Photo by: Mark Newman
11/28/2018 10:07:00 AM | Football
Jacobson, Polu, Mann Earn Honorable Mention
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – Senior star Lexington "Lightning" Thomas became just the second UNLV running back to be named either first or second team all-conference more than once in a career as the Mountain West announced its annual postseason awards Wednesday.
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Thomas (Houston, TX/Benjamin Davis HS), who was a first team selection in 2017, earned second team this time around. The only other Rebel runner to pull off the feat was "Jersey" Joe Haro, who was tabbed second team in both 2001 and '02. Thomas rushed for 1,067 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2018 while adding a career-high 19 catches for 165 receiving yards. Thomas, who posted three scoring runs longer than 70 yards this fall, broke multiple long-standing school records, including most rushing touchdowns in a career (40), most TDs scored overall (43) and most 100-yard rushing games (18). Lightning's 3,551 career rushing yards ranks second among all Rebels and eighth in Mountain West history.
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Joining Thomas on the 2018 team were three Rebels who garnered Honorable Mention All-MW.
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Senior offensive tackle Nathan Jacobson (Snohomish, WA/Snohomish HS) earned Honorable Mention All-MW for the third consecutive season while junior offensive guard Justin Polu (Henderson, NV/Silverado HS) was a first-time honoree after UNLV ranked 22nd in the nation with 224 rushing yards per game. It marked the third straight year that two Rebel offensive linemen made the team and 10th straight year that at least one UNLV blocker was included on the league's honors list.
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Finally, defensive end Roger Mann (San Diego, CA/Palomar College/Rancho Bernardo HS) was the squad's lone honoree from his side of the ball after leading the team with 4.5 quarterback sacks. His 34 total tackles included 7.0 tackles-for-loss to go with a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
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Thomas (Houston, TX/Benjamin Davis HS), who was a first team selection in 2017, earned second team this time around. The only other Rebel runner to pull off the feat was "Jersey" Joe Haro, who was tabbed second team in both 2001 and '02. Thomas rushed for 1,067 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2018 while adding a career-high 19 catches for 165 receiving yards. Thomas, who posted three scoring runs longer than 70 yards this fall, broke multiple long-standing school records, including most rushing touchdowns in a career (40), most TDs scored overall (43) and most 100-yard rushing games (18). Lightning's 3,551 career rushing yards ranks second among all Rebels and eighth in Mountain West history.
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Joining Thomas on the 2018 team were three Rebels who garnered Honorable Mention All-MW.
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Senior offensive tackle Nathan Jacobson (Snohomish, WA/Snohomish HS) earned Honorable Mention All-MW for the third consecutive season while junior offensive guard Justin Polu (Henderson, NV/Silverado HS) was a first-time honoree after UNLV ranked 22nd in the nation with 224 rushing yards per game. It marked the third straight year that two Rebel offensive linemen made the team and 10th straight year that at least one UNLV blocker was included on the league's honors list.
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Finally, defensive end Roger Mann (San Diego, CA/Palomar College/Rancho Bernardo HS) was the squad's lone honoree from his side of the ball after leading the team with 4.5 quarterback sacks. His 34 total tackles included 7.0 tackles-for-loss to go with a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
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Players Mentioned
Wednesday, October 28
Monday, October 26
Saturday, October 24
Friday, October 23
