Six Buffs Garner All-Pac-12 Conference Honors

BOULDER — Six University of Colorado football players earned All-Pac-12 Conference honors from the league coaches for this past season, as the team was released Tuesday.

Junior inside linebacker Nate Landman earned first-team honors, the only Buff to make the top tier. He is the first Buffalo inside 'backer to earn first-team all-conference honors since CU joined the Pac-12 in 2011, and the first Since Jordan Dizon made the All-Big 12 first team in 2007.

Landman led the team in tackles for a second straight year with 137, the most by a Buffalo since Dizon recorded 160 in 2007. Of those 137, 112 were credited as solo stops, second-most in CU history. He played the most snaps on defense (785 out of 815), led the team in third down stops (15), had one interception and caused two, recorded eight tackles for loss including two quarterback sacks, had five tackles for zero (giving him 13 tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage), and had five passes broken up.

Two Buffaloes earned second-team honors, senior punter Alex Kinney and junior receiver Laviska Shenault.

Kinney averaged 44.4 yards for 59 punts, with 23 inside-the-50 (18 inside-the-15) and 14 that traveled 50 or more yards. Most of his kicks were not returned (75 percent) and the punt team forced 27 fair catches; for the second straight year, CU did not have a punt blocked.

Despite missing one full game and the better part of four others due to injuries, Shenault tied for the team lead in receptions with 56, though led in yards with 764, averaging a team-high 13.6 yards per catch. He scored six touchdowns, four receiving and two rushing, as he had 23 carries for 161 yards. He earned 46 first downs, 26 on third for fourth down plays and was second on the Buffs in all-purpose yards with 979.

Three others garnered honorable mention honors, senior receiver Tony Brown, graduate offensive tackle Arlington Hambright and senior outside linebacker Davion Taylor.

Brown also had 56 receptions, which he gathered in for 707 yards (12.6 per), with a team-high five receiving touchdowns. He also had a rushing score and matched Shenault's team bests of 11 catches for 20 or more yards and 28 for 10 or longer; he earned 34 first downs.

Hambright, who earned the league's offensive lineman of the week honor in CU's 16-13 win over Stanford, graded out to 83 percent for the season, with 75 knockdowns, 14 perfect blocks on touchdown passes and 12 touchdown blocks on running plays. He was in for 831 snaps overall on offense.

Taylor finished second on the team in tackles with 69, of which 56 were solo stops. He led the team in tackles for loss (nine) and in stops at or behind the line of scrimmage (15). He also tied for the team-high in passes broken up with seven, had 14 third down stops and added three touchdown saves and two quarterback pressures.

The Associated Press All-Pac-12 teams are due for release on Thursday.

Players Mentioned

Tony Brown

Arlington Hambright

Alex Kinney

Nate Landman

Davion Taylor

Related Videos