Three New Mexico State football players earned postseason honors from the Western Athletic Conference on Monday.
Wide Receiver Chris Williams, center Richie Bolin and free safety Derrick Richardson where all named to an All-WAC team. Williams was named a first-team selection for the second time in his career, after earning second team honors in 2007. Bolin and Richardson both earned second team honors for the first time.
"Richie is one of the most courageous players I have ever been around,"
said head coach Hal Mumme, who is expected to be fired today after four years as the program's leader. "I feel Derrick deserved a first team honor after leading the nation in tackles, but I'm glad that he was recognized and Chris has proven to be a tremendous player in the league for the last three seasons. I'm proud of all three of these young men."
Williams, who hails from Rio Rancho, led the Aggies this season with 86 receptions for 1,271 yards and nine touchdown catches. He also led the conference in receiving yards per game (105.9) and receptions per game (7.17). Williams was fourth in the nation in receiving yards per game and 12th in receptions per game. Earlier in the season, Williams became the Aggies' all-time leader in receiving yards (3,555) and touchdown catches (32). Against Hawai'i this season, Williams tallied a season-high 221 yards and three touchdowns. He finishes his career with two 200-plus yard performances and a school record 18 100-plus yard games.
"This is a great honor from the conference coaches,"
Williams said. "I thank the other league coaches for voting for me. It was a hard year, but I felt it was good for me to go out with a solid senior season. I feel both Derrick and Richie are both deserving of the all-WAC honor as well and I want to congratulate both of them. After earning all-conference honors two years ago, I knew how hard you had to work to be considered all-conference once again."
Richardson led the Aggies and the nation in tackles per game this season, averaging 12.5 a contest. His 137 tackles this season is the highest total of this career. Richardson finished his career as an Aggie with 318 tackles, good for 10th all-time in school history. He tallied a career-high 21 tackles against Texas-El Paso and recorded eight games this season with double-digit tackle numbers. Richardson is the first Aggie safety since 2000 to receive an all-conference accolade.
Bolin was a three-year starter for NMSU at center. In 2008, Bolin helped the Aggies to a ranking of ninth nationally in passing yards per game (301.3). Bolin pass blocked for Chase Holbrook who is the Aggies' all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns thrown, total offense and ranks 11th on the NCAA all-time passing list. Bolin was sidelined with a knee injury in early October, which forced him to miss four games but he was able to return to action for the Aggies' final three games of the season.
"This is a great honor especially after I missed four conference games, I guess the games I did play in were enough for the coaches to think highly of me,"
Bolin said. "The respect from the league coaches really means a lot to me. I want to say congrats to Chris and Derrick. I obviously wouldn't have been in this position if it were not for my teammates."
Nevada led the league with six first-team all-WAC honorees, while Boise State placed five on the first team and Hawai"i and Louisiana Tech each placed four. Nevada's Colin Kaepernick was named the Offensive Player of the Year, Hawai"i's Solomon Elimimian and San Jose State's Jarron Gilbert shared Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore was named the Freshman of the Year. Boise State's Chris Petersen was voted the WAC's Coach of the Year.
Kaepernick, a sophomore quarterback from Turlock, Calif., leads the WAC in total offense with 299.5 yards per game and is tied for the WAC lead in touchdowns scored with 16. He has thrown for 2,479 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 1,115 yards and 16 scores to rank tied for 10th in the nation in points reponsible for with 17.5 per game.
Elimimian, a senior linebacker from Los Angeles, is sixth in the WAC in tackles this season with 8.4 per game. He has 101 (53 solo), including 9.5 for a loss of 33 yards (3 sacks).
Gilbert, a senior defensive end from Chino, Calif., tied the WAC single-season record with 22.0 tackles for a loss and leads the nation in that category.
Moore, a freshman quarterback from Prosser, Wash., began the season as the Broncos' starting quarterback and led Boise State to a 12-0 record. He leads the WAC and is 11th in the nation in passing efficiency with a 161.5 rating. Moore has completed 70 percent of his passes (259-of-370) for 3,264 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Petersen earned his first WAC Coach of the Year award after directing Boise State to a perfect 12-0 record and the Broncos' sixth WAC title in seven years. Petersen has racked up a record of 35-3 (23-1 WAC) in three seasons with Boise State. It is the third Coach of the Year award for a Boise State head coach as Dan Hawkins won it in both 2002 and 2004.
Boise State placed a WAC-high six players on the second team while Fresno State and San Jose State had five apiece.
