BYU receiver Austin Collie has been selected by The Sporting News as a second-team freshman all-American. Collie becomes the first BYU freshman to earn all-American honors since Luke Staley was named TSN all-America honor in 1999.
Collie, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound true freshman, led the nation with a 4.82 receptions-per-game average and ranked third nationally, posting an average of 70.1 yards per game. Collie also ranked third nationally among rookie receivers with a BYU freshman-record eight touchdowns on the season, scoring at least one TD in seven of the Cougars' 11 games. Five of his seven touchdown catches went for 40 yards or longer, including a Mountain West Conference freshman record 82-yard touchdown reception in the Cougars' victory over San Diego State. Against the Aztecs, Collie was credited with three receptions for a season-high 95 yards and two touchdowns.
The El Dorado Hills, Calif., native also set freshman school records with 53 receptions for 771 yards on the season. Collie registered 50 or more yards receiving in nine of the Cougars' 11 games. In the final four games, Collie tallied 334 yards, averaging 83.5 yards per game.
WEBER STATE HONOR: Weber State junior defensive lineman Brady Forsmark was named first-team I-AA Associated Press All-American on Wednesday.
In 11 games as a starter at left defensive end, Forsmark had 89 total tackles during the season; 50 of those were unassisted. He had 18.5 tackles for a minus-77 yards and recorded 8.0 quarterback sacks for a minus-52 yards. He added three forced fumbles and had one pass interception return, a 30-yard touchdown vs. UC Davis. Forsmark is Weber State's career leader in tackles for loss with 51.0 and is just one quarterback sack away (24.5) from becoming Weber State's career leader in that category.
SUU HONORS: Southern Utah linebackers Nick DiPadova and Marques Harris have both earned a spot on the SportsNetwork I-AA all-America team, it was announced Monday.
DiPadova, a 6-foot, 210-pound senior from Woodland Hills, Calif., was named to the second team while Harris, a 6-2, 235-pound senior from Grand Junction, Colo., earned a spot on the third team.
On Wednesday, DiPadova was named third-team Associated Press I-AA All-American.
DiPadova led the Thunderbirds in tackles for the second straight season with 120, including a team-high 43 solo stops. He also finished with 14 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one fumble recovery, one fumble forced and one quarterback hurry. He finished the season ranked 14th in I-AA in tackles with an average of 10.91 per game.
Harris led the Thunderbirds in both sacks (11.0), tackles for losses (25) and quarterback hurries (five). He was third on the squad with 68 total tackles, including 31 solo. He also broke up three passes, recovered two fumbles and forced two fumbles. Harris finished the season ranked seventh in I-AA in sacks (1.0 per game) and in tackles for loss (1.68 per game).
"This is great for both Nick and Marques as well as for our program," SUU coach Wes Meier said. "They both had great seasons and the play of our linebacking corps, those two guys as well as Mike Overly, was responsible for a lot of the success we had this season."
DiPadova was a third-team selection by the SportsNetwork last year.