Jan. 19, 2016
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State junior defensive end Kyle Kelley (Irvine, Calif.) was named to the USA Today Sports All-Bowl team, the newspaper announced on Friday. It is the second postseason accolade for Kelley, who was also selected to the Associated Press 2015 All-Bowl Team earlier this month.
Making just his second career start, Kelley recorded career highs of nine tackles (six solo), 3.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss for 25 yards in the Aztecs' 42-7 win over Cincinnati in the Hawai`i Bowl game on Dec. 24. The 3.5 sacks set a Hawai`i Bowl record, were the most in a bowl game this season, were tied for the third most in a game in program history and were tied for the 10th most in a game this year. Kelley's nine tackles also tied teammates Na'im McGee and Kameron Kelly for the most in the game.
On the season, Kelley finished with 24 tackles (15 solo), nine tackles for loss for 47 yards, 7.5 sacks for 44 yards, a team-high eight quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, a pass breakup and a blocked kick in 14 games.
Kelley was joined on the USA Today all-bowl team on the defensive line by Clemson's Kevin Dodd, Tennessee's Derek Barnett and Stanford's Aziz Shittu. Kelley was one of only three from the Mountain West and one of just six from a Group of 5 Conference on the 25-member team.
SDSU (11-3, 8-0 MW) defeated Air Force, 27-24, on Dec. 5 for its second MW title since 2012, first outright league championship since 1986 and 20th conference crown in program history.
San Diego State will return the MW Offensive Player of the Year (Donnel Pumphrey), the MW Defensive Player of the Year (Damontae Kazee) and the MW Special Teams Player of the Year (Rashaad Penny), as well as six first-team all-MW selections and 13 starters from a team that tied a school record with 11 victories in 2015. The Aztecs will enter 2016 with the second-longest active winning streak in FBS (10 games).