Trenton Thompson Season 2019

Final Bio

HONORS
* 2021 College Football Focus All-American (second team)
* 2021 Pro Football Network All-American (third team)
* 2021 All-Mountain West first team

Athletic, hard-hitting safety who backed up three-time all-Mountain West pick Malik Smith for most of the 2016 season as a true freshman ... Was sidelined with an injury in 2017, ultimately using his redshirt ... Returned to play in all 13 games in 2018 with eight starts at the boundary warrior position, then started five times in 2019 and four times in 2020 ... Returned for a sixth year because of the COVID season in 2020 ... Ranked in a tie for fourth in program history in blocked kicks (2) ... Played in 57 career games, tied with Tayler Hawkins for the most on the team.

*SENIOR* SEASON (2021)
Was named an All-American by both College Football Focus (second team) and Pro Football Network All-American (third team) ... Also was named a first-team all-Mountain West selection by the league’s coaches and media ... Was named a team captain as voted on by his teammates ... Was named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List ... Also was a preseason all-Mountain West by three publications, including a second-team selection by Pro Football Focus, third-team pick by Phil Steele Magazine and a fourth-team selection by Athlon Sports ... Had 44 tackles (29 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions, 15 pass breakups, a forced fumble and two quarterback hurries on the season in 14 starts ... Ranked second in the Mountain West in total pass breakups (14, T-4th in FBS), total passes defended (INT + PBU) (17, T-4th in FBS) and passes defended per game (1.21, 9th in FBS), and tied for fourth in total interceptions (3, T-36th in FBS) ... Also is tied for fifth in punt return touchdowns (1, T-1st in MW) (off a blocked punt) ... Played the most defensive snaps (953) on the team ... Came up with three tackles (two solo) and a PBU in the opener with New Mexico State on Sept. 4, starting for the 18th time of his career ... Played 73 of the 85 snaps ... Made four tackles (all solo) in all 58 snaps at Arizona on Sept. 11 ... Registered six tackles (three solo), 0.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry against Utah on Sept. 18, playing all 93 snaps on defense ... Had two solo tackles in 55 defensive snaps against Towson on Sept. 25 ... Had a good game against New Mexico on Oct. 9, making two assisted tackles, an interception and a career-high three pass breakups in 48 snaps ... His four passes defended are tied for the 11th most in a game this season ... Was named the team’s defensive player of the game ... Had another quality game at San José State on Oct. 15, playing all 81 snaps ... Had an interception and three pass breakups ... Recorded an interception in the end zone in the second overtime ... It was his second straight game with an interception ... Also had a career-high three pass breakups for a second straight game ... His four passes defended are tied for the 11th most in a game this season ... Made two tackles (two solo), including a tackle for loss, with a forced fumble against Air Force on Oct. 23 ... The forced fumble was the second of his career and first since Nov. 24, 2018 ... The fumble was picked up by Noah Avinger and led to a Matt Araiza field goal ...  Had five solo tackles against Fresno State on Oct. 30, including a tackle for loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry ... Played in 77 of the team’s 81 snaps ... Had three solo tackles and an interception at Hawai’i on Nov. 6, playing 67 of the 68 defensive snaps ... The interception was his third in his last five games and fourth of his career ... Came up with a solo stop, playing 63 of the team’s 65 snaps, in a start against?Nevada on Nov. 13 ... Had three tackles and  two pass breakups at UNLV on Nov. 20, playing all 63 snaps ... Registered four tackles (three solo) against Boise State on?Nov. 26, while playing all 77 snaps on defense ... Made a career-high seven tackles (one solo) with a tackle for loss and a pass breakup against Utah State on Dec. 4 in the Mountain West Championship, while playing all 74 snaps on defense ... Recorded two solo tackles with a pass breakup, while playing all 66 snaps against UTSA on Dec. 21 in the Frisco Bowl.

