After finishing up a successful 7-4 season, the accolades began rolling in for ACU Wildcat’s L.B. Suggs and Taylor Gabriel.
Suggs was named Lone Star Conference defensive back of the year, while Gabriel was honored with the LSC receiver of the year award.
For Suggs, the award caps a tremendous senior campaign in which he lead the Wildcats in tackles with 98 and forced a couple of fumbles as well.
“L.B. is a very talented young man,” assistant coach Mark Ribaudo said. “Our defensive staff just got here in January, and L.B. was one of the guys we earmarked early as a guy that can really play. He is very fast, can decipher plays in a hurry. He is also a hitter and a good cover man, so L.B. is the whole package.”
Suggs also brought intangibles to the table as one of the captains of the team and a leader on the defense.
“L.B. was a leader, he was voted captain by the team, which is a pretty big honor,” Ribaudo said. “From the Tarleton game on, he went about a month with a severely injured thumb, and any time it got bumped he was in terrible pain, but he was able to play through that too and did a really good job.”
Gabriel just finished up his junior year, where he backed up his 10 touchdown sophomore year with nine total touchdowns for the ‘Cats in 2012 and over 900 all-purpose yards.
“Nobody in our conference can stop like Taylor at the top of his routes,” wide receivers coach Kendrick Holloway said. “He is able to maneuver through his route so smooth, and he catches the ball well. He is also a tough guy, he works hard in the weight room and takes football seriously, and that allows him to go across the middle and make those tough catches.”
While seniors take home most post-season awards, Gabriel is a player that was able to get to the podium a year early after back-to-back big years for the ‘Cats.
“As a sophomore I had a breakout year, and I just wanted to continue to work hard and show the conference and continue to show the nation that I am a good receiver and ACU is a good program,” Gabriel said. “To be getting an award like this feels really good because of all the hard work and practice we have put in. To see guys like Edmund Gates and Jonny Knox win these awards and to be able to do that too, it feels really good.”
