To the victors go the spoils.
Utah claimed its first Pac-12 championship last Friday, and Tuesday it cleaned up when the league announced its annual awards.
The Utes collected three of the five Pac-12 awards as Kyle Whittingham was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year, linebacker Devin Lloyd received Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year honors and Junior Tafuna earned Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.
Utah had six players named to the All-Conference First Team — quarterback Cam Rising, running back Tavion Thomas, offensive lineman Nick Ford, defensive end Mika Tafua, Lloyd and return specialist Britain Covey.
The All-Conference Second Team featured tight end Brant Kuithe, offensive linemen Bamidele Olaseni and Braeden Daniels and cornerback Clark Phillips III. Tight end Dalton Kincaid, offensive lineman Sataoa Laumea, linebacker Nephi Sewell, safety Cole Bishop and safety Vonte Davis were each Honorable Mention All-Conference selections.
In other awards, USC wide receiver Drake London was named Offensive Player of the Year and quarterback Jayden de Laura was named Freshman Offensive Player of the Year.
For Whittingham, it marks his second Pac-12 Coach of the Year award in the last three years.
This season, Whittingham became Utah’s all-time wins leader, passing Ike Armstrong in their Nov. 20 win over then-No. 3 Oregon. He’s compiled a 144-69 record in his tenure with Utes.
Whittingham has been recognized as one of the 13 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award as national coach of the year. The Utes won 10 or more games in a season for the sixth time in his career and his third Pac-12 South title in the last four years. Whittingham has won 19 of his last 22 conference games.
Lloyd, a two-time Butkus Award Finalist, leads the Utes with a career-high 106 tackles during the regular season, including 22.0 tackles for loss, which was No. 2 in the country.
The junior becomes the first Utah player to win this award and just the third Ute to win a Pac-12 annual award after Zack Moss won 2019 Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and Ty Jordan won 2020 Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year.
Lloyd was named MVP of the 2021 Pac-12 championship game with seven tackles and a 34-yard pick six.
Tafuna started the final 10 games of the season and became the first Utah player to win Defensive Freshman of the Year Award.
Tafuna recorded 4.5 sacks this season, second most among Pac-12 freshmen, and turned in a career-high nine tackles at Arizona, the most by a Ute defensive lineman since 2018.
2021 ALL-PAC-12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL TEAM
QB
Cameron Rising, So., Utah
QB
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Sr., UCLA
RB
B.J. Baylor, R-Jr., Oregon State
RB
Zach Charbonnet, Jr., UCLA
RB
Tavion Thomas, So., Utah
RB
Rachaad White, R-Sr., Arizona State
WR
Drake London, Jr., USC
WR
Calvin Jackson Jr., Gr., Washington State
WR
Kyle Philips, R-Jr., UCLA
WR
Travell Harris, R-Sr., Washington State
TE
Greg Dulcich, R-Jr., UCLA
TE
Brant Kuithe, Jr., Utah
OL
Abraham Lucas, R-Sr., Washington State
OL
Bamidele Olaseni, Sr., Utah
OL
Nick Ford, Jr., Utah
OL
Braeden Daniels, So., Utah
OL
Sean Rhyan, Jr., UCLA
OL
Kellen Diesch, Gr., Arizona State
OL
Nathan Eldridge, R-Sr., Oregon State
OL
Alex Forsyth, Jr., Oregon
OL
Jaxson Kirkland, Jr., Washington
OL
Dohnovan West, Jr., Arizona State
OL
T.J. Bass, Jr., Oregon
DL
Kayvon Thibodeaux, So., Oregon
DL
Kyon Barrs, So., Arizona
DL
Mika Tafua, Jr., Utah
DL
Thomas Booker, Sr., Stanford
DL
Tuli Tuipulotu, So., USC
DL
Mitchell Agude, Sr., UCLA
DL
Brandon Dorlus, So., Oregon
DL
D.J. Davidson, Gr., Arizona State
DL
Ron Stone Jr., R-Jr., Washington State
DL
Tyler Johnson, Gr., Arizona State
LB
Devin Lloyd, Jr., Utah
LB
Darien Butler, Sr., Arizona State
LB
Noah Sewell, Fr., Oregon
LB
Drake Jackson, Jr., USC
LB
Avery Roberts, R-Jr., Oregon State
LB
Nate Landman, Sr., Colorado
DB
Trent McDuffie, So., Washington
DB
Clark Phillips, Fr., Utah
DB
Verone McKinley III, So., Oregon
DB
Kyu Blu Kelly, Jr., Stanford
DB
Kyler Gordon, So., Washington
DB
Quentin Lake, Sr., UCLA
DB
Elijah Hicks, Sr., California
DB
Qwuantrezz Knight, R-Sr., UCLA
PK
Dean Janikowski, R-So., Washington State
PK
Camden Lewis, So., Oregon
PK
Parker Lewis, So., USC
P
Kyle Ostendorp, So., Arizona
P
Race Porter, Sr., Washington
RS
Britain Covey, Jr., Utah
RS
Kyle Philips, R-Jr., UCLA
AP/ST
Stanley Berryhill III, R-Jr., Arizona
AP/ST
Jack Colletto, R-Jr., Oregon State