By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
With Bowl games and the College Football Playoff on the horizon, it’s time to put a bow on the regular season with our All-SuperWest Teams and Awards.
The Annual honors were a collaborative effort, based on the votes of our senior writers and broadcasters—Dane Miller, Nick Bartlett, Spencer McLaughlin, and myself—with the other selections made mostly on my own.
We went three squads deep, making for some tough calls in placing players on the First, Second, or Third team.
There were some tough calls on players who were left off as well.
This was especially evident at the quarterback position, where a good case could have been made for a couple of guys who narrowly missed.
In any case, here are our picks for the 2024 season.
Annual Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
Jeanty is putting up record-setting numbers. He was my preseason player of the year and has done nothing to change that opinion.
His 192.1 yards rushing per game not only leads the nation but is also 53.8 yards more per game than the nation’s second-leading rusher.
Defensive Player of the Year: Travis Hunter, CB, Colorado
The Bednarik Award winner gets the nod from us as the best defender in the West as well. He ended the regular season with four interceptions and 15 passes defended.
His 1.25 passes defended per game ranked eighth most in the nation. He allowed 9.3 receiving yards per game in coverage. Hunter allowed 22 receptions on 38 targets this season and forced a fumble for the Buffs.
Offensive Freshman of the Year: Sam Leavitt, QB, Arizona State
Leavitt’s 221.9 passing yards per game were the fifth most in the nation among freshmen QBs.
His five interceptions thrown this season were tied for the third-fewest in the nation among QBs with at least 300 passing attempts this season.
Defensive Freshman of the Year: Ethan O’Connor, CB, WSU
O‘Connor stepped up in the back end of the Cougars’ defense in his first season. His four interceptions were the second most in the nation among freshmen and tied for the 17th most of any player in the country.
His 1.0 passes defended per game were the most of any freshman in the nation and tied for 25th most of any player. His 60-yard pick-six vs Fresno State put the Cougs ahead in the fourth quarter.
Coach of the Year: Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State
The Sun Devils went a remarkable 11-2. The seven-win improvement over last season was the largest single-year improvement in school history.
In just his second year in charge of ASU, Dillingham won a Big 12 Championship and earned a berth in the College Football Playoff.
First-Team Offense
QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado—Sanders was third in the nation in passing yards per game at 327.2 per game while completing 74.2 percent of his passes. He had 35 TD passes with just eight interceptions.
RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State—Jeanty is on the cusp of breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. He found the endzone 30 times this season and has averaged 7.3 yards per carry.
RB Cam Skattebo, Arizona State—Sixth nationally rushing for 130.7 yards per game, he also caught 37 passes for 506 yards as the key offensive cog in the Sun Devils’ turnaround season.
WR Nick Nash, San Jose State—Nash led the nation with 104 receptions and 115.2 receiving yards per game and hauled in an NCAA-leading 16 TD receptions.
WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona—The Wildcats struggled to maintain the standard set in 2023, but McMillan had little drop-off individually. He ranked third in the nation with 19.9 yards per game while his 84 receptions ranked 11th.
WR Travis Hunter, Colorado—Despite the heavy workload, Hunter excelled on both sides of the ball. His 14 TD receptions were the second most in the nation while his 92 receptions were the fifth most in America.
TE Jack Endries, California—Endries caught 49 passes for the Bears for 562 yards in 2024, 12th most among TEs nationally.
OL Leif Fautanu, Arizona State—Among Centers, you’d be hard-pressed to find many better than Fautanu this season. He led the way for the ASU ground game and allowed just four pressures, tied for the 16th fewest in the nation among linemen with at least 250 passing snaps.
OL Josh Conerly Jr., Oregon—In 439 passing plays, he has allowed just six pressures this season. His pass-blocking efficiency rating is 99.2%
OL Ajani Cornelius, Oregon—In 441 passing snaps he allowed just two sacks with a 97.2 efficiency rate.
OL Kage Casey, Boise State—If you have the best RB in the nation, he clearly has some people-movers doing work upfront. Casey is the paver for Ashton Jeanty. He allowed just five pressures in 399 passing snaps, a 99.4 efficiency rating in the passing game.
OL Spencer Fano, Utah—Fano was the highest-graded run blocker in 2024 among players with at least 220 run snaps by Pro Football Focus. Had a pass blocking efficiency rate of 98.3%.
First-Team Defense
DL Trey White, San Diego State—His 12.5 sacks this season were the third most in the nation. The edge rusher ended the year with 1.54 tackles for loss per game, the sixth-highest mark in the country.
