BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama A&M football's offense was on display all season long and continues to be as the Fall 2021 All-Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Team features five selections from that side of the ball, headlined by repeat Offensive Player of the Year graduate quarterback Aqeel Glass (St. Louis, Mo.) and four First-Team honorees as announced by the league on Monday, November 29.
 
Glass becomes just the fourth individual to earn two Offensive Player of the Year Honors in the past 23 years, joining Grambling's Devonte Kincade (2016, 2017) and Bruce Eugene (2002, 2005) and Corey Holmes (1999, 2000) of Mississippi Valley State. Additionally, he is just the third player to do so in consecutive seasons, along with Kincade and Holmes, and will be the only one to have accomplished the feat in the same calendar year, having done so following the Spring 2021 campaign.
 
Joining Glass on the First-Team were three of his key weapons on offense in senior running back Gary Quarles (Cottondale, Ala.) and junior wide receivers Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim (Miramar, Fla.) and Odieu Hilaire (Belle Glade, Fla.). The Bulldogs would take three of the four wide receiver spots on this year's teams as senior wideout Dee Anderson (Dallas, Texas) snagged a Second-Team spot in his first year in the Maroon and White.
 
Glass becomes the first multiple time Player of the Year in NCAA Division I Era program history with the only other such honoree being AAMU Hall of Famer Robert Mathis, who claimed Defensive Player of the Year honors following a record setting 2002 campaign.
 
With those selections, the Bulldogs have now earned at least one in 22 consecutive seasons dating back to 2000 and have had at least five honorees in 14 of those years. Combined with the program record 11 All-Conference honors following the Spring 2021 season, A&M garnered 16 total during the calendar year and leads all programs with four First-Team honors this fall.
 
The latter marks a program record third straight season with that many individuals on the First-Team and is the most since the 2007 team earned six.
 
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR/FIRST-TEAM QUARTERBACK – AQEEL GLASS
Glass closed one of the most impressive careers in league history with a fitting final campaign, recording 3,568 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and 356.8 yards per game and 160.8 passing efficiency in 10 games.
 
Capping a career that included more than 12,000 passing yards and 109 passing touchdowns, he recorded five games of at least 400 air yards in Fall 2021, including resetting the program's NCAA Division I Era record twice with 446 and four touchdowns at Grambling (10/2) and 462 with five scores at Texas Southern (11/13). Additionally, he added a pair of games of more than 300 yards passing with four TDs in each.
 
Along the way he has landed on a number of high-profile watch lists, including the 2022 Reese's Senior Bowl, the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) and Deacon Jones Award as the nation's Black College Football Player of the Year. Additionally, he has been named one of 25 finalists for the Walter Payton Award representing the top player in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and the first selection to the Inaugural HBCU Legacy Bowl.
 
On top of those honors, the National Football League (NFL) prospect earned three Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Offensive Player of the Week awards (9/6, 11/15, 11/22) and was named the BOXTOROW National Player of the Week following a 42-41 opening week victory over South Carolina State (9/4).
 
Nationally, he ranks in the Top-10 of eight different categories, including fourth in points responsible for per game (22.6) and passing yards per game, fifth in total points responsible for (226), passing touchdowns (36) and yards per attempt (8.62), seventh in passing efficiency and total offense (348.3) and eighth in completions per game (25.9). For good measure he is 11th in passing yards per completion (13.78).
 
FIRST-TEAM RUNNING BACK – GARY QUARLES
Quarles delivered an impressive 2021 campaign, leading the SWAC in yards per game (95.5) and rushing touchdowns (10) while tying for the league lead in yards (955), accomplishing the latter in just 10 games as compared to 11 for the individual he tied with.
 
Standing just 5-6, Quarles played much larger as he hardly left the field and was involved in all aspects of the offense, from handling the ball, blocking and the receiving game. Toting the ball 205 times (along with 21 catches for 224 yards), he accounted for 1,179 all-purpose yards and topped the 100-yard rushing plateau five times on the year.
 
Those would include the first three games with 129 yards and a touchdown against South Carolina State (9/4), 101 and a score at Bethune-Cookman (9/16) in a driving rainstorm and a career-high 164 yards and a pair of TDs against Tuskegee (9/25) in Mobile, Alabama.
 
Quarles would add 126 yards in a victory over Alabama State (10/30) in the Magic City Classic and 162 on a career-best 35 carries at Texas Southern (11/13), scoring a pair of touchdowns in each game. In the latter, he also caught four balls for a personal best 80 yards to account for 242 scrimmage yards in a 52-49 victory.
 
The diminutive tailback accomplished that feat after being named an All-SWAC Preseason Second-Team selection and was named the league's Offensive Player of the Week on September 6 following his performance at Bethune-Cookman.
 
