Led by first-team selections Owen Long and Bryan Hansen, Colorado State had six players earn all-Mountain West Conference honors when the league announced the awards Tuesday.
Tight end Rocky Beers and punt returner Javion Kinnard made the second team, while defensive backs Jace Bellah and Lemondre Joe earned honorable mention.
Long, a sophomore, led the nation with 151 tackles and was the only FBS player to average more than 12 per contest, finishing with 12.6. His final total ranked seventh at Colorado State for a single season. He also led the Rams with five tackles for loss to go along with two sacks and five pass breakups. He forced one fumble and recovered two.
Hansen, a junior, finished third nationally with an average of 47.89 yards per punt, which was the third-best single season average in CSU history. He had a long of 67 yards among his 57 attempts, with 23 covering 50 yards or more, and he forced six fair catches.
Beers, a senior, had seven touchdown receptions to break the single-season program record by a tight end. He also led the team in receiving yards with 388, while his 31 receptions ranked second. Kinnard, a freshman, averaged 23 yards per punt return and had a 91-yard touchdown return against Hawaii.
A redshirt junior, Bellah led the team with four interceptions, the most for a Ram since current coach Trent Matthews had that many in 2013. He also had a pair of forced fumbles to go along with 58 tackles, the third-most on the team. Joe, a senior, was fourth on the team in tackles with 56. He also led the team in sacks with 3.5, the most ever in a season for a Rams cornerback. He finished tied for 10th nationally with 13 passes defended.
UNLV junior quarterback Anthony Colandrea was named the league’s offensive player of the year, while New Mexico junior linebacker Jaxton Eck and San Diego State senior defensive back Chris Johnson were named co-defensive players of the year.
Hawaii senior placekicker Kansei Matsuzawa was named the special teams player of the year, Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado the freshman of the year and New Mexico’s Jason Eck coach of the year.
CSU finished the season 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the Mountain West. On Friday night, UNLV will play at Boise State in the Mountain West Championship.