CHICAGO, Ill. - Three Runnin' Bulldogs earned STATS Perform FCS Preseason All-American honors, presented by FedEx Ground, announced on Tuesday, Aug. 1.

Ty French earned First Team accolades, while Narii Gaither and Raequan Ousley both earned a spot on the Third Team. French and Gaither are two of just 11 players to earn a spot on the STATS Perform FCS Preseason All-American Team for the second straight season. It is the first time Ousley was selected to the preseason team. 

All 15 FCS conferences, which combine on 13 FCS leagues, and 52 schools are represented among the 107 All-Americans.

French continues to haul in preseason All-American honors. The Moultrie, Ga. native previously earned a spot as a First Team All-American this preseason from The Bluebloods and Second Team All-American honors, along with the Preseason Big South-OVC Defensive Player of the Year Award from Phil Steele. 

French was a finalist for the Stats Perform FCS Buck Buchanan National Defensive Player of the Year Award, Ted Hendricks Award and the first Runnin' Bulldog to be voted Big South Defensive Player of the Year since 2008. He finished the regular-season as the Big South leader in sacks with 11.5 -- setting the league single-season record.  He tallied 72 total tackles, 15 tackles-for-loss, one interception and one forced fumble.  French is ninth nationally in sacks per game (0.88) and 44th in TFL per contest (1.2). French had 4.5 sacks in three games vs. FBS opponents this season and held a streak of three-straight games with 2.0 sacks.  During the five-game Big South season, French was tops with 5.5 sacks, ranked sixth with 6.5 TFL, and amassed 23 total tackles.  He posted a tackle-for-loss in ten of 13 appearances, as well as a sack in nine outings. 

French enters the season just one sack away from tying Chima Uzowihe (2012-15) for most sacks in Big South football history (25.0). He needs five sacks to tie GWU Hall of Famer and 1996 Super Bowl Champion Gabe Wilkins for the school record (29.0).

Gaither returns to Gardner-Webb after earning First Team All-Conference honors last season. The Rock Hill, S.C. native played in nine games at running back last season, rushing for 1,019 yards on 154 carries and seven touchdowns. In the FCS Playoffs, Gaither rushed for 245 yards and two touchdowns at Eastern Kentucky. That mark is the second most rushing yards by a GWU player in program history, and the most ever by a Gardner-Webb player in the Division I era (Since 2000). Gaither also rushed for over 100 yards in five games during the 2022 season.

Gaither now has 2,462 yards rushing for his career, moving the Rock Hill, S.C., native into fifth on the school's all-time rushing list, passing Juanne Blount (2,439 yards). Gaither is now second on the school's all-time Division I career rushing list, trailing only Tyrell Maxwell (2,944). 

Ousley finished last season with 56 tackles (29 solo), two interceptions, and 19 pass deflections. His 19 pass deflections ranked inside the top-15 in all of the FCS and are the second-most in a season in program history, behind James Harbison, who had 20 PBUs in 14 games during the 1992 season. Ousley also forced two fumbles and recovered one fumble.

Gardner-Webb had the second-most selections to the 2023 STATS Perform FCS Preseason All-American Team of any school in the Big South-OVC, behind Southeast Missouri State who had five. Defending national champion South Dakota State led the FCS with eight selections.

The Runnin' Bulldogs open fall camp with two weeks of intensive practice and drills on Wednesday, Aug. 2. Gardner-Webb opens the 2023 season on Saturday, Sept. 2 at Appalachian State before playing their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 6:00 PM inside Spangler Stadium vs Elon. Fans can purchase season tickets at gwusports.com.

2023 STATS PERFORM FCS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAM

PRESENTED BY FEDEX GROUND
FIRST TEAM - DEFENSE

DL – Ty French, 6-3, 230, senior, Gardner-Webb

DL – Jay Person, 6-3, 224, senior, Chattanooga

DL – Josiah Silver, 6-2, 243, junior, New Hampshire

DL – David Walker, 6-3, 265, junior, Central Arkansas

LB – Adam Bock, 6-1, 215, senior, South Dakota State

LB – Jacob Dobbs, 6-0, 237, senior, Holy Cross

LB – John Pius, 6-2, 230, redshirt junior, William & Mary

LB – Tristan Wheeler, 6-2, 228, redshirt senior, Richmond

DB – Maxwell Anderson, 5-11, 170, senior, Weber State

DB – Khalil Baker, 6-0, 185, senior, North Carolina Central

DB – Myles Harden, 6-0, 205, senior, South Dakota

DB – Lawrence Johnson, 6-0, 196, grad, Southeast Missouri


THIRD TEAM - DEFENSE

DL – Sundiata Anderson, 6-3 1/2, 232, senior, Grambling State

DL – Patrick Godbolt, 6-3, 235, senior, South Carolina State

DL – Alex Gubner, 6-3, 285, senior Montana

DL – Logan Jessup, 6-3, 255, senior, Central Arkansas

DL – Eric O'Neill, 6-3, 240, sophomore, LIU

LB – Colton Adams, 6-2, 230, redshirt junior, Alabama State

LB – James Conway, 6-2, 225, junior, Fordham

LB – Isaac Dowling, 5-10, 225, junior, Mercer

LB – David Hoage, 6-3, 245, senior, Northern Colorado

LB – Liam Johnson, 6-0, 220, senior, Princeton

LB – Brock Mogensen, 6-2, 230, redshirt senior, South Dakota

DB – Marcus Harris, 5-11, 185, junior, Idaho

DE – PJ Jules, 5-11, 203, senior, Southern Illinois

DB – Raequan Ousley, 5-11, 170, senior, Gardner-Webb

DB – Ryan Poole, 5-11, 185, senior, William & Mary

DB – Hugh Ryan, 6-1, 200, redshirt senior, Furman

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK – Chris Campos, 5-10, 220, junior, Stephen F. Austin

P – Grant Burkett, 6-1, 184, junior, Missouri State

LS – Nick Levy, 5-10, 210, sophomore, William & Mary

KR – D'Ago Hunter, 5-6, 160, senior, Towson

KR – Marqui Johnson, 5-8, 163, junior, Montana State

PR – Taco Dowler, 5-9, 168, sophomore, Montana State

AP – Narii Gaither, 5-10, 181, senior, Gardner-Webb

AP – Andrew McElroy, 6-3, 184, junior, St. Thomas