Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Boyd on preseason All-Mountain West team; Rebels picked 5th in division

UNLV's Devonte Boyd One Handed Catch

L.E. Baskow

UNLV’s Devonte Boyd (83) snags a pass with one hand over San Diego State’s Malik Smith (12) during their game at Sam Boyd Stadium.

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For the second straight year, UNLV junior receiver Devonte Boyd was named to the preseason All-Mountain West team, the league announced this morning from its media days at the Cosmopolitan.

Boyd was the lone Rebel selected, while the media poll pegged UNLV to finish fifth in the West Division. Last year, the Rebels finished fourth in the division at 2-6 after being picked to finish last.

Boyd has finished the past two seasons as an All-Mountain West second-team pick. He already has the eighth (980) and 12th (904) highest receiving seasons in program history, and early this year, he’ll likely enter the top 10 in career receiving yards.

San Diego State was a unanimous pick to defend its title in the West Division, while Boise State is the favorite to reclaim the crown in the Mountain Division. The three preseason players of the year are all from San Diego State, including Canyon Springs High grad Donnel Pumphrey, and all three won their awards after the 2015 regular season, too.

Here's a look a the full all-conference team and predictions:

Predicted order of finish

MOUNTAIN DIVISION

1. Boise State (27) 172

2. Air Force (2) 126

3. Utah State 111

4. Colorado State 95

5. New Mexico 74

6. Wyoming 31

WEST DIVISION

1. San Diego State (29) 174

2. UNR 129

3. San Jose State 122

4. Fresno State 76

5. UNLV 73

6. Hawaii 35

QB — Brett Rypien, sophomore, Boise State

WR — Devonte Boyd, junior, UNLV; Thomas Sperbeck, senior, Boise State

RB — Donnel Pumphrey, senior, San Diego State; Brian Hill, junior, Wyoming

OL — Fred Zerblis, senior, Colorado State; Nico Siragusa, senior, San Diego State; Jake Simonich, senior, Utah State; Austin Stephens, senior, Utah State; Chase Roullier, senior, Wyoming

TE — Billy Freeman, senior, San Jose State

DL — Nik D’Avanzo, senior, New Mexico; Alex Barrett, senior, San Diego State; Travis Seefeldt, senior, Utah State; Ricky Ali’ifua, senior, Utah State

LB — Christian Tago, senior, San Jose State; Calvin Munson, senior, San Diego State; Dakota Cox, senior, New Mexico

DB — Damontae Kazee, senior, San Diego State; Weston Steelhammer, senior, Air Force; Dameon Baber, sophomore, UNR; Andrew Wingard, sophomore, Wyoming

P — Hayden Hunt, senior, Colorado State; Michael Carrizosa, junior, San Jose State

K — Tyler Rausa, senior, Boise State

RS — Rashaad Penny, junior, San Diego State

Offensive Player of the Year — Pumphrey

Defensive Player of the Year — Kazee

Special Teams Player of the Year — Penny

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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