Dec. 4, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A school record eight University of New Mexico football players were voted to the 2007 all-Mountain West Conference first team by the league’s nine head coaches and 18-member media panel the conference office announced this afternoon. New Mexico’s eight first team honorees (six on offense, two on defense) led the MWC, were the most in the conference since 2001 and matched the second most by one team in league history.
On offense, senior wide receiver Travis Brown (West Covina, Calif.) and junior running back Rodney Ferguson (Albuquerque, N.M.) earned first team all-MWC honors for the second straight year. Senior wide receiver Marcus Smith (San Diego, Calif.) was also a first team pick after earning Honorable Mention recognition in 2006. Meanwhile, senior center Vince Natali (Park Ridge, Ill.), senior offensive tackle Devin Clark (Mesa, Ariz.) and senior kicker John Sullivan (Tehachapi, Calif.) earned postseason honors for the first time in their careers.
New Mexico placed two on the first team defense as senior defensive end Tyler Donaldson (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and junior cornerback DeAndre Wright (Clinton, Md.) were recognized after earning second team honors last year.
Senior defensive end Michael Tuohy (Moreno Valley, Calif.) was named to the second team, while senior safety OJ Swift (Apopka, Fla.), senior punter Jordan Scott (Bellbrook, Ohio) and junior cornerback Glover Quin (Summit, Miss.) were Honorable Mention picks.
After landing just four total first team all-conference selections in his first three seasons at New Mexico, head coach Rocky Long has had 39 first team honorees since 2001 – an average of more than five per season. UNM has had 33 players named to the all-MWC first team over the past five years – 12 more than any other team in the league during that span.
Notables
The 2007 Lobos became just the second team in MWC history and the first in program history to have two wide receivers earn first team all-conference honors…San Diego State (J.R. Tolver & Kassim Osgood) was the first to do so in 2001…Travis Brown became the third Lobo receiver to earn first team honors in multiple season, joining Terance Mathis (1986, ’87, ’89 WAC) and Preston Dennard (1974, ’76 WAC)…New Mexico has had a first team wide receiver three straight years – a first in program history – since Hank Baskett III snapped an eight-year drought in 2005.
The Lobo offensive line unit, known as The Hitmen, has had at least one first team selection each of the past five years and had at least two first team players four times during that span…six different linemen have earned first team honors 10 times since 2003…Vince Natali gave UNM a first team center for the fourth time in the past five years (Ryan Cook, 2003-05)…Devin Clark became the third Lobo offensive tackle to earn all-MWC honors, joining Claude Terrell (2004) and current UNM offensive line coach Jason Lenzmeier (2003).
New Mexico has had a first team all-MWC running back each of the past six years – the longest streak in conference history…Rodney Ferguson and DonTrell Moore (four times) are the only Lobo running backs to earn first team all-conference honors since 1996.
John Sullivan is the fourth Lobo kicker in the past seven years to be named first team all-MWC, joining Kenny Byrd (’06), Wes Zunker (’03) and Vladimir Borombozin (’01)…no other school has had more than two kickers named to the all-MWC first team since the conference was founded in 1999.
New Mexico has had at least one defensive player named first team all-conference every year under 10th-year head coach Rocky Long and 17 total defensive all-MWC awards since 1998.
DeAndre Wright became the third Lobo cornerback in the last four years to earn first team all-MWC honors, joining Gabriel Fulbright (2005) and Brandon Payne (2004).
Tyler Donaldson is the fifth UNM defensive lineman named to the all-MWC first team and fourth in the past four years…Brian Johnson (2000-01), D.J. Renteria (2003), Evroy Thompson (2004) and Marcus Parker (2005) are the others.
Click here for a list of all the 2007 Mountain West Conference awards recipients.