COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- San Diego State had 15 players earn 2020 All-Mountain West football postseason honors, the league announced Tuesday.
For a second straight season, the Aztecs tied for the most first-team selections with five honorees, including four on the defensive side of the ball in sophomore defensive end Cameron Thomas, junior linebacker Caden McDonald, junior field cornerback Darren Hall and senior field warrior Tariq Thompson. Senior left tackle Kyle Spalding was the lone SDSU representative on the offensive first team.
San Diego State also had four players selected to the second team in senior running back Greg Bell, senior right tackle Zachary Thomas, junior kick returner Jordan Byrd and senior punter Tanner Kuljian.
The Aztecs also had six honorable-mention picks, led by senior defensive backs Tayler Hawkins (cornerback) and Dwayne Johnson Jr. (Aztec (safety)), along with junior tight end Daniel Bellinger, junior defensive linemen Keshawn Banks (end) and Jonah Tavai (tackle), and sophomore kicker Matt Araiza.
The 15 all-league selections are the most by a SDSU team since 2001 (16) and are the third most in the MW, while the five first-team honorees equaled San Jose State for the most in the league. In all, San Diego State had eight defensive players make all-conference, four on offense and three special teamers.
The all-conference awards are voted on by the league coaches and various media members from the league.
Cameron Thomas made the all-MW first team for the second straight season after moving from defensive tackle to defensive end midway through the 2020 campaign. Thomas, who anchors a defense which ranks among the top 20 in FBS play in total defense (fourth, 283.5), rush defense (seventh, 97.4), third down percentage (seventh, .292), tackles for loss (10th, 8.1), scoring defense (14th, 17.8), pass defense (17th, 186.1) and defensive pass efficiency (18th, 115.47), became just the second Aztec defensive lineman in program history to earn first-team all-MW honors multiple times (also Alex Barrett in 2015-16). Thomas has recorded 35 tackles (21 solo), including 9.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, a pass breakup and 14 quarterback hurries. Thomas is tied for second in the MW in tackles for loss, tied for third in tackles for loss yards (48), seventh in sack yards (34) and tied for 11th in sacks.
McDonald, meanwhile, earned all-MW accolades for the first time of his career after registering 34 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, three pass breakups, a forced fumble and 10 quarterback hurries. He's just the sixth Aztec linebacker to make an all-MW first team (also Kirk Morrison (2002-04), Freddy Keiaho (2005), Miles Burris (2010-11), Calvin Munson (2015-16) and Kyahva Tezino (2018-19)). McDonald leads the league in tackles for loss, and ranks in a tie for third in tackles for loss yards (48), eighth in sack yards (33) and tied for eighth in total sacks (4.5).
Hall also made the MW first team after receiving honorable-mention recognition a year ago. On the season, Hall has 37 tackles (30 solo), two tackles for loss, three interceptions for 72 yards, including a 57-yard interception return for a touchdown, and six pass breakups. An Aztec cornerback has now earned first-team all-MW honors in five of the past six seasons (also Damontae Kazee in 2015-16, Kameron Kelly in 2017 and Luq Barcoo in 2019). Hall leads the league in pass breakups (6), passes defended (INT + PBU) (9), passes defended per game (1.13) and interception return touchdowns (1, tied), while ranking second in interceptions and interception yards.
Thompson landed on the MW first team for the first time of his career after earning second-team honors each of his first three seasons. He became the first Aztec in program history to earn all-league (first or second team) in four separate seasons, and joined Rashaad Penny (first-team kick returner from 2015-17, first-team running back in 2017) and Kirk Morrison (honorable mention in 2001, first team from 2002-04) as the only SDSU players to earn all-conference honors four times. Thompson leads the team with 41 tackles (25 solo), while adding 1.5 tackles for loss, an interception, three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Spalding earned his first all-conference honor after starting all eight games at left tackle. A San Diego State offensive lineman has now made an MW first team in five of the last six seasons. Spalding led an offensive line unit that made the Joe Moore Midseason Honor Roll for the best offensive line in the country, allowing just one sack in 219 passing plays (0.46 pct.) and only two pressures (0.91 pct.). Spalding, who only has one penalty on the season in 555 snaps (0.18 pct.), has 31 knockdowns (3.9 per game), the second most on the team.
Heading the SDSU second-team honorees is Greg Bell, who has rushed for 637 yards and six touchdowns on 113 attempts (5.6 avg.), while adding 11 catches for 114 yards (10.4 avg.) and another touchdown. Despite missing the Colorado game and all but a handful of snaps in two others, Bell leads the MW in rushing yards (637), and ranks second in rushing yards per game (91.00), tied for fourth in rushing touchdowns (6), fifth in rush attempts per game (16.14) and tied for fifth in overall touchdowns (7).