DL Jayden Virgin-Morgan, Boise State—Virgin-Morgan collected 10 sacks on the season, the 12th most in the nation, and 15.5 tackles for loss, the 13th most in America.
DL Matayo Uiagalelei, Oregon—Uiagalelei led an Oregon front seven that caused multiple problems for opponents this season. He collected 10.5 sacks this season coming off the edge.
DL B.J. Green II, Colorado—Green paced the Buffs with 7.5 sacks this season. He was pivotal to a Colorado pass rush that led the Big 12 with 37 sacks.
LB Jackson Woodard, UNLV—The heart of the Rebel defense, his four interceptions this season are the second most in the nation by a linebacker.
LB Teddye Buchanan, California—Buchanan averaged 9.3 tackles per game to lead the Bears and rank 17th in the nation. He was the second-leading tackler in the ACC.
LB Carson Schwesinger, UCLA—He led the Big Ten with 11.3 tackles per outing and his 136 tackles on the season were the third most in the country. He had 8.5 TFLs and a pair of interceptions this season.
DB Nohl Williams, California—Williams led the nation with seven interceptions this season, and his 1.33 passes defended were tied for the fourth most in the country.
DB Travis Hunter, Colorado—Hunter is the best all-around player in the nation but could be a lockdown defender at the next level. Despite teams avoiding him, he still picked off four passes this season and his 1.25 passes defended per game were the eighth most nationally
DB Michael Coats Jr, Nevada—Coats put up big numbers for the Wolf Pack and established himself as the centerpiece of the defensive backfield. He had four interceptions and averaged 1.31 passes defended per outing.
DB Cam Lockridge, Fresno State—Lockridge picked off five passes in just nine games, the third most in the country. He tied Williams with 1.33 defended per game ranking fourth in the nation.
First-Team Special Teams
K Will Ferrin, BYU—Ferrin converted on 21 of his 24 field goal attempts and made all 38 of his extra points. He came up clutch with a 44-yard game-winner over Utah and hit from 54 against Baylor.
P Tyler Pastula, San Diego State—Pastula averaged 46.1 yards per punt to lead all punters in the west, ranking fifth nationally.
RET Keelan Marion, BYU—Marion averaged 26.2 yards per return ranking 12th in the nation, and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.
AP Travis Hunter, Colorado—A force on both sides of the football for the Buffaloes, Hunter is without question the best two-way player we have seen in many years.
Second-Team Offense
QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
RB Woody Marks, USC
RB Marquez Cooper, San Diego State
WR Tez Johnson, Oregon
WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State
WR Kyle Williams, Washington State
TE Terrance Ferguson, Oregon
OL Emmanuel Pregnon, USC
OL Ben Dooley, Boise State
OL Tiger Shanks, UNLV
OL Caleb Etienne, BYU
OL Baraka Beckett, New Mexico
Second-Team Defense
DL Ahmed Hassanein, Boise State
DL Derrick Harmon, Oregon
DL Jordan Burch, Oregon
DL Tyler Batty, BYU
LB Carson Bruener, Washington
LB Bryce Boettcher, Oregon
LB Keyshaun Elliott, Arizona State
DB A’Marion McCoy, Boise State
DB Ethan O’Connor, Washington State
DB Jalen Catalon, UNLV
DB Xavion Alford, Arizona State
Second-Team Special Teams
K Cade Chittenden, UNLV
P Lucas Borrow, Hawai’i
RET Tyler King, Wyoming
AP Jalen Moss, Fresno State
Third-Team Offense
QB John Mateer, Washington State
RB Anthony Hankerson, Oregon State
RB Eli Sanders, New Mexico
WR Ricky White, UNLV
WR LaJohntay Wester, Colorado
WR Denzel Boston, Washington
TE Matt Lauter, Boise State
OL Iapani Laloulu, Oregon
OL Jacob Gardner, Colorado State
OL Jonah Monheim, USC
OL Alex Moore, Air Force
OL Ben Coleman, Arizona State
Third-Team Defense
DL CJ Fite, Arizona State
DL Van Fillinger, Utah
DL Soane Toia, San Jose State
DL Devo Bridges, Fresno State
LB Nikhai Hill-Green, Colorado
LB Jordan Pollard, San Jose State
LB Marco Notarainni, Boise State
DB Cam Stone, Hawai’i
DB Jaylin Smith, USC
DB Jakob Robinson, BYU
DB Tacario Davis, Arizona
Third-Team Special Teams
K Mateen Bhaghani, UCLA
P Lachlan Wilson, California
RET Jacob De Jesus, UNLV
AP Tiger Bachmeier, Stanford
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
