Blue Ribbon Yearbook Taps Ute For Top Preseason Honors

Quarterback Brian Johnson is pegged as the league's best offensive player.

Brian Johnson is projected as the Preseason MWC Offensive Player of the Year.
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June 4, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY -
Blue Ribbon Yearbook has named Ute quarterback Brian Johnson the preseason Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year in its 2007 preview. Johnson was also named to the Blue Ribbon preseason all-MWC first team, along with kicker Louie Sakoda and offensive linemen Jason Boone and Robert Conley. Blue Ribbon picked the Utes to finish second in the conference behind TCU.

Johnson, who will be a junior in the fall, redshirted last year while recovering from December 2005 knee surgery. He showed no effects from the injury during an excellent spring camp. As a true sophomore, Johnson made the 2005 all-MWC second team while leading the league (and ranking fourth in the nation) in total offense. He passed for 2,892 yards and 18 touchdowns, and rushed for 478 yards and eight scores, before injuring his knee in game 10 of the 2005 season.

Sakoda, who will also vie for honors as a punter, was the 2006 MWC Co-Special Teams Player of the Year. An honorable mention Sophomore All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com, Sakoda was voted the Armed Forces Bowl MVP. He made all four of his field goal attempts in Utah's 25-13 win over Tulsa in the bowl game, including a career-long kick of 45 yards. His 91 kick-scoring points (which included 16 field goals on 20 attempts) was the second-most kick-scoring points in school single-season history and he led the MWC by making 43-of-43 PATs.

Boone, a senior, and Conley, a junior, were both named honorable mention all-conference a year ago. They will start for the third straight year this fall - Boone at left tackle (after starting at right tackle in 2005-06) and Conley at right guard.