Pac-12 Media Day Notes: Four Buffs Earn All-Conference Designation
July 24, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
LOS ANGELES — Four Colorado football players have earned preseason All-Pac-12 designation by the league's media, including defensive end Mustafa Johnson and wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., both of whom were named to the first team.
The announcement came in conjunction with the conference's annual Media Day here Wednesday. In addition to Johnson and Shenault, linebacker Nate Landman earned second-team honors and offensive tackle Will Sherman was an honorable mention selection. Â
Johnson, a 6-foot-2, 290-pound defensive end from Turlock, Calif., started all 12 games last season and led the Pac-12 in sacks with 8½. He had 18 total tackles for loss, the most by a CU player in the last 25 seasons, and also led the Buffs with 16 quarterback pressures and added 10 third down stops. His 73 tackles were the most by a CU defensive linemen in the past 21 seasons. Â
Shenault, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound receiver from DeSoto, Texas, enters the season as one of the nation's top receivers. He was named preseason first-team All-America by Phil Steele and College Football News, Bleacher Report lists him as the sixth-best prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft, and he was No. 19 on draft guru Mel Kiper's first Big Board. He led the nation in receiving as a sophomore, averaging 9.6 receptions per game, and he scored 11 touchdowns, six receiving and five rushing to become the only player nationally to score five of each in 2018. He's on the watch list for the Biletnikoff and Maxwell Awards.Â
Landman, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound inside linebacker from Danville, Calif., started all 12 games last season for CU and led the Buffs in tackles (123) and interceptions (two), while also recording four sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He recorded seven games with double-digit tackle totals and four games with 13-plus tackles, and earned national defensive player of the week honors once (Nagurski Award) as well as Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week designation once. He was a midseason first-team All-American selection by Pro Football Focus, and a year-end second-team All-Pac-12 pick by the Associated Press and Phil Steele's College Football.
Sherman, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound tackle from Allen, Texas, earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors from the league's coaches as a freshman last season. He started the final nine games of the year and played in all 12, seeing action in 750 snaps, including every snap of the final nine games. He ended the season with 14 knockdown blocks, 11 touchdown locks and 10 perfect plays on passing touchdowns. He was named fourth-team Preseason All-Pac-12 from Phil Steele, who placed him as the No. 31 tackle in the nation entering 2019.Â
PRESEASON POLL: Utah was the narrow choice by the media to win the Pac-12 title, receiving 12 votes in the poll, just ahead of Oregon (11) and defending league champ Washington (9).Â
In the divisional races, Utah was the overwhelming favorite to win the Pac-12 South, picking up 33 of 35 first-place votes. USC received the other two, with Arizona State, UCLA, Arizona and Colorado rounding out the predicted order of finish.
In the North, Oregon and Washington each received 17 first-place votes, with the other going to Washington State. Oregon edged the Huskies by one point in the overall tally, with Stanford, Washington State, Cal and Oregon State rounding out the order.
COMMISSIONER ANNOUNCEMENTS: Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott touched on a number of subjects at his annual address to the media to kick off Wednesday's Media Day. Among the highlights:
— The 2020 and 2021 conference championship games will be played in Las Vegas at the Raiders' new stadium there. This season's title game will be played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., for the sixth straight year.
— While the conference's complete bowl lineup is not yet set, Scott did note that along with the Rose Bowl and Alamo bowls, the league will begin a deal with the Las Vegas Bowl in 2020 that will see the Pac-12 alternately play an SEC and Big 10 team instead of an MWC squad. It will be the first-ever bowl partnership between the Pac-12 and SEC. The league also announced it will play in the new Los Angeles Bowl beginning in 2020 against a Mountain West team. The bowl will be played at the new LA Stadium and Entertainment District.Â
— Noted that the league will accept and implement all of the recommendations from an independent review of the league's officiating by Sibson Consulting. Key recommendations to be implemented for this coming season include:
The head of officiating to report directly to the Commissioner rather than the football administrator;
* Adoption of a new replay manual codifying processes and procedures that will eliminate the potential for an incident like the one in last year's Washington State v. USC game reoccurring;
* Enhancements to training programs for officials, and more consistency in grading and training from the officiating supervisors; and
* A new communications protocol with more transparency and public comment around significant calls or errors that either impact player safety or the result of the game.
TUCKER TALKS HELMETS: Asked about teaching tackling technique in an era of increased emphasis on safety, CU head coach Mel Tucker said, "Same foot, same shoulder technique. Starting low to high, delivering a blow on the rise. The head is not part of the process, not part of the technique. The helmet is there just in case. It's like an airbag in a car."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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