SENIOR SEASON (2020)
Had 36 tackles (26 solo) on the season in seven games (four starts), including 4.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups and a blocked kick ... Ranked in a tie for 13th in FBS (T-3rd in MW) in blocked kicks (1) ... Also tied for eighth in the MW in PBUs (3) ... Came off the bench against UNLV on Oct. 24, making five tackles with a pass breakup and a blocked punt ... It was his second straight game against UNLV with a blocked punt (also Oct. 26, 2019) ... Did not travel to Utah State on Oct. 31 after injuring an ankle late in the week of practice ... Returned to play off the bench against San José State on Nov. 6, making four tackles (three solo), including 0.5 tackles for loss ... Came off the bench again to play vs. Hawai’i on Nov. 14 without recording a stat ... Started for the first time of the season at Nevada on Nov. 21, where he had three solo tackles and a pass breakup ... Started again at Colorado on Nov. 28, recording a season-high 10 tackles (six solo), including 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup ... It was his second career double-digit tackle game ... Had a good game in a start with Colorado State on Dec. 5, making seven tackles (four solo) with 1.5 tackles for loss ... Had a team-high-tying seven tackles (all solo), including a 3-yard tackle for loss, in a start at No. 14/16 Brigham Young.

JUNIOR SEASON (2019)
Played in 12 games, starting five times ... Had 44 tackles (33 solo) on the season, including two tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a blocked punt ... Led the team with five tackles on the punt return unit and tied for the team lead with five tackles on special teams ... Came off the bench for 22 snaps vs. Weber State in the opener, logging one solo tackle ... Had four tackles (two solo) in 37 snaps off the bench at UCLA ... Had two solo stops in 15 snaps at New Mexico State ... Made an assisted tackle in 21 snaps vs. Utah State ... Made three tackles (all solo) in 20 snaps on defense and on special teams at Colorado State ... Registered three assisted tackles in 25 snaps off the bench vs. Wyoming ... Started for the first time of the season at San José State and had a season-high five tackles (all solo), playing all 54 snaps on defense and most special teams units ... Had a career-high 12 tackles and a career-best two tackles for loss along with his first career blocked punt at UNLV ... The blocked punt led to a Caden McDonald touchdown on a fumble recovery in the end zone ... Reached double digits in tackles for the first time of his career ... Entered the game with 19 tackles on the season without a TFL ... Played 12 snaps as a starter against Nevada with one tackle before being ejected for targeting ... Came up with a solo tackle and a pass breakup in a start against Fresno State, playing 27 snaps before exiting with an injury ... Missed the Hawai’i game while recovering from concussion-like symptoms ... Returned against Brigham Young to record nine tackles (eight solo) and pass breakup in 73 snaps off the bench ... Tied for the team lead with nine stops, his second time this season (and for his career) leading the team in tackles ... Registered two stops (one solo) in a starting role vs. Central Michigan in the New Mexico Bowl.

SOPHOMORE SEASON (2018)
Played in all 13 games with eight starts ... Had 57 tackles (30 solo), a sack, two tackles for loss, an interception, a forced fumble, two pass breakups and a blocked punt return for a touchdown ... Earned his first career start in the opener at No. 13/13 Stanford, where he had four tackles (two solo) and a pass breakup, playing all 65 snaps ... Had a then career-high six stops (three solo) vs. Sacramento State in another start ... Followed with a career-high seven tackles (six solo) and a 7-yard sack off the bench vs. No. 23/21 Arizona State, before being ejected with six seconds remaining for a targeting call ... The sack and tackle for loss were the first of his career ... Came up with four solo tackles in the second half against Eastern Michigan after having to miss the first half because of a targeting call vs. No. 23/21 Arizona State ... Started the second half vs. EMU and played 41 snaps ... Started at rv/No. 24 Boise State, making five tackles (two solo) ... Had two tackles in a start against Air Force, along with a touchdown on special teams, recovering Kaelin Himphill’s blocked punt ... The return touchdown put SDSU on top, 14-9, eight seconds before halftime ... It was the Aztecs’ first blocked punt since Kameron Kelly blocked one against UNLV on Sept. 27, 2014, and their first blocked punt return for a touchdown since Freddy Keiaho did so against New Mexico on Oct. 22, 2005 ... Started vs. San José State, where he made four tackles (two solo) ... Made three stops (one solo) in a start at Nevada ... Had two tackles (one solo) off the bench at New Mexico ... Made seven tackles (four solo) and a tackle for loss and his first career interception off the bench vs. UNLV en route to being named to the Pro Football Focus Mountain West Team of the Week ... The seven stops tied a career high ... Started at Fresno State, finishing the game with six tackles and a pass breakup ... In a start vs. Hawai’i recorded two tackles and a forced fumble, the first of his career ... The forced fumble came on a punt return and was recovered by Dwayne Johnson Jr. at the Hawai’i 5, which led to a Juwan Washington rushing touchdown ... Had five tackles off the bench against Ohio in the DXL Frisco Bowl.

