Football
New Mexico sophomore linebacker Dakota Cox and redshirt senior offensive lineman LaMar Bratton earned first team All-Mountain West honors, the conference announced Tuesday.
Senior safety David Guthrie, redshirt junior running back Jhurell Pressley and senior offensive lineman Jamal Price were also listed as MW honorable mentions.
Cox missed the final three games of the season after tearing his ACL in a loss to Boise State on Nov. 8. He still led the country and the Mountain West in tackles per game, with an average of 12.89.
Bratton became the first offensive All-Mountain West since tight end Lucas Reed earned that honor in 2010. The senior played all 755 offensive snaps for UNM this season and finished his career with 49 straight starts.
Pressley ran for more than 1,000 yards on the season, finishing with 1,083. He broke UNM’s yards per carry record by averaging 9.5 yards. Former record holder Billy Brown had an average of 7.79 yards per touch.
Price started all 12 games at right guard this year. He helped the Lobos finish fourth in the country in rushing yards per game with 310.4 yards.
Guthrie collected 87 tackles on the season, which ranked second on the team.
Colorado State earned a pair of awards from the Mountain West. Quarterback Garret Grayson was named Offensive Player of the Year, and former head coach Jim McElwain earned Coach of the Year. McElwain left CSU earlier this week to become head coach of Florida.
Defensive Player of the Year went to Utah State’s Zach Vigil. Air Force’s Will Conant was named Special Teams Player of the Year and UNLV wide receiver Devante Boyd earned Freshman Player of the Year.
Volleyball
New Mexico redshirt senior right side hitter Chantale Riddle and sophomore libero Julia Warren both claimed first team All-Mountain West honors Monday. Redshirt junior setter Hannah Johnson and sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Cassie House were both honorable mentions.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Riddle had one of the best seasons ever at UNM. The senior broke the school and conference record for kills with 1,623. She also became the all-time point leader at UNM with 1,910.
“Chantale had an amazing year again,” head coach Jeff Nelson said in a release. “She broke records and put up big numbers for the team. She is a great athlete that loves to play, and I am very proud of the career she put together at UNM.”
Warren became the Lobos’ libero during the season, and she averaged 4.18 digs per set.
As setter, Johnson averaged 10.77 assists a game — a mark that ranked third in the conference. She led the Mountain West in double-doubles with 16.
House was one of the better outside hitters in the league. She had a nine-game streak of double-digit kills during the season. The junior ranked fourth in the conference with 204 kills.
New Mexico Bowl
UTEP and Utah State accepted bids to the annual Gildan New Mexico Bowl that will be played this upcoming Saturday, the bowl game officials announced Sunday.
The Aggies went 9-4 this season and were 6-2 in Mountain West play. This is Utah State’s fourth straight bowl game appearance.
As for UTEP, it went 7-5 overall and went 5-3 in Conference USA. The last time the Miners won a bowl game was back in 1967, when they beat Ole Miss 14-7 in the Sun Bowl.
Both teams beat New Mexico this season. UTEP held on to beat UNM 31-24 on Aug. 30, while the Aggies edged the Lobos 28-21 on Nov. 15.
~ Compiled by Thomas Romero-Salas
