Evans, Rothe, and Wingard Highlight Wyoming’s MW Football Honors
Six Wyoming Cowboys earned recognition with the announcement of the Mountain West All-Conference football teams and individual awards Wednesday.
Wyoming had three First Team All-MW performers in running back Nico Evans, place-kicker Cooper Rothe, and safety Andrew Wingard. Rothe was honored as the MW Special Teams Player of the Year. He's the first Cowboy player to receive that distinction.
Wingard was named to the First Team for the third consecutive season. He became the 16th player in conference history to earn that designation. Wingard was also one of only two repeat MW First Team All-Conference honorees. He concluded the 2018 season tied for the all-time leader in career tackles in MW history with 454. That’s the second-most in school history. This season Wingard has 87 total tackles, which includes 46 solo stops. He has two interceptions, 2.5 tackles for loss, and one sack.
Rothe is just the fourth place-kicker to receive Special Teams Player of the Year honors. He’s the first Cowboy player to earn either of the three major awards (Offense, Defense, or Special Teams). Rothe leads the nation in field goal percentage at 94.1 and has made 15-of-16 attempts. He’s third in the MW in field goals per game at 1.33. Rothe is perfect on point-after-touchdown (PAT) attempts this season at 28-for-28. Early this season, he had the country’s longest streak of consecutive field goals made at 15. Rothe’s one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award. He leads the Cowboys with 76 total points.
Evans had a breakout year in 2018. He’s No. 1 in the MW and No. 3 in the nation in rushing yards per game at 132.5. He also leads the conference in all-purpose yards per game (139) and total rushing yards (1,325). Evans recorded seven 100-yard rushing games this season with six of those coming in MW action. Four of his performances topped 150-yards on the ground.
This was the first honor for Evans and Rothe.
Senior Carl Granderson was chosen Second Team All-MW. He was fifth among conference defensive lineman at 3.6 tackles per game. Granderson has a total of 40 tackles, which includes 28 solo stops. He also had 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks this season. One major highlight was returning an interception 61 yards for a touchdown at Hawai’i. He was a First Team choice last year.
Junior linebacker Logan Wilson and cornerback Tyler Hall received Honorable Mention All-MW honors. Wilson led UW with 103 total tackles this season. He had 57 solo stops and led the team with 11 tackles for loss. Hall led the Pokes with nine pass breakups this season. He had 39 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception, and 2.5 tackles for loss. Wilson was Second Team in 2017, while this is the second straight Honorable Mention selection for Hall.
Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien was chosen as MW Offensive Player of the Year. Fresno State linebacker Jeff Allison was named MW Defensive Player of the Year. The Freshman of the Year accolade went to Nevada running back Toa Taua. Mountain West Coach of the Year honors were awarded to Utah State's Matt Wells.