Zachary Thomas made his first all-MW team after a fantastic senior season where he started all eight games at right tackle, logging 555 snaps. Thomas allowed only two sacks in 219 passing plays (0.91 pct.) and four pressures (1.83 pct.). Additionally, Thomas leads the team with 36.5 knockdowns (4.6 per game) and is the only Aztec offensive lineman to appear in all eight games and not have a penalty.
Byrd made the second team as a kick returner, returning 12 kicks for 383 yards (31.9 avg.) with a 93-yard touchdown. Byrd leads the MW and ranks sixth nationally in kick return average. He's also tied for second in kickoff return touchdowns (1), third in kickoff return yards (383) and total kick return yards (417). Byrd, who has added 225 rushing yards and two touchdowns, eight catches for 24 yards and seven punt returns for 34 yards, would rank second in SDSU single-season history in kick return average if he had enough returns (15) to qualify.
Kuljian made the most of his one season on The Mesa, punting 35 times for 1,589 yards (45.4 avg.) with 12 punts inside the 20-yard line and nine of at least 50 yards. Despite punting at sea level for his home games compared to the six teams who punt at elevation, Kuljian leads the league in punt average, and ranks third in net punt average (39.8) and punts inside the 20 (12). His 45.4 punt average is the third-best mark in SDSU single-season history.
Earning all-league accolades for the first time as an honorable-mention pick, Bellinger has caught 21 passes for 203 yards with a 9.7 catch average. Bellinger, who ranks second on the team in both receptions and yards, is also third in the league among tight ends in both categories. San Diego State landed a tight end on the all-MW team for a sixth consecutive season.
Banks garnered all-league recognition for a second straight year after earning second-team honors last season. This year he has totaled 14 tackles (nine solo) with five tackles for loss, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and six quarterback hurries.
Tavai made a MW team for the first time of his career after a breakout season, where he has recorded 27 tackles (17 solo), six tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble and five quarterback hurries. Among the MW leaders, Tavai ranks fifth in sack yards (38) and sixth in tackles for loss yards (45). It is the second straight year that the Aztecs had three defensive linemen on the all-conference team.
Hawkins was selected to his first all-MW team after a season that saw him start out at boundary safety and move to boundary cornerback. Altogether, he has recorded 37 tackles (third on the team) with an interception and three pass breakups.
Johnson Jr. became an honorable-mention selection for a second straight campaign from the signature Aztec position in the 3-3-5 defense. A team captain, Johnson has 40 tackles (23 solo) with 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, three pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. He's one tackle short of tying for the team lead, despite missing the Nevada game.
Finally, Araiza picked up his second honorable-mention, making it five of the last six seasons an Aztec kicker has earned all-league recognition. On the season Araiza is 10-for-14 (.714) on field goal attempts and leads the team with 53 points. Araiza has also kicked off 41 times for 2,637 yards (64.3 avg.) with 28 touchbacks. Araiza leads the league in kickoffs, kickoff yards, kickoff average, kickoff touchbacks and touchback percentage (.683), and ranks third in field goals and field goals per game (1.3), and tied for fifth in field goal percentage.
SDSU is 4-4 on the season with its four losses coming to teams that have combined to go 26-4 (.867) with three of the teams being ranked at some point this year.
2020 Mountain West All-Conference Football Awards (SDSU winners only)
First Team
OL Kyle Spalding, Sr.
DL Cameron Thomas, So.
LB Caden McDonald, Jr.
DB Darren Hall, Jr.
DB Tariq Thompson, Sr.
Second Team
RB Greg Bell, Sr.
OL Zachary Thomas, Sr.
KR Jordan Byrd, Jr.
P Tanner Kuljian, Sr.
Honorable Mention
TE Daniel Bellinger, Jr.
DL Keshawn Banks, Jr.
DL Jonah Tavai, Jr.
DB Tayler Hawkins, Sr.
DB Dwayne Johnson Jr., Sr.
K Matt Araiza, So.
