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2007 All-Mountain West team announced

By JazzyUte

The Mountain West announced its 2007 All-Conference team Tuesday afternoon and a few Utes made the list.

Offensive Player of the Year
Chad Hall, Sr., RB/WR, Air Force
  • Hall is Air Force's second MWC Offensive Player of the Year (Mike Thiessen-2000).
  • Hall is the fourth running back since the inception of the MWC to be named offensive player of the year.
  • Only player in the nation to lead his team in rushing (1,415), receiving (488) and all-purpose yardage (2,504).
  • Leads the MWC and ranks 16th nationally in rushing average (117.92 ypg).
  • Leads the MWC and ranks third nationally in all-purpose yardage (208.67 ypg).
  • Set new MWC single-season records for all-purpose yardage in overall (2,504 yards) and conference-only games (1,617 yards).The previous overall mark was held by BYU's Luke Staley with 2,018 yards in 2001, while the conference-only record was originally set by Wyoming's Jovon Bouknight with 1,475 yards in 2005.
  • Has the second-most rushing yards in a single-season in school history behind Beau Morgan's 1,494 yards (1996), and needs just 80 in the bowl game to set a new Academy standard.
  • Named the MWC Offensive Player of the Week three times in 2007.
Defensive Player of the Year
Beau Bell, Sr., LB, UNLV
  • Bell is UNLV's third MWC Defensive Player of the Year (Kevin Thomas-2001; Jamaal Brimmer-2002).
  • Bell is the fourth linebacker since the inception of the MWC to be named defensive player of the year. He is the first linebacker in UNLV history to garner defensive player of the year accolades.
  • Leads the MWC and ranks 20th nationally in total tackles (126-10.5 avg.).
  • Leads the MWC and ranks 11th nationally in solo tackles (79-6.6 avg.).
  • Leads the MWC and is tied for fourth nationally in forced fumbles (5-0.42 avg.).
  • Recorded four interceptions on the season, including one for a touchdown against Wyoming.
  • Named the MWC Defensive Player of the Week three times in 2007. He is the only player in league history to be named defensive player of the week three times in the same season.
Special Teams Player of the Year
Louie Sakoda, Jr., PK/P, Utah
  • Sakoda was a co-winner of the inaugural MWC Special Teams Player of the Year award in 2006.
  • Leads the MWC and ranks eighth nationally in punting average (44.8).
  • Has pinned teams inside their 20 on 27 of his 69 total punts (39.1%).
  • Has recorded 21 punts that went 50 yards or longer.
  • Has made 19-of-22 field goals, including 17-of-20 on field goals 40 yards or longer.
  • Has converted 33-of-35 point-after attempts.
  • Named the MWC Special Teams Player of the Week four times in 2007.
Freshman of the Year
Harvey Unga, Fr., RB, BYU
  • Unga is the third freshman of the year honoree for BYU since the inception of the MWC in 1999. Running back Luke Staley earned the award in 1999 and wide receiver Austin Collie won it in 2004.
  • Ranks third in the MWC and 31st in the nation with 100.9 rushing yards per game. Unga also is third among freshman rushers in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with 1,211 yards.
  • Unga is the first freshman at BYU and third in MWC history to rush for over 1,000 yards. Entering the Las Vegas Bowl, he is six yards shy of breaking the MWC Freshman rushing record of 1,216 yards held by Air Force's Keith Boyea (2001).
  • Is the first running back in school history to record seven 100-yard rushing games during his freshman season.
  • Set a new MWC record for all-purpose yardage by a freshman with 1,840 yards, shattering the previous record of 1,328 yards held by New Mexico's DonTrell Moore (2002).
  • Selected as the MWC Offensive Player of the Week three times this season.
Coach of the Year
Troy Calhoun, Air Force
  • Selected as conference coach of the year in his first season at the Air Force Academy. Becomes the third first-year coach in MWC history to earn the award in their inaugural season (Gary Crowton, BYU-2001 and Urban Meyer, Utah-2003).
  • Becomes the first Air Force head coach to win a conference coach of the year honor since Fisher DeBerry in 1998.
  • There were 23 coaching changes in 2007. Of those 23, Calhoun is one of five first-year coaches to win at least nine games and one of eight to earn a bowl bid season.
Notables
  • Four student-athletes were repeat first-team all-Conference selections in 2007, including New Mexico WR Travis Brown and RB Rodney Ferguson and TCU DL Chase Ortiz and PK/PR Brian Bonner.
