Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Have 20 Players Honored in All-WAC Voting
11/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 30, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - With the success of the Fresno State football team during the 2004 season, several Bulldogs won individual awards in voting by the coaches in the Western Athletic Conference.
Three Bulldogs were selected to the All-WAC first-team, senior offensive tackle Logan Mankins, junior defensive tackle Garrett McIntyre and junior strong safety James Sanders. It marked the second straight season Sanders was named to the All-WAC team.
"These three young men are very deserving of being selected first-team All-WAC," said Hill. "There wasn't a better offensive lineman in the WAC than Logan Mankins. Both Garrett and James were the leaders of our defense. I wish we would have had more first-team selections, but having 20 players honored overall shows this is a great team that gave a great team effort all season long."
Mankins was one of the most dominating offensive linemen in the country, accumulating nearly 80 pancake blocks while grading out at better than 90% for the season.
McIntyre was one of the defensive leaders of the Bulldogs, leading the team in tackles for losses with 11 and quarterback sacks with seven. He was fifth on the team with 44 total tackles.
Sanders finished the regular season with 56 tackles, seven for losses, two quarterback sacks, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions.
Freshman offensive guard Ryan Wendell was honored as the WAC Co-Freshman of the Year. He is just the second offensive lineman in WAC history to earn that honor. He is the second Bulldog in three years to win the award. Quarterback Paul Pinegar was the 2002 winner.
Three Bulldogs were named to the All-WAC second-team, including junior running back Bryson Sumlin, sophomore center Kyle Young, and sophomore cornerback Richard Marshall.
Of the six players named to the first or second team, five are underclassmen and will return for the 2005 season.
"We have a lot of very good young players and they were recognized," said Hill. "That bodes well for the 2005 season with so many talented young players coming back next year."
An additional 14 Bulldogs were named honorable mention All-WAC, including: sophomore receiver Joe Fernandez, junior receiver Jermaine Jamison, junior guard Dartangon Shack, senior tight end Stephen Spach, senior defensive ends Claude Sanders and Brian Morris, sophomore linebacker Dwayne Andrews, senior linebacker Todd Garcia, sophomore linebacker Manual Sanchez, sophomore cornerback Marcus McCauley, junior free safety Tyrone Culver, senior kicker Brett Visintainer, sophomore punter Mike Lingua and Wendell.
The Bulldogs, which closed out the regular season winning five straight games, awaits a bowl invitation. Fresno State will hold its annual awards banquet Sunday, Dec. 5.