2020 Mountain West All-Conference Football Awards (All winners)
Offensive Player of the Year
Carson Strong, So., QB, Nevada
Defensive Player of the Year
Cade Hall, Jr., DL, San Jose State
Special Teams Player of the Year
Avery Williams, Sr., RS, Boise State
Freshman of the Year
Kyle Williams, WR, UNLV
Coach of the Year
Brent Brennan, San Jose State
2020 All-Mountain West First Team
Offense
QB Carson Strong, So., Nevada
WR Khalil Shakir, Jr., Boise State
WR Romeo Doubs, Jr., Nevada
WR Bailey Gaither, Sr., San José State
RB Ronnie Rivers, Sr., Fresno State
RB Xazavian Valladay, Jr., Wyoming
TE Cole Turner, Jr., Nevada
OL Nolan Laufenberg, Sr., Air Force
OL Parker Ferguson, Sr., Air Force
OL Kyle Spalding, Sr., San Diego State
OL Jack Snyder, Sr., San José State
OL Keegan Cryder, Jr., Wyoming
PK Brandon Talton, So., Nevada
KR Avery Williams, Sr., Boise State
DEFENSE
DL Scott Patchan, Sr., Colorado State
DL Cameron Thomas, So., San Diego State
DL Cade Hall, Jr., San José State
DL Viliami Fehoko, So., San José State
LB Darius Muasau, So., Hawai'i
LB Caden McDonald, Jr., San Diego State
LB Kyle Harmon, Jr., San José State
LB Chad Muma, Jr., Wyoming
DB Avery Williams, Sr., Boise State
DB Jerrick Reed, Jr., New Mexico
DB Darren Hall, Jr., San Diego State
DB Tariq Thompson, Sr., San Diego State
P Ryan Stonehouse, Sr., Colorado State
PR Avery Williams, Sr., Boise State
2020 All-Mountain West Second Team
Offense
QB Nick Starkel, Sr., San José State
WR Dante Wright, So., Colorado State
WR Calvin Turner, Sr., Hawai'i
WR Tre Walker, Sr., San José State
RB Toa Taua, Jr., Nevada
RB Greg Bell, Sr., San Diego State
TE Tre McBride, Jr., Colorado State
OL John Ojukwu, Jr., Boise State
OL Jake Stetz, Sr., Boise State
OL Syrus Tuitele, Sr., Fresno State
OL Aaron Frost, Jr., Nevada
OL Zachary Thomas, Sr., San Diego State
PK John Hoyland, Fr., Wyoming
KR Jordan Byrd, Jr., San Diego State
Defense
DL Shane Irwin, Jr., Boise State
DL David Perales, Jr., Fresno State
DL Dom Peterson, Jr., Nevada
DL Sam Hammond, Sr., Nevada
LB Riley Whimpey, Sr., Boise State
LB Dequan Jackson, Jr., Colorado State
LB Lawson Hall, Sr., Nevada
LB Brandon Shook, Sr., New Mexico
DB Kekaula Kaniho, Sr., Boise State
DB Jalen Walker, Sr., Boise State
DB Cortez Davis, Sr., Hawai'i
DB Tre Jenkins, So., San José State
P Tanner Kuljian, Sr., San Diego State
PR Romeo Doubs, Jr., Nevada
2020 Honorable Mention
Air Force: Kyle Krepsz, OL; Brad Roberts, RB; George Silvanic, DL
Boise State: John Bates, TE; Garrett Curran, OL; Jonah Dalmas, PK; Scott Matlock, DL; Ezekiel Noa, LB; CT Thomas, WR; Andrew Van Buren, RB
Colorado State: Elijah Johnson, OL; Manny Jones, DL; Toby McBride, DL; Thomas Pannunzio, KR; Cam Reddy, OL; Barry Wesley, OL; Dante Wright, PR
Fresno State: Kevin Atkins, DL; Levelle Bailey, LB; Jalen Cropper, WR; Jake Haener, QB; Kwami Jones, DL; Keric Wheatfall, WR; Evan Williams, DB
Hawai'i: Chevan Cordeiro, QB; Quintin Frazier, DB; Jared Smart, WR; Blessman Ta'ala, DL
Nevada: Julian Diaz, P; Jacob Gardner, OL; Jermaine Ledbetter, OL; Tyler Orsini, OL; BerDale Robins, DB; Tyson Williams, DB
New Mexico: Bobby Cole, RB; Joey Noble, DL; Teton Saltes, OL; Kyle Stapley, OL
San Diego State: Matt Araiza, PK; Keshawn Banks, DL; Daniel Bellinger, TE; Tayler Hawkins, DB; Dwayne Johnson Jr., DB; Jonah Tavai, DL
San José State: Derrick Deese, Jr., TE; Matt Mercurio, PK; Tre Webb, DB;
UNLV: Jacoby Windmon, DL
Utah State: Demytrick Ali'ifua, OL; Shaq Bond, DB; Nick Heninger, DL; Stephen Kotsanlee, P; Marcus Moore, DL; Savon Scarver, KR; Karter Shaw, OL; AJ Vongphachanh, LB
Wyoming: Esaias Gandy, DB; Logan Harris, OL; Isaiah Neyor, WR