FIRST-TEAM WIDE RECEIVER – ABDUL-FATAI IBRAHIM
Ibrahim is just one of 10 individuals to record at least 1,000 yards receiving at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level in Fall 2021 and is the only one to do so in the SWAC.
 
His 1,008 yards in 10 games rank ninth in the country with all but one of the other eight individuals in front of him having played 11 games. In terms of the SWAC, he led the league in yards receiving by nearly 100 - over teammate Odieu Hilaire - and also topped the conference with an average of 100.8 per game as the only player to average triple digits.
 
His 6.7 catches per game trailed only Hilaire (7.1) as did his 67 receptions and his eight touchdowns were sixth, trailing two of his teammates among that group. Nationally, his receiving yards per game ranks fifth with his receptions per game and total receiving yards ranking eighth and ninth, respectively.
 
His second career 1,000-yard season featured numerous standout performances, including 177 on eight grabs against Tuskegee (9/25), 133 with a career-high 10 catches the following week at Grambling (10/2) and 104 with a score against Alabama State (10/30) in the Magic City Classic.
 
He saved his best for the final two games of the season, however, snagging eight balls for 176 yards and a pair of scores - including one from 81 yards out - at Texas Southern (11/13) and 115 yards on seven catches, two of which he would house, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/20).
 
Named an All-SWAC Preseason First-Team selection and BOXTOROW Preseason All-American, Ibrahim added another impressive honor during the season, one which only three other Bulldogs have ever achieved. That would be CoSIDA Academic All-District, recognizing him as one of the top receivers on the field and in the classroom out of District 4.
 
The latter includes FCS and Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. He is currently eligible for Academic All-America as a result.
 
FIRST-TEAM WIDE RECEIVER – ODIEU HILAIRE
One of the top receiving threats in the country, Hilaire led the SWAC in receptions (71) and catches per game (7.1) and finished second in yards per game (91.8) and total yards (918), both of the latter to his teammate Ibrahim.
 
On the year he finished fourth in catches per game at the FCS level and was 14^th in receiving yards per game and 16^th in total receiving yards. Additionally, his nine receiving touchdowns tied for fourth in the league.
 
Individually, Hilaire had at least six catches in seven games, highlighted by a career-high 12 for 122 yards and a pair of scores at Texas Southern (11/13). He also hauled in 10 grabs for a then career-high 161 yards and a score at Grambling (10/2) and 10 the following week for 117 yards and a TD against Jackson State (10/9).
 
He would cap the 2021 campaign with eight catches for a career-best 162 yards and a score against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/20).
 
SECOND-TEAM WIDE RECIEVER – DEE ANDERSON
A huge target at 6-6, Anderson (Dallas, Texas) made an immediate impact in his first season with the Bulldogs, hauling in 12 receiving touchdowns in just nine games to rank fifth at the FCS level.
 
At one point late in the season he tied for the national lead with 11 TD grabs and sits just two behind the current leader. He is also ranked 22^nd in total touchdowns.
 
In terms of the SWAC, Anderson led the league with those 12 touchdowns and was the league leader in points per game at 8.0.
 
He finished the season with 33 catches for 493 yards and delivered three games with three touchdowns, including against Tuskegee (9/25), at Grambling (10/2) and vs. Mississippi Valley State (11/6). The latter would see him snag a career-high seven catches for a personal best 122 yards.
 
Additionally, he earned SWAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on November 8 following that game, helping Alabama A&M to five such awards this season in 10 games.
 
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
With the five selections to this year's All-SWAC team, these individuals have now accounted for 11 such honors over the past four seasons.
 
Glass leads that group with First-Team nods in each of the past two campaigns and Second-Team selections in 2018 and 2019 while Ibrahim has made a home on the First-Team, earning that spot in each of his first three years. Quarles repeats from a Second-Team honor in the spring while Hilaire and Anderson earn their first.
 
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M will return in Fall 2022 having closed out the Fall 2021 campaign with a 7-3 record and four-game win streak that included an average of 47.0 points per game, the last two being 52-point outings.
 
