Aztecs aplenty in MW awards
After finishing the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record in Mountain West conference play, San Diego State swept four of the major all-conference awards when the league announced its post-season awards on Tuesday.
Rocky Long was named the head coach of the year after leading his team to a 9-3 overall record. Junior cornerback Damontae Kazee was named the defensive player of the year, junior running back DJ Pumphrey was named the offensive player of the year and sophomore returner Rashaad Penny was named the special teams player of the year.
Long has received the honor twice before, once as the Aztecs coach in 2012.
Pumphrey is the first Aztec to ever win the MW OPOY award, finishing the regular season with with 1,464 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns to add to his 333 receiving yards and two scores. Pumphrey was selected over San Jose State running back Tyler Ervin, Wyoming running back Brian Hill, Boise State receiver Thomas Sperbeck and Colorado State receiver Rashard Higgins.
Kazee is SDSU's first defensive player of the year winner since Kirk Morrison won it back-to-back in 2003-04. He joins Morrison as the only Aztecs to ever win it, earning a league high seven interceptions. He was a second-team selection last year but led this year's team in solo tackles (51), finishing with 66 total. Kazee, who also had seven pass breakups and two forced fumbles, was selected over Air Force defensive lineman Alex Hansen, Boise State defensive back Darian Thompson, Nevada defensive end Ian Seau and Utah State linebacker Kyler Fackrell.
Penny had 19 kick returns for 617 yards (32 avg.), including two touchdowns (97 and 100 yards). He had a third vs. Nevada last Saturday but it was called back for holding.
SDSU, the MW west division champs who will face Air Force, the mountain division champs this Saturday, also had nine total players named to the all-conference team - seven of which were listed on the first-team.
Five other Aztecs were honorable mentions.
First Team
RB Donnel Pumphrey
OL Nico Siragusa
OL Pearce Slater
DL Alex Barrett
LB Calvin Munson
DB Damontae Kazee
KR Rashaad Penny
Second Team
LB Jake Fely
DB JJ Whittaker
Honorable mention
TE Daniel Brunskill
DL Christian Heyward
DL Jon Sanchez
DB Malik Smith
PK Donald Hageman
The only individual award that SDSU did not win was the freshman of the year, which was given to Boise State QB Brett Rypien.
Siragusa and Slater both made the conference team for the first time in their careers, each making the first-team.
Barrett, who had 51 tackles (12.5 TFLs) and 5.5 sacks, improved from being an honorable mention after last season to making the first-team. Munson also saw the same improvement, earning a team-high 83-tackles along with nine sack and two interceptions (both returned for touchdowns).
Full Mountain West awards:
2015 ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST FOOTBALL FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE
QB Brett Rypien Fr. Boise State
WR Thomas Sperbeck Jr. Boise State
WR Rashard Higgins* Jr. Colorado State
RB Donnel Pumphrey* Jr. San Diego State
RB Tyler Ervin Sr. San José State
TE Billy Freeman Jr. San José State
OL Sevrin Remmo Sr. Air Force
OL Marcus Henry Sr. Boise State
OL Rees Odhiambo Sr. Boise State
OL Nico Siragusa Jr. San Diego State
OL Pearce Slater Sr. San Diego State
PK Tyler Rausa Jr. Boise State
KR Rashaad Penny So. San Diego State
2015 ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST FOOTBALL FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
DL Alex Hansen Sr. Air Force
DL Kennedy Tulimasealii Jr. Hawai'i
DL Ian Seau Sr. Nevada
DL Alex Barrett Jr. San Diego State
LB Calvin Munson Jr. San Diego State
LB Kyler Fackrell Sr. Utah State
LB Nick Vigil* Jr. Utah State
DB Roland Ladipo Jr. Air Force
DB Weston Steelhammer*Jr. Air Force
DB Darian Thompson* Sr. Boise State
DB Damontae Kazee Jr. San Diego State
P Michael Carrizosa So. San José State
*--Two-Time First-Team Selection
2015 ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST FOOTBALL SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE
QB Nick Stevens So. Colorado State
WR Devonte Boyd* So. UNLV
WR Hunter Sharp Sr. Utah State
RB Jeremy McNichols So. Boise State
RB Brian Hill So. Wyoming
TE Jake Roh So. Boise State
OL A.J. Ruechel Sr. Air Force
OL Fred Zerblis Jr. Colorado State
OL Alex Fifita Sr. Fresno State
OL Wes Schweitzer Sr. San José State
OL Chase Roullier Jr. Wyoming
PK Brent Zuzo Jr. Nevada
PR/KR Carlos Wiggins Sr. New Mexico
2015 ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST FOOTBALL SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
DL Kamalei Correa Jr. Boise State
DL Cory James Sr. Colorado State
DL Lenny Jones Sr. Nevada
DL Eddie Yarbrough Sr. Wyoming
LB Ejiro Ederaine* Sr. Fresno State
LB Jake Fely* Sr. San Diego State
LB Christian Tago Jr. San José State
DB Donte Deayon** Sr. Boise State
DB Dameon Baber Fr. Nevada
DB J.J. Whittaker* Sr. San Diego State
DB Andrew Wingard Fr. Wyoming
P Hayden Hunt Jr. Colorado State