CEDAR CITY, Utah, Nov. 26 – Linebacker Zak Browning and kicker Colton Cook earned first-team all-Big Sky honors and six more Thunderbirds were named to the second and third teams the conference office announced today. In addition to those selections, eight SUU players earned honorable mention.
Second team honorees include senior free safety Tommy Collet Jr. and sophomore defensive end James Cowser, while senior offensive linemen Cody Burgess and Gavin Farr, as well as senior cornerback Tyree Mills and junior linebacker Matt Holley earned third team recognition.
Earning honorable mention were senior receiver Fatu Moala, senior linebacker Chad Hansen and senior punter Brock Miller. Also earning honorable mention were junior OL Nick Nissen along with sophomores Anthony Norris (TE), Toi Taufa (DT), LeShaun Sims (CB) and Miles Killebrew (SS). Two SUU freshmen also earned honorable mention, defensive linemen Andrew Eide and Robert Torgerson.
Browning, a sophomore from Camas, Wash. (Union HS) ranks second in the Big Sky and 10th in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) with 10.3 tackles per game and he is second on the Thunderbirds with 93 total tackles despite missing three games this season. Last year he was named the BSC's freshman of the year and finished fifth in the balloting for the Jerry Rice Award, which is given annually to the best freshman in the FCS.
Cook, a senior from Bountiful, Utah (Viewmont HS), leads the conference and is fifth in the nation with 1.5 field goals per game and he is second in the league and 14th in the FCS with an 81.8 percent field goal success rate. Cook, who was a second-team all-BSC selection last year and a pre-season all-American, has scored 776 points to lead the Thunderbirds in scoring for the second straight season. He also holds the school's career field goals record with 51 and his 18 this season rank second only to his 19 last year.
Cowser (Fruit Heights, Utah; Davis HS) and Collet (Moorpark, Calif.; Moorpark HS) finished fourth and fifth on the team in tackles and both ranked among the Big Sky and national leaders. Cowser finished the season second in the Big Sky in both sacks and tackles for loss, ranking 15th in the FCS in sacks and 16th in TFL with 0.8 and 1.4 per game, respectively. Collet was eighth in the Sky and 89th in the nation in interceptions.
Farr (Ogden, Utah; Northridge HS) was a first-team all-Big Sky selection at guard last year and he was a two-time first-team first-team selection in the Great West Conference as well as the GWC's offensive lineman of the year in 2010. Burgess (Panaca, Nev.; Lincoln County HS) earned honorable mention all-BSC honors last season.
Mills (Pasadena, Calif.; John Muir HS) led the Thunderbirds in interceptions with four and in passes broken up with eight as well as finishing eighth on the team with 40 tackles despite missing four games. Holley (Las Vegas, Nev.; Centennial HS) led the team with 102 tackles and his per-game average of 8.5 ranked 12th in the Sky and 66th in the nation. Holley also ranked seventh in the conference in tackles for loss with 1.0 per game (93rd in the FCS).
-- SUU --