FALL 2021 ALL-SWAC HONORS
Player of the Year – Aqeel Glass, QB, Alabama A&M
Defensive Player of the Year – Isaiah Land, Florida A&M
Newcomer of the Year – James Houston, Jackson State
Freshman of the Year – Shedeur Sanders, Jackson State
Coach of the Year – Deion Sanders, Jackson State

Fall 2021 All-SWAC Football First-Team Offense
QB: Aqeel Glass, Alabama A&M
RB: Bishop Bonnett, Florida A&M
RB: Gary Quarles, Alabama A&M
OL: Keenan Forbes, Florida A&M
OL: Dallas Black, Southern
OL: Mark Evans II, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
OL: Johnathan Bishop, Southern
OL: Drake Centers, Texas Southern
WR: Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Alabama A&M
WR: Odieu Hilaire, Alabama A&M
TE: Kemari Averett, Bethune-Cookman
 
Fall 2021 All-SWAC Football First-Team Defense
DL: James Houston, Jackson State
DL: Jason Dumas, Prairie View A&M
DL: Sundiata Anderson, Grambling State
DL: Antwan Owens, Jackson State
LB: Isaiah Land, Florida A&M
LB: Untareo Johnson, Bethune-Cookman
LB: Aubrey Miller, Jackson State 
DB: Markquese Bell, Florida A&M
DB: Drake Cheatum, Prairie View A&M
DB: BJ Bohler, Florida A&M
DB: Omari Hill-Robinson, Bethune-Cookman
 
Fall 2021 All-SWAC Football First-Team Specialist
K: Jose Romo-Martinez, Florida A&M
P: Josh Sanchez, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
RS: Isaiah Bolden, Jackson State
 
Fall 2021 All-SWAC Football Second-Team Offense
QB: Shedeur Sanders, Jackson State 
RB: Caleb Johnson, Mississippi Valley State
RB: Niko Duffey, Alcorn State
OL: Tony Gray, Jackson State
OL: Ja'Tyre Carter, Southern
OL: Danny Garza, Prairie View A&M
OL: Jay Jackson-Williams, Florida A&M
OL: Robert Alston, Alabama State
WR: Keith Corbin, Jackson State
WR: Dee Anderson, Alabama A&M
TE: Jyrin Johnson, Texas Southern
 
Fall 2021 All-SWAC Football Second-Team Defense
DL: Ronnie Thomas, Mississippi Valley State
DL: Savion Williams, Florida A&M
DL: Michael Badejo, Texas Southern
DL: Deonte Williams, Florida A&M
LB: Monroe Beard III, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
LB: Keonte Hampton, Jackson State
LB: Tarik Cooper, Texas Southern
DB: Irshaad Davis, Alabama State
DB: Keonte' Daniels. Mississippi Valley State
DB: Darius Campbell, Prairie View A&M
DB: Shilo Sanders, Jackson State
 
Fall 2021 All-SWAC Football Second-Team Specialist
K: Garrett Urban, Grambling State
P: Garrett Urban, Grambling State
RS: Darnell Deas, Bethune-Cookman
 
ALL-TIME All-SWAC SELECTIONS (SINCE 2000) – 124 Total – 61 First-Team/63 Second-Team
Fall 2021 (5 – 4/1)
Aqeel Glass, QB, First-Team&
Gary Quarles, RB, First-Team
Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, WR, First-Team
Odieu Hilaire, WR, First-Team
Dee Anderson, WR, Second-Team
&Indicates Player of the Year
 
Spring 2021 (11 – 4/7)
Aqeel Glass, QB, First-Team&
Dexter Fuqua, OL, First-Team
Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, WR, First-Team
Marcus Cushnie, DL, First-Team
Gary Quarles, RB, Second-Team
Antearius Harrington, OL, Second-Team
Jonathan Williams, OL, Second-Team
Zabrian Moore, WR, Second-Team
Armoni Holloway, LB, Second-Team
Amari Holloway, DB, Second-Team
Spencer Corey, K, Second-Team
&Indicates Player of the Year
 
2019 (10 – 4/6)
Jordan Bentley, RB, First-Team
Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, First-Team#
Marcus Cushnie, DL, First-Team
Spencer Corey, K, First-Team
Aqeel Glass, QB, Second-Team
Trevoris Butler, OL, Second-Team
Shonye Reams, OL, Second-Team
Zabrian Moore, WR, Second-Team
Kendric Johnson, TE, Second-Team
Armoni Hollowy, LB, Second-Team
#Indicates Freshman of the Year
 
2018 (5 – 2/3)
Yurik Bethune, DL, First-Team
Armoni Holloway, LB, First-Team
Aqeel Glass, QB, Second-Team
Trevon Walters, RB, Second-Team
Dylan Hamilton, DB, Second-Team
 
2017 (3 – 3/0)
Kenneth Davis, LB, First-Team
Vernon Moland, DL, First-Team
Dylan Hamilton, DB, First-Team
 
2016 (2 – 0/2)
Jordan Bentley, RB, Second-Team#
Jonathan Dorsey, TE, Second-Team
#Indicates Freshman of the Year
 
