June 1, 2015
Phil Steele Preseason All-MW 
RENO, Nev. -- The Nevada football team landed 11 student-athletes on Phil Steele's 2015 Preseason All-Mountain West teams, the football publication announced today. The Wolf Pack's honorees consist of five defensive players, four offensive players and two special teams players.
Senior Ian Seau is Nevada's lone representative on the All-MW first team. The defensive end was named to the all-conference second team last season after leading the team and ranking second in the MW with 8.5 sacks. Seau was credited with 39 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one interception in 2014.
Senior DE Rykeem Yates, junior TE Jarred Gipson and junior PK Brent Zuzo were named to Steele's preseason All-MW second team. Yates -- a 2014 honorable mention All-MW selection -- tied for the team lead along with Seau with 10.5 tackles for loss last year. Gipson caught 33 passes for 291 yards with four touchdowns last season and was named to the all-conference second team. Zuzo made 13-of-17 (.765) field goals and 43-of-45 (.955) PATs last season. The Canton, Mich., native has a career .800 field goal percentage.
Steele named three Nevada players to his All-MW third team; junior WR Hasaan Henderson, senior LB Jordan Dobrich and senior LB Matthew Lyons. Henderson -- a 6-foot-5 target and two-year letter winner -- caught 45 passes for 579 yards and four scores in 2014 before missing the final three games of the season with an injury. Dobrich has 174 career tackles at Nevada and is a two-time Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree. He ranked second on the team last year with 85 stops. Lyons played in 12 games last year with 10 starts, ranking third on the team with 80 tackles.
Additionally, junior QB Tyler Stewart, junior WR Jerico Richardson, senior LB Bryan Lane Jr. and junior punter Alex Boy were named to Steele's preseason All-MW fourth team. Stewart was listed No. 2 on the depth chart behind Cody Fajardo all last season. The 6-foot-4 native of Simi Valley, Calif., is Nevada's most experienced quarterback competing for the starting job this year. Richardson has a breakout season in 2014 and led Nevada with 655 receiving yards on 56 catches and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Lane Jr. played in 13 games with 12 starts and posted 70 tackles last season. The three-year letter winner out of Sacramento, Calif., has 142 career stops with the Pack. Boy earned Nevada's starting job at punter last season and went on to lead the MW with 44.3 yards per punt. He earned second-team All-MW honors after ranking 11th nationally in yards per punt.
Nevada's 11 All-MW selections rank tied for third with Colorado State, as both trail only San Diego State and Boise State. The Pack had two noticeable snubs on Steele's four All-MW teams, which omitted the backfield duo of senior Don Jackson and sophomore James Butler. Jackson (957 yards, seven TDs) and Butler (635, 5) combined to rush for 1,592 yards and 12 touchdowns last year.
The Wolf Pack will open the 2015 season on Thursday, Sept. 3, at Mackay Stadium against UC Davis. So far, five of Nevada's 12 games have been slated for a national TV broadcast.