  • TCU DE Chase Ortiz is the only three-time first-team all-conference honoree on this year's squad.
  • Chad Hall (RB-Air Force), Tyler Donaldson (DL-New Mexico) and DeAndre Wright (DB-New Mexico) are all first-team selections in 2007 after being second-team honorees in 2006.
  • TCU has claimed a first-team kick returner honoree in each of its three years as a member of the MWC, including PK/PR Brian Bonner in 2006 and 2007.
  • New Mexico has had a first-team running back each of the last six years, including current honoree Rodney Ferguson each of the last two seasons.
  • Running back Harvey Unga of BYU was the lone freshman selected to either of the all-conference teams. Unga is the sixth freshman, and third running back, in MWC history to earn all-conference accolades (DonTrell Moore, TB, New Mexico-2002 (first team); Lynell Hamilton, RB, San Diego State-2003 (first team); Hoost Marsh, KR, Wyoming-2004 (first team); Jason Phillips, LB, TCU-2005 (second team); Ryan Wolfe, WR, UNLV-2006 (first team).
  • Of the 50 first and second-team selections, 32 were seniors, 10 juniors, seven sophomores and one freshman. The first team had 18 seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and one freshman.
  • Utah placed the most student-athletes on the two all-conference teams with 10 selections, followed by league-champion BYU and New Mexico with nine apiece. Air Force and TCU were next in line with six student-athletes each, followed by San Diego State and Wyoming with three apiece and Colorado State and UNLV with two each.
  • New Mexico had the most first-team selections with eight, followed by BYU with six and Air Force with four.
2007 Mountain West Conference Postseason Football Honors
Position Player Class School
FIRST TEAM - OFFENSE
QB Max Hall So. BYU
WR Travis Brown* Sr. New Mexico
WR Marcus Smith Sr. New Mexico
RB Chad Hall Sr. Air Force
RB Rodney Ferguson* Jr. New Mexico
TE Dennis Pitta So. BYU
OL Blaine Guenther Sr. Air Force
OL Ray Feinga Jr. BYU
OL Dallas Reynolds Jr. BYU
OL Devin Clark Sr. New Mexico
OL Vince Natali Sr. New Mexico
PK John Sullivan Sr. New Mexico
PR/KR Brian Bonner* Sr. TCU
FIRST TEAM - DEFENSE
DL Jan Jorgensen So. BYU
DL Tyler Donaldson Sr. New Mexico
DL Chase Ortiz** Sr. TCU
DL Martail Burnett Sr. Utah
LB Jon Rabold Sr. Air Force
LB Bryan Kehl Sr. BYU
LB Beau Bell Sr. UNLV
DB Carson Bird Sr. Air Force
DB DeAndre Wright Jr. New Mexico
DB Steve Tate Sr. Utah
DB Julius Stinson Sr. Wyoming
P Louie Sakoda Jr. Utah
*--Two-Time First-Team Selection
**--Three-Time First-Team Selection
SECOND TEAM - OFFENSE
QB Kevin O'Connell Sr. San Diego State
WR Austin Collie So. BYU
WR Brett Swain Sr. San Diego State
RB Harvey Unga Fr. BYU
RB Darrell Mack Jr. Utah
TE Wade Betschart Sr. Wyoming
OL Nick Charles So. Air Force
OL Nick Allotta Sr. Colorado State
OL Blake Schlueter Jr. TCU
OL Zane Beadles So. Utah
OL Robert Conley Jr. Utah
PK Louie Sakoda Jr. Utah
PR/KR Derrek Richards Sr. Utah
SECOND TEAM - DEFENSE
DL Jesse Nading Sr. Colorado State
DL Michael Tuohy Sr. New Mexico
DL Gabe Long Sr. Utah
DL John Fletcher So. Wyoming
LB Drew Fowler Sr. Air Force
LB Kelly Poppinga Sr. BYU
LB Jason Phillips Jr. TCU
DB Stephen Hodge Jr. TCU
DB David Roach Sr. TCU
DB Mil'Von James Sr. UNLV
DB Brice McCain Jr. Utah
P Michael Hughes Sr. San Diego State
HONORABLE MENTION
Air Force: Shaun Carney, Sr., QB; Travis Dekker, Jr., TE; Ryan Kemp, Jr., DL; Chris Thomas, So., DB.
BYU: Austin Collie, So., KR; Quinn Gooch, Sr., DB.
Colorado State: Jeff Horinek, Jr., LB; Gartrell Johnson, Jr., RB; Jimmie Kaylor, Sr., P; Damon Morton, Sr., WR; Eric Sandie, Sr., DL; LB; Darryl Williams, Sr., DB.
New Mexico: Glover Quin, Jr., DB; Jordan Scott, Sr., P; O.J. Swift, Sr., DB.
San Diego State: Russell Allen, Jr., LB; Ray Bass, Sr., DB; Mike Kravtez, Sr., OL; Nick Osborn, Sr., DL; Will Robinson, Sr., OL.
TCU: Robert Henson, Jr., LB; Chris Manfredini, Sr., PK; Marshall Newhouse, So., OL; Rafael Priest, So., DB; Derek Wash, Sr., P.
UNLV: Matt Murphy, Fr., OL; Frank Summers, Jr., RB; Ryan Wolfe, So., WR.
Utah: Robert Johnson, So., DB; Paul Kruger, Fr., DL; Derrek Richards, Sr., WR; Stevenson Sylvester, So., LB.
Wyoming: Ward Dobbs, Jr., LB; Kyle Howard, Jr., OL; Mitch Unrein, So., DL; Billy Vinnedge, Sr., P.
Offensive Player of the Year:
Chad Hall, Sr., RB/WR, Air Force
Defensive Player of the Year:
Beau Bell, Sr., LB, UNLV
Special Teams Player of the Year:
Louie Sakoda, Jr., PK/P, Utah
Freshman of the Year:
Harvey Unga, RB, BYU
Coach of the Year:
Troy Calhoun, Air Force

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