2015 (1 – 0/1)
Octayvious Miles, RS, Second-Team
 
2014 (1 – 0/1)
Anthony Lanier, DL, Second-Team
 
2013 (6 – 2/4)
Johnathan Dorsey, TE, First-Team
Robert Nelson, LB, First-Team
Barrington Scott, RB, Second-Team
Montarius Smith, WR, Second-Team
Lawrence Barnett, DB, Second-Team
Derrick Harris, DB, Second-Team
 
2012 (5 – 3/2)
Kaderius Lacey, RB, First-Team
Jamal Johnson, OL, First-Team
Vernon Marshall, DB, First-Team
Bobby Goldsby, TE, Second-Team
Preston Nelson, DL, Second-Team
 
2011 (8 – 3/5)
Kaderius Lacey, RB, First-Team
Jamal Johnson, OL, First-Team
Chance Wilson, K, First-Team
Corey Hart, DL, Second-Team
Willie Fuller, LB, Second-Team
Rico Porch, DB, Second-Team
Deaunte Mason, QB, Second-Team
Justin Goodrich, OL, Second-Team
 
2010 (3 – 0/2)
Russell Jackson, OL, Second-Team
Tony Green, RB, Second-Team
Frank Kearse, DL, Second-Team
 
2009 (9 – 4/5)
Xavier Manuel, OL, First-Team
Thomas Harris, WR, First-Team
Ulysses Banks, RB, First-Team
Jeremy Maddox, DL, First-Team
Anquez Jackson, OL, Second-Team
Jeremy Licea, K, Second-Team
Frank Kearse, DL, Second-Team
Afu Okosun, LB, Second-Team
Korey Morrison, DB, Second-Team
 
2008 (4 – 2/2)
Xavier Manuel, OL, First-Team
Jeremy Licea, K, First-Team
Thomas Harris, WR, Second-Team
Jeremy Maddox, DE, Second-Team
 
2007 (9 – 6/3)
James Sanders, OL, First-Team
Charles Moody, TE, First-Team
Ulysses Banks, RB, First-Team
Kelcy Luke, QB, First-Team
Jeremy Maddox, DE, First-Team
Al Donaldson, DB, First-Team
Darius Turner, OL, Second-Team
Xavier Manuel, OL, Second-Team
Jeremy Licea, K, Second-Team
 
2006 (10 – 6/4)
Kristian Smith, OL, First-Team
Jeffery Johnson, OL, First-Team
Ulysses Banks, KR, First-Team#
Kevin Lockhart, DL, First-Team
Johnny Baldwin, LB, First-Team
Rashan Clyar, K, First-Team
Marcus Black, DB, Second-Team
Ta'mar Scott, RB, Second-Team
Christopher Franklin, OL, Second-Team
Charles Moody, TE, Second-Team
#Indicates Freshman of the Year
 
2005 (7 – 3/4)
Malasta Hill, DL, First-Team
Johnny Baldwin, LB, First-Team
Corey Harden, DB, First-Team
Jeffrey Johnson, OL, Second-Team
Antonio Regist, OL, Second-Team
Jose Osorio, K, Second-Team
Kevin Lockhart, DL, Second-Team
 
2004 (7 – 2/5)
Robert Louis, OL, First-Team
Levernonte Turner, DB, First-Team
Charles Moody, TE , Second-Team
Ali Hassan, DL, Second-Team
Chris Traylor, DL, Second-Team
Johnny Baldwin, LB, Second-Team
Jose Osorio, K, Second-Team
 
2003 (7 – 4/3)
Robert Louis, OL, First-Team
Jacob Wilson, TE, First-Team
Jeremiah Bonds, RB, First-Team
Lieutenant Dukes, DL, First-Team
Lionel Macklin, LB, Second-Team
Martel Holt, DB, Second-Team
Rashad Cylar, K, Second-Team
 
2002 (7 – 3/4)
Robert Louis, OL, First-Team
Robert Mathis, DL, First-Team$
Jamaal Ware, LB, First-Team
Jacob Wilson, TE, Second-Team
Melvin Gideon, RB, Second-Team
Travorris Nunn, LB, Second-Team
Rashad Cylar, K, Second-Team
$Indicates Defensive Player of the Year
 
2001 (3 – 1/2)
Ardante Dawson, DL, First-Team
Robert Louis, OL, Second-Team
Robert Mathis, DL, Second-Team
 
2000 (7 – 4/3)
Kendrick Rogers, OL, First-Team
Robert Mathis, DL, First-Team
Ardante Dawson, DL, First-Team
Brandon Reed, DB, First-Team
Curtis Donnell, RB, Second-Team
Kenyon Hambrick, WR, Second-Team
Jamaal Ware, LB, Second-Team