Dec. 5, 2005
DENVER - Nevada landed 10 players, five each on the WAC football first and second teams, and picked up two of the top four individual honors as the All-WAC post-season honors were announced today.
The Pack's senior running back B.J. Mitchell (Loomis, Calif.) was named WAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year and Chris Ault was tabbed Coach-of-the-Year, his sixth conference coach-of-the-year accolade in 21 years as head coach at Nevada.
All nine schools were represented on the first team while both Hawai`i and Nevada placed a WAC-high five players on the second team.
Head coaches of the member schools voted on the awards. Fresno State led the league with eight first-team all-WAC honorees, while Nevada placed five on the first team.
The other two major award winners were Fresno State's Garrett McIntyre as Defensive Player of the Year and Hawai`i wide receiver Davone Bess as Freshman of the Year.
Also earning first-team honors for the Pack besides Mitchell were junior wide receiver Caleb Spencer (Oahu, Hawai`i), senior offensive tackle Tony Moll (Sonoma, Calif.), junior cornerback Joe Garcia (West Minster, Calif.) and senior punter Justin Bergendahl (Hayward, Calif.).
Second team honorees from Nevada include junior quarterback Jeff Rowe (Reno, Nev.), junior tight end Anthony Pudewell (Eldorado Hills, Calif.), junior offensive guard Barrett Reznick (Scottsdale, Ariz.), senior defensive end Craig Bailey (Long Beach, Calif.) and senior co-captain and linebacker Roosevelt Cooks (Yosemite, Calif.).
Mitchell, a co-captain and the Golden Helmet Award winner as Nevada's team MVP, is the WAC's leading rusher with 111.0 yards per game. He rushed for more than 100 yards in a game six times in 11 games and scored a total of 11 touchdowns in helping lead the Wolf Pack to a share of this year's WAC title and Nevada's first bowl game since 1996. Mitchell has rushed for 1,221 yards (the seventh most in school history) on 238 carries. Nevada continues its season on Dec. 24 when it plays UCF in the Sheraton Hawai`i Bowl.
Ault earned his coach of the year award after leading Nevada to an 8-3 record and a share of the WAC title with a 7-1 conference mark. It's the first WAC championship for the Wolf Pack since joining the conference prior to the 2000 season. Nevada is heading to the Sheraton Hawai`i Bowl on Dec. 24, its first postseason game since the 1996 Las Vegas Bowl. Ault, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, is in his third stint with the Wolf Pack and has a record of 176-73-1.
McIntyre, a senior defensive lineman from South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (South Lake Tahoe HS), is a two-time first-team all-WAC selection. McIntyre missed two games early in the season due to an injury, but still recorded 10.5 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. He also forced two fumbles and blocked a kick for the Bulldogs. McIntyre will finish his career in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl against Tulsa on New Year's Eve.
Bess, a freshman from Oakland, Calif. (Skyline HS), caught 89 passes for 1,124 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first season with the Warriors. He leads the WAC and is fifth in the nation with 7.42 catches per game. Bess recorded seven games with more than 100 yards receiving and five multiple touchdown games. The 89 receptions are the eighth most in WAC history for a single season.
Ault earned his coach of the year award after leading Nevada to an 8-3 record and a share of the WAC title with a 7-1 conference mark. It's the first WAC championship for the Wolf Pack since joining the conference prior to the 2000 season. Nevada is heading to the Sheraton Hawai`i Bowl on Dec. 24, its first postseason game since the 1996 Las Vegas Bowl. Ault, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, is in his third stint with the Wolf Pack and has a record of 176-73-1.
Repeat first team selections from last year include Boise State offensive lineman Daryn Colledge, Louisiana Tech offensive lineman Aaron Lips, McIntyre, Boise State linebacker Korey Hall and Louisiana Tech linebacker Byron Santiago.
The complete All-WAC teams are listed on the WAC website, www.wacsports.com
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