|
|
|
Mountain West Conference Announces Postseason Football Honors
New Mexico's Urlacher named Player of the Year, while CSU's Lubick named Coach of the Year.
Nov. 30, 1999
Colorado Springs, Colo. - The Mountain West Conference announced its postseason football all-conference teams, players of the year, freshman of the year and coach of the year. Colorado State’s Sonny Lubick was selected as the MWC Coach of the Year and New Mexico senior safety Brian Urlacher was names player of the year. The Rams recently captured their second conference title under Lubick’s guidance and earned their fifth bowl bid in seven years, finishing the season with five straight wins en route to an 8-3 overall record. Prior to the season, MWC coaches and media picked CSU to finish fifth and sixth, respectively. CSU’s football program is one of only nine nationally to have won or shared four or more conference titles in the 1990s. Lubick’s squads have also won eight or more games five times in seven seasons and for the first time in school history, defeated Front Range rivals Air Force (41-21), Colorado (41-14) and Wyoming (31-17) in the same season. Brian Urlacher, one of the nation’s leading defenders, was selected by the conference coaches as the player of the year. He was recently named first team All-American, becoming only the fourth Lobo in school history to earn such a prestigious award. He remains as one of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award and led the conference in tackles for the second straight season with a 13.5 per game average. Urlacher is known for his performance as an all-purpose player. He played a total of 917 plays in 1999 (758 defensive, 130 special teams, 20 offensive) an average of 83 plays per game. Along with first team honors, Urlacher was a first-team selection by the Football Writers, Walter Camp and collegefootball.com. Colorado State running back Kevin McDougal was named offensive player of the year and Utah defensive end John Frank was selected the defensive player of the year. McDougal led the MWC in rushing and ranks 19th nationally with 116.4 yards per game. He finished the season among the school’s top five all-time rushers with more than 2,500 yards. Frank led the MWC in sacks (13, 89 yards) and was second in tackles for loss (20, 112 yards). He became the school record holder this season with 27 career sacks and 20 tackles for loss in a single season. Running back Luke Staley, who led the MWC in scoring as a true freshman despite missing BYU’s final three games of the season due to injury, was names the MWC Freshman of the Year. Staley finished the season as the nation’s highest-ranking freshman in scoring with a team-leading 10 rushing touchdowns and three touchdown receptions. Of the Cougars’ 13 rushing touchdowns this season, Staley was responsible for 10.
All-Conference First Team
Offense
Defense
Special Teams All-Conference Second Team
Offense
Defense
Special Teams
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Brian Urlacher, New Mexico, Sr.
|
|
