSA Players of the Year
MVP and Newcomer of the Year: QB Tyler Huff, Jax State
Offensive Player of the Year: QB Caden Veltkamp, WKU
Defensive Player of the Year: LB Travion Barnes, FIU
Special Teams Player of the Year: K Lucas Carneiro, WKU
Freshman of the Year: RB DJ McKinney, Sam Houston