July 18, 2005
CORONADO, Calif. - UNLV senior safety Joe Miklos was named to the 2005 Mountain West Conference Preseason All-Conference football team, the MWC announced Monday from the league's media convention.
Miklos, who brought down 86 ball carriers in 2004 to finish 12th in the MWC last year with 7.8 tackles per game, was the only Rebel voted to the team by a panel of the league's media. Miklos led UNLV last season with two interceptions for 79 yards and seven passes defended.
DonTrell Moore of New Mexico was named the preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Steve Fifita of Utah was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year and Nnamdi Ohaeri of Colorado State was tabbed as the Newcomer of the Year.
Wyoming led all schools with seven student-athletes selected to the preseason all-Conference team, including all three specialists. New Mexico had five players selected, followed by BYU and Utah with four players each. Colorado State had two players named to the 2005 preseason all-Conference squad, while Air Force, SDSU, TCU and UNLV each had one.
The 2005 preseason team features 16 players that were all-conference selections in 2004, including seven first-team selections. Sophomore running back Lynell Hamilton (San Diego State) also returns this season after missing all of 2004 due to an ankle injury. Hamilton was the 2003 MWC Freshman of the Year and was selected to the 2004 preseason all-conference team before sitting out the year.
The league also released its preseason poll, and the Rebels were picked to finish ninth while Utah was picked to finish first for the second-consecutive season by the conference's media.
Utah garnered 18 first-place votes and 246 total points, New Mexico was second with six first-place votes and 215 points, Wyoming was third with five first-place votes and 212 points and BYU received one first-place vote and 164 total points. Rounding out the league was Colorado State (153 points), TCU (145 points), Air Force (96 points), San Diego State (87 points) and UNLV (32 points).
2005 MWC PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
OFFENSEWR Todd Watkins* Sr. BYUWR David Anderson** Sr. Colorado StateOL Jon Wilson** Sr. Air ForceOL Jake Kuresa Jr. BYUOL Michael Brisiel Sr. Colorado StateOL Ryan Cook* Sr. New MexicoOL Jesse Boone** Sr. UtahTE John Wadkowski** Sr. WyomingQB Corey Bramlet Sr. WyomingRB DonTrell Moore* Sr. New MexicoRB Lynell Hamilton# So. San Diego State
DEFENSEDL Manaia Brown Sr. BYUDL Steve Fifita* Sr. UtahDL Marcus Parker* Sr. New MexicoDL Ranorris Ray Sr. TCUDL Dusty Hoffschneider** Sr. WyomingLB Spencer Toone Sr. UtahLB Cameron Jensen Jr. BYULB Mike Mohoric Sr. New MexicoDB Gabriel Fulbright** Sr. New MexicoDB Eric Weddle** Jr. UtahDB Derrick Martin** Jr. WyomingDB Joe Miklos Sr. UNLV
SPECIALISTSP Adam Brooks** Sr. WyomingPK Deric Yaussi* Sr. WyomingKR Hoost Marsh* So. Wyoming
Offensive Player of the Year: DonTrell Moore, Sr., New MexicoDefensive Player of the Year: Steve Fifita, Sr. UtahNewcomer of the Year: Nnamdi Ohaeri, Jr., Colorado State
* member of the 2004 All-Mountain West Conference first-team.** member of the 2004 All-Mountain West Conference second-team.# member of the 2003 All- Mountain West Conference first-team - sat out 2004 due to injury.
