Mountain West Football Announces All-Conference Selections
Who did the Mountain West name among the conference’s best performers?
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A long and unpredictable 2017 produced some expected stars and some breakout performances across the Mountain West.
If you look back at the Mountain West media’s preseason all-conference selections (and our staff selections, for that matter), it might suddenly seem as though July was ages ago. Now that the regular season has come to a close, however, the conference announced its postseason honors this morning.
The offensive two-deep is unsurprisingly headlined by San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny, who led the nation with 2,027 rushing yards and 2,698 all-purpose yards. He also finished second among FBS backs with at least 200 carries by averaging 7.37 yards per carry, which made him an easy choice to secure Offensive Player of the Year, the third straight year an Aztecs running back has earned the honor.
In addition, Penny was also named the conference’s Special Teams Player of the Year. He had one punt return touchdown and two kickoff return scores, in defiance of (and to the delight of Aztecs fans) his preseason acknowledgment that he wouldn’t return kicks at all.
The Aztecs defense also made good on their preseason displeasure, getting three defenders named to the two-deep. Boise State linebacker Leighton Vander Esch got the nod as the conference’s defensive player of the year, however, after finishing third in the conference with 113 tackles and collecting 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
As for the conference’s coach of the year, Fresno State’s Jeff Tedford was the obvious choice after leading the Bulldogs to a 9-3 record and the West division crown, just one year after a historically bad 1-11 season. His most notable wins in conference were a convincing 27-3 victory over San Diego State and a 28-17 win over Boise State, and he went 7-1 in Mountain West play overall.
UNLV quarterback Armani Rogers, meanwhile, was named the conference’s freshman of the year after leading the Rebels to a 5-7 record, the program’s best record since 2013. Though he had some ups and downs, the redshirt freshman showed plenty of glimpses at his potential: He completed 52.4% of his passes for 1,471 yards, with six touchdowns and five interceptions, and he also finished with 915 rushing yards (after adjusting for sacks) and eight rushing touchdowns, averaging 7.4 yards per attempt.
Each team in the conference has at least one all-conference selection, though the Boise State Broncos led all teams with 12 athletes named. San Diego State is second with eight all-MW selections, while Colorado State, Fresno State and Wyoming have five each.
First Team
Offense
QB – Nick Stevens, Colorado State
RB – Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
RB – Lexington Thomas, UNLV
WR – Michael Gallup, Colorado State
WR – Cedrick Wilson, Boise State
TE – Jake Roh, Boise State
OL – Jake Bennett, Colorado State
OL – Mason Hampton, Boise State
OL – Zack Golditch, Colorado State
OL – Dejon Allen, Hawaii
T – Austin Corbett, Nevada
Defense
DL – Curtis Weaver, Boise State
DL – Youhanna Ghaifan, Wyoming
DL – Carl Granderson, Wyoming
DL – Malik Reed, Nevada
LB – Frank Ginda, San Jose State
LB – Leighton Vander Esch, Boise State
LB – Jeffrey Allison, Fresno State
DB – Tyler Horton, Boise State
DB – Kameron Kelly, San Diego State
DB – Andrew Wingard, Wyoming
DB – Jalen Davis, Utah State
Special Teams
K – Dominik Eberle, Utah State
P – Corey Bojorquez, New Mexico
KR – Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
PR – Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
Second Team
Offense
QB – Brett Rypien, Boise State
RB – Dalyn Dawkins, Colorado State
RB – Diocemy Saint Juste, Hawaii
WR – KeeSean Johnson, Fresno State
WR – Wyatt Demps, Nevada
TE – David Wells, San Diego State
OL – Alex Norton, Air Force
OL – Aaron Mitchell, Fresno State
OL – Keith Ismael, San Diego State
OL – Archie Lewis, Boise State
OL – Tyler Roemer, San Diego State
Defense
DL – David Moa, Boise State
DL – Tobenna Okeke, Fresno State
DL – Jabril Frazier, Boise State
DL – Mike Hughes, Jr., UNLV
LB – Ronley Lakalaka, San Diego State
LB – Logan Wilson, Wyoming
LB – Jahlani Tavai, Hawaii
DB – Tariq Thompson, San Diego State
DB – Kekoa Nawahine, Boise State
DB – Rico Gafford, Wyoming
DB – Dameon Baber, Nevada
Special Teams
K – Jimmy Camacho, Fresno State
P – Michael Carrizosa, San Jose State
KR – Avery Williams, Boise State
PR – Avery Williams, Boise State
Individual Honors
Offensive Player of the Year – Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
Defensive Player of the Year – Leighton Vander Esch, Boise State
Special Teams Player of the Year – Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
Freshman of the Year – Armani Rogers, UNLV
Head Coach of the Year – Jeff Tedford, Fresno State
Honorable Mentions
Air Force: Grant Ross, LB
Boise State: Ezra Cleveland, OL; Haden Hoggarth, PK; Alexander Mattison, RB; Tyson Maeva, LB; Durrant Miles, DL; John Molchon, OL; DeAndre Pierce, DB
Colorado State: Evan Colorito, LB; Dalton Fackrell, TE; Trae Moxley, OL; Ryan Stonehouse, P; Josh Watson, LB
Fresno State: Mike Bell, DB; Jaron Bryant, DB; Christian Cronk, OL; Malik Forrester, DL; George Helmuth, LB; Juju Hughes, DB; Marcus McMaryion, QB; Netane Muti, OL; David Patterson, OL; Micah St. Andrew, OL; Robert Stanley, DL
Hawai‘i: Meffy Koloamatangi, DL; Viane Moala, DL
Nevada: Ty Gangi, QB; Sean Krepsz, OL; Austin Paulhus, LB; Asauni Rufus, DB
New Mexico: Blaise Fountain, OL; Garrett Hughes, DL; Aaron Jenkins, OL; Jake Rothschiller, DB
San Diego State: Parker Baldwin, DB; Mikah Holder, WR
San José State: Bryce Crawford, PK; Chris Gonzalez, OL
UNLV: Nathan Jacobson, OL; Kyle Saxelid, OL
Utah State: Roman Andrus, OL; Quin Ficklin, OL; Dallin Leavitt, DB; Dax Raymond, TE
Wyoming: Josh Allen, QB; Tyler Hall, RS