Mike Leach co-coach of year; Falk leads trio on All-Pac-12 first team
Furthermore, WSU coach Mike Leach was named co-Coach of the Year, along with Stanford’s David Shaw. Leach guided WSU (8-4, 6-3 Pac-12) to its best regular-season record since 2003.
The Cougars were predicted to finish fifth in the six-team Pac-12 North in the preseason media poll, but finished third with road victories over Oregon and No. 22 UCLA. WSU also missed a game-winning field goal in the closing seconds against No. 8 Stanford.
The Cougars entered the season having last appeared in the AP Top-25 poll in 2006, and climbed as high as No. 20 heading into last week’s Apple Cup.
Quarterback Luke Falk shared the first team honor with California passer Jared Goff, and was joined by teammates Gabe Marks at wide receiver and Joe Dahl – a graduate of Spokane’s University High – on the offensive line.
WSU did not have a single player named First Team All-Pac-12 on either offense or defense in 2014.
The WSU defensive line was also well represented on the All-Conference teams, with both Darryl Paulo and Destiny Vaeao earning Second Team selections.
Falk, a redshirt sophomore, led the Pac-12 with 4,266 passing yards despite playing in just 11 games, missing last week’s Apple Cup because of a concussion. His 36 touchdown passes were second only to Goff’s 37 He threw just eight interceptions while completing 70.7 percent of his passes, the most accurate clip in the conference.
The passer also led the Cougars to four fourth-quarter comebacks, three of which involved his passing for touchdowns with 13 or fewer seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Marks led the Pac-12 with 8.4 receptions per game, and 14 touchdowns overall. Only USC’s Juju Smith-Schuster finished with a higher average than Marks’ 93.8 receiving yards per game.
Dahl was one of the most successful quarterback protectors in college football this season, giving up just three sacks and two quarterback hits in 692 snaps. He initially walked-on at WSU after transferring from Montana, but earned a scholarship and a starting spot.
Joining Dahl on the first team offensive line were Stanford guard Josh Garnett from Puyallup, and USC tackle Zach Banner from Lakewood.
Wide receiver Dom Williams, safety Shalom Luani, defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa, linebacker Peyton Pelluer and offensive linemen Riley Sorenson and Cole Madison were all named honorable mention All-Pac-12.
The Pac-12 Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honors will be announced Tuesday night on the Pac-12 Networks at 6 p.m. This story will be updated
2015 All-Pac-12 football team as voted by the league’s coaches:
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB Luke Falk, So., Washington State
QB Jared Goff, Jr., California
RB Royce Freeman, So., Oregon
RB Christian McCaffrey, So., Stanford
WR Kenny Lawler, Jr., California
WR Gabe Marks, Jr., Washington State
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, So., USC
TE Austin Hooper, Jr., Stanford
OL Zach Banner, Jr., USC
OL Joe Dahl, Sr., Washington State
OL Joshua Garnett, Sr., Stanford
OL Tyler Johnstone, Sr, Oregon
OL Kyle Murphy, Sr., Stanford
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL DeForest Buckner, Sr., Oregon
DL Kenny Clark, Jr., UCLA
DL Lowell Lotulelei, So., Utah
DL Aziz Shittu, Sr., Stanford
DL Antwaun Woods, Sr., USC
LB Su’a Cravens, Jr., USC (2)
LB Blake Martinez, Sr., Stanford
LB Gionni Paul, Sr., Utah
DB Budda Baker, So., Washington
DB Adoree’ Jackson, So., USC
DB Sidney Jones, So., Washington
DB Marcus Williams, So., Utah
FIRST TEAM SPECIALISTS
PK Aidan Schneider, So., Oregon
P Tom Hackett, Sr., Utah (3)
RS Christian McCaffrey, So., Stanford
AP/ST Charles Nelson, So., Oregon
AP/ST = All-Purpose/Special Teams Player (not a kicker or returner); RS = Return Specialist(2) Two-time first team selection (3) Three-time first team selection
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB Kevin Hogan, Sr., Stanford
RB Devontae Booker, Sr., Utah
RB Paul Perkins, Jr., UCLA
WR Bralon Addison, Jr., Oregon
WR Darren Carrington, So., Oregon
WR Nelson Spruce, Sr., Colorado
TE Thomas Duarte, Jr., UCLA
OL Jake Brendel, Sr., UCLA
OL J.J. Dielman, Jr., Utah
OL Conor McDermott, Jr., UCLA
OL Christian Westerman, Sr., Arizona State
OL Chad Wheeler, Jr., USC
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL Darryl Paulo, Sr., Washington State
DL Delvon Simmons, Sr., USC
DL Taniela Tupou, Sr., Washington
DL Destiny Vaeao, Sr., Washington State
LB Travis Feeney, Sr., Washington
LB Deon Hollins, Jr., UCLA
LB Jared Norris, Sr., Utah
DB Chidobe Awuzie, Jr., Colorado
DB Randall Goforth, Jr., UCLA
DB Ronnie Harris, Sr., Stanford
DB Jaleel Wadood, So., UCLA
SECOND TEAM SPECIALISTS
PK Ka’imi Fairbairn, Sr., UCLA
P Drew Riggleman, Sr., Arizona
RS Adoree’ Jackson, So., USC
AP/ST Soma Vainuku, Sr., USC
Honorable mention:
ARIZONA: DL Reggie Gilbert, Sr.; DB Will Parks, Sr.; PK Casey Skowron, Sr.
ARIZONA STATE: DB Lloyd Carrington, Sr.; LB Salamo Fiso, Jr.; LB Antonio Longino, Sr.; DB Jordan Simone, Sr.; DL Tashon Smallwood, So.; OL Vi Teofilo, Sr.
CALIFORNIA: TE Stephen Anderson, Sr.; OL Chris Borrayo, Jr.; DL Kyle Kragen, Sr.; DB Stefan McClure, Sr.; LB Hardy Nickerson, Jr.; WR Bryce Treggs, Sr.
COLORADO: TE Sean Irwin, Jr.; SS Tedric Thompson, Jr.
OREGON: QB Vernon Adams Jr., Sr.; DL Alex Balducci, Sr.; OL Matt Hegarty, Sr.; DB Tyree Robinson, So.
OREGON STATE: RS Victor Bolden, Jr.; OL Josh Mitchell, Sr.; DL Kyle Peko, Sr.; P Nick Porebski, So.; OL Isaac Seumalo, Jr.
STANFORD: LB Kevin Anderson, Sr.; OL Johnny Caspers, Sr.; FB Daniel Marx, So.; DL Brennan Scarlett, Sr.; OL Graham Shuler, Sr.; DL Solomon Thomas, So.; PK Conrad Ukropina, Sr.
UCLA: WR Jordan Payton, Sr.; DB Marcus Rios, Jr.; LB Aaron Wallace, Sr.
USC: RB Justin Davis, Jr.; RB Ronald Jones, Fr.; QB Cody Kessler, Sr.; OL Damien Mama, So.; LB Cameron Smith, Fr.
UTAH: OL Isaac Asiata, Jr.; RS Britain Covey, Fr.; DL Jason Fanaika, Sr.; PK Andy Phillips, Jr.
WASHINGTON: DL Greg Gaines, Fr.; RB Myles Gaskin, Fr.; DB Kevin King, Jr.; LB Cory Littleton, Sr.; TE Joshua Perkins, Sr.; LB Azeem Victor, So.
WASHINGTON STATE: DB Shalom Luani, Jr.; OL Cole Madison, So.; DL Hercules Mata’afa, Fr.; LB Peyton Pelluer, So.; OL Riley Sorenson, Jr.; WR Dom Williams, Sr.