Colorado Springs, Colo.- The Mountain West Conference announced the 2004 all-Conference teams and individual award winners today as selected by the League coaches and media panel. Mountain West Champion Utah garnered three individual honors as quarterback Alex Smith was named Offensive Player of the Year, defensive back Morgan Scalley was selected Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Urban Meyer was chosen Coach of the Year for the second straight season. San Diego State linebacker Kirk Morrison also earned Co-Defensive Player of the Year, marking the second consecutive season he has captured that honor. BYU wide receiver Austin Collie was named Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Cougar since Luke Staley in 1999 to garner the award.
Overall, there are 11 repeat honorees on this year's All-MWC teams from a year ago, including nine first-team selections from 2003 - BYU's Aaron Francisco, Matt Payne and Brady Poppinga; Colorado State's Erik Pears; New Mexico's Ryan Cook, DonTrell Moore and Claude Terrell; San Diego State's Kirk Morrison and UNLV's Jamaal Brimmer. Poppinga, Moore, Morrison and Brimmer are the only three-time first-team All-MWC honorees.
A listing of the 2004 all-Mountain West teams and individual honors are below.
Offensive Player of the Year
Alex Smith, Jr., QB, Utah
Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Kirk Morrison, Sr., LB, San Diego State
Morgan Scalley, Sr., DB, Utah
