COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Four Mountain West players earned spots on the 2023 AFCA FBS Coaches’ All-America Teams announced today by the American Football Coaches Association.

Air Force safety Trey Taylor earned a spot on the first team, while Colorado State tight end Dallin Holker, Boise State punter James Ferguson-Reynolds and UNLV placekicker Jose Pizano were second-team picks.

Taylor’s All-American award is his second this season, as he was a third-team selection by the Associated Press. He has also won a pair of other major awards. He was named the 2023 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award winner as the nation’s top defensive back in college football based on performance on the field, athletic ability and character. The announcement was made live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN. Taylor was also named the Defender of the Nation this season for on and off the field performance and exhibiting a high standard of integrity by leading through example. A first-team All-MW selection at safety, Taylor contributed 71 tackles, three interceptions, four PBUs and his first career touchdown.

One of three national finalists for the 2023 John Mackey Award, Holker earned second-team honors from all five of the official NCAA selectors: The AFCA, the AP, the Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News and Walter Camp. The Lehi, Utah native, who has declared for the NFL Draft, had 64 receptions and 767 receiving yards, which were the most by any tight end during the 2023 regular season and ranked No. 40 and No. 69, respectively, among all pass catchers. Holker’s 10 contested catches, as graded by Pro Football Focus, were the most by any tight end, and his six touchdown receptions ranked third among tight ends. Within the program’s single-season record book, Holker concluded his junior season among the very best. His six touchdown receptions tied for the most in a single season by a CSU tight end, and his receptions and receiving yards rank No. 3 and No. 2, respectively.

Ferguson-Reynolds, who has also received All-America second-team honors from Sports Illustrated and third-team distinction from the AP, is one of only three punters in the country to register multiple punts of 70 yards or longer and his 25 punts that traveled 50-or-more yards ranks tied for 12th nationally. His punting caused eight touchbacks – ranking third in the country – while he posted a net punting average of 43.1 yards, a number that placed him 10th in the FBS.

Of the five major recognized All-America teams, Pizano was part of four. He was named first-team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America and second team by AP, AFCA and the Walter Camp Foundation. A senior who joined the Rebels after transferring from FCS program Missouri State, the native of Lehi, Utah, has shattered the UNLV record book this fall, setting new marks for field goals in a game (six) and a season (25) and kicking points in a game (19) and a season (127) while also breaking the Rebel record for consecutive field goals made with 19. The MW Special Teams Player of the Year was one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award, which annually goes to the nation’s top kicker. He currently sits 25-of-27 in field-goal attempts (with a long of 52) and 52-for-52 in extra points. Pizano has hit two game-winning field goals this season (vs. Vanderbilt and Colorado State) en route to earning MW Special Teams Player of the Week three times.

AFCA All-America
First Team
DB – Trey Taylor, Air Force

Second Team
TE – Dallin Holker, Colorado State
P – James Ferguson-Reynolds, Boise State
PK – Jose Pizano, UNLV