Six Football Tigers Earn League Honors

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The University of Memphis football team brought home some hardware with the American Athletic Conference's announcement of its postseason awards and all-league teams Wednesday. Six Tigers received conference accolades.

Redshirt freshman Tony Pollard was named the conference's Special Teams Player of the Year and also garnered all-league first team honors. Other first team selections were Genard Avery, Jake Elliott, Daniel Montiel and Spencer Smith. Anthony Miller was a second team pick.

The five All-American Athletic Conference first team selections were one behind the six first teamers in 2014. Also, since joining The American, the overall six postseason honorees are second behind the 10 chosen in 2014.

The following are the six honored Tigers and a brief summary of their statistics and accomplishments from 2016:

Tony Pollard/r-Fr. • RB/KR • The American Special Teams Player of the Year/All-American Athletic Conference First Team
Pollard is the fourth-straight Tiger to receive the league's Special Teams Player of the Year honor, as Tom Hornsey earned the award in 2013 and Jake Elliott in 2014 and 2015. The redshirt freshman was one of the top kick returners in the nation and the American Athletic Conference. He is ranked nationally among FBS leaders in kick-return yardage (3^rd; 993 yards), kick-return TD (3^rd; 2) and kick-return average (9^th; 28.4 ypg). Pollard leads the league in all three statistical categories. Pollard played a big role in Memphis' kick-return unit being top-10 nationally. The Tigers kick-return unit is ranked among the FBS leaders in kick-return TD (1^st; 3), kick-return average (4^th; 26.95 ypg) and kick-return yardage (8^th; 1,159). This season, the Memphis, Tenn., native became the first player in program history to return two kickoffs for TD. His first return for a score was a 95-yarder in the Oct. 6 win over Temple. Two games later versus Navy, Pollard ran back a kickoff 100 yards for a TD, the longest kick return in program history. Pollard also is the team's fourth-leading rusher with 154 yards on 29 carries.

Genard Avery/Jr. • LB • All-American Athletic Conference First Team
Avery is the second Tigers linebacker in the last three seasons to earn All-American Athletic Conference first team honors (Tank Jakes, 2014). He also is only the fourth Tigers linebacker to be an all-league first team pick since 2000 (Kamal Shakir, 2000; Jamon Hughes, 2010; Jakes, 2014). The Grenada, Miss., native is the team's second-leading tackler with 74 total stops (58-16). His 58 solo tackles also are second on the squad. Avery led the Tigers in TFL (10.0-54 yards), sacks (5.0-31 yards) and QB hurries (6). He has two interceptions and returned both picks for TD. He is tied for third nationally with interception returns for TD and is the only non-defensive back in college football with two picks for scores in 2016. Avery is ranked among conference statistical leaders in tackles (21^st), sacks (10^th) and TFL (13^th). In 10 of 12 games, Avery recorded five or more tackles.

Jake Elliott/Sr. • PK • All-American Athletic Conference First Team
Elliott is the first player in American Athletic Conference history to earn all-league first team honors all four seasons. This season, Elliott set school career records for scoring (438 points), scoring by a kicker (438 points) and FG made (80). He broke the marks previously held by Stephen Gostkowski. In FBS history, Elliott's 438 points are 11^th-most for scoring and sixth-most for scoring by a kicker. In 2016, the Western Springs, Ill., native ranks among the conference statistical leaders in scoring (3^rd; 114 points), scoring by a kicker (2^nd), FG made (1^st; 20), FG percentage (1^st; 83.3) and PAT percentage (1^st; 100.0). He carries consecutive PAT streak of 198 straight into the Tigers' postseason bowl game. Among the 2016 FBS leaders, Elliott ranks in the top-15 in scoring (14^th) and FG made per game (10^th; 1.67). Elliott also played a pivotal role in the Tigers ranking as one of the nation's top kick coverage units. Memphis is second nationally in kick coverage (15.46 ypg), and his 60 touchbacks are tied for third-most nationally.

Daniel Montiel/r-Sr. • TