Tops' Reed, Evans appreciate preseason honors, prefer postseason accolades

ARLINGTON, Texas – Conference USA’s football coaches gave Western Kentucky standouts Austin Reed and JaQues Evans each one less chip to shrug off their shoulders this season.
Reed, the Hilltoppers’ prolific quarterback, and the high-impact Evans garnered two of the conference’s top preseason honors just as they arrived in Arlington, just a day before the CUSA Football Media Day at Globe Life Field.
Reed, a redshirt senior entering his second season at WKU, garnered CUSA’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honor. Evans, a junior linebacker, was bestowed with the CUSA’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honor.
Asked about those preseason accolades Tuesday, both Reed and Evans seemed of a similar mindset – while nice, these particular accolades aren’t all that meaningful to either.
“It was really exciting to get chosen for that because it just shows respect from the other coaches in the conference – it’s nice to kind of have that mutual respect between the two of us,” Reed said. “But at the end of the day, it’s a preseason award. It’s cool and all, but you’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to earn it. It’s a blessing to have that respect from other coaches in the conference. But at the end of the day, nobody remembers preseason awards. I’m more concerned about postseason awards.”
Evans followed up with pretty much the same answer.
“Same thing as Austin said – I appreciate being acknowledged, but you gotta go out and go get it,” Evans said. “We’re looking forward to going out and actually accomplishing that goal.”
Reed is coming off a 2022 season in which he led all of college football with 4,746 passing 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 R+L Carriers 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.
A year ago, Reed was locked in a battle with fellow transfer Jarrett Doege in a quest to replace record-setting QB Bailey Zappe. There is no such competition this year – Reed won the job last year, Doege transferred out before the season began and another WKU success story at quarterback began.
“It’s nice not having to be in a quarterback competition. You really just get to dive into your game and go about things as a starter,” Reed said. “I was a starter for three years at West Florida, so it’s nice to be in that routine of being the starting quarterback and being able to focus more on your game and getting the team ready to win.
“At the end of the day, I’m just trying to get ready to help Western win as many games as possible. As a quarterback, a lot of that responsibility falls on your shoulders, and I take great pride in the fact that a lot of games are going to be won and lost at the quarterback position, and I’m just trying to help Western be in the best position to win as many games and win this conference.”
Evans was WKU’s leading tackler in 2022 with 106 total stops, including 14 tackles for loss and nine sacks. The Dublin, Georgia, native 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 occasions 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.
Evans was WKU’s leading tackler in 2022 with 106 total stops, including 14 tackles for loss and nine sacks. The Dublin, Georgia., native 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 occasions 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.
Even with significant roster turnover on the defensive side, Evans this year’s group can be just as lethal to opposing offenses.
“Yes, our coaching staff is great. Our defensive line is good,” Evans said. “If we go out there and play the game together we can do anything. No matter who you go out there with, as long as you have a good team and play for each other, you can go out there and do anything you want.”