REDSHIRT SEASON (2017)
Had one solo tackle in three games ... Played in the opener off the bench against UC Davis, recording a solo stop ... Played at Arizona State and against No. 19/19 Stanford on special teams, but did not record a stat ... Missed the rest of the season with a leg injury, but was able to redshirt.  

FRESHMAN (TRUE) SEASON (2016)
Had nine tackles and a pass breakup on the season, despite playing in only eight games ... Was one of three true freshmen to play on defensive side of the ball (also Troy Cassidy and Kyrie Woods) ... According to Pro Football Focus, logged 47 snaps on the season ... Did not play and wasn't on the travel squad for the first five games of the season ... Was on the travel squad for the first time of the season at Fresno State, but did not play ... Had four tackles (three solo) in his first career game against San Jose State, all on special teams ... Ended up logging 13 stats on defense vs. the Spartans ... Had an assisted tackle at Utah State in five snaps ... Registered one solo tackle and had his first pass breakup against Hawai'i in a career-high 22 snaps ... Had an assisted tackle at Nevada ... Logged one snap, but did not record a stat at Wyoming ... Had a solo tackle on special teams against Colorado State ... Did not record a stat in three snaps and special teams action at Wyoming in the MW Championship game ... Logged a solo stop in three snaps vs. Houston in the Las Vegas Bowl.  

HIGH SCHOOL
Earned two letters and played three years at Palm Springs High School in Palm Springs, Calif. ... Helped the Indians go 24-3 (.889), including a 11-1 (.917) mark in league play over the past two years ... Led the 2015 squad to a CIF championship ... Logged 219 total tackles (134 solo) over his three years (according to MaxPreps), adding seven tackles for loss, four interceptions, seven pass deflections, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, four blocked field goals and two blocked punts ... Also caught 16 passes for 325 yards (20.3 avg.) and three touchdowns as a senior in 2015 ... A three-star recruit by Scout and 247sports, and a two-star recruit by Rivals ... Received a grade of 87 by 247sports ... Scout ranked him as the 15th-best outside linebacker in the 2016 class and the 23rd best on the West Coast.

PERSONAL
Trenton Thompson was born Dec. 18, 1997, in Palm Springs, Calif. ... Chose the Aztecs over offers from Colorado State, Nevada, Northern Arizona, UNLV, Utah State and Wyoming ... Is majoring in social science.  

SINGLE-GAME BESTS
Tackles: 12 at UNLV (10/26/19)
Tackles For Loss: 2.0 at UNLV (10/26/19)
Sacks: 1.0 vs. No. 23/25 Arizona State (9/15/18)
Interceptions: 1, four times
Pass Breakups: 3 at San José State (10/15/21), vs. New Mexico (10/9/21)
Forced Fumbles: 1 at Air Force (10/23/21), vs. Hawai’i (11/24/18)
Blocked Punts: 1 vs. UNLV (10/24/20), at UNLV (10/26/19)
Punt Return Touchdowns: 1 vs. Utah (9/18/21), vs. Air Force (10/12/18)