Aug. 16, 2011
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State sophomore tight end Gavin Escobar, sophomore running back Ronnie Hillman, senior quarterback Ryan Lindley and senior punter Brian Stahovich are among the CFN Top 30 position rankings released in the 2011 CollegeFootballNews.com Preview.
The publication ranked the top 30 players at each position except for specialists, which only had the top 10.
Escobar was tabbed at No. 23 in a list highlighted by only one other player from the Mountain West. As a freshman, the Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., native had a breakout season in which he caught 29 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns en route to being named to the all-conference second team. Heading into 2011, Escobar has already been named to the Lindy's all-MW first team and garnered second-team all-league honors in college football previews by Athlon Sports and Phil Steele.
Hillman, meanwhile, is one of three running backs from the MW and is ranked ahead of the other two backs at No. 22. The La Habra, Calif., native rushed for 1,532 yards and 17 touchdowns a year ago en route to earning freshman All-America and conference freshman-of-the-year honors. The 5-10 running back ran for more than 150 yards six times in 2010, including a career high of 228 yards at No. 25 Missouri and vs. Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl. Hillman led the conference in rushing and ranked first among all freshmen (10th overall) nationally in that category.
Lindley, a candidate for the Davey O'Brien Award and Maxwell Award, is one of two quarterbacks from the Mountain West and is tabbed at No. 28. The 6-4 signal-caller returns for his fourth year as SDSU's starter and has already amassed 9,537 career passing yards and 67 touchdowns in 36 contests. Lindley had his best season a year ago, throwing for 3,830 yards and 28 TDs to lead the Mountain West in passing (294.6 ypg.) and total offense (292.2 ypg.). The Alpine, Calif., product was a second-team all-conference selection as a junior and enters 2011 within striking distance of the school's all-time career passing record currently held by Todd Santos (11,425).
Rounding out SDSU's honorees is Stahovich, who is the lone punter from the MW and is ranked at No. 8. The Solana Beach, Calif., native led the conference in punting all season and finished 2010 with a 45.4 yards per kick average, the eighth-best mark in the country and the third-highest season average in program history. The first-team all-Mountain West honoree had 16 punts for over 50 yards as a junior, including a school-record 89-yard boot at Wyoming that ranks second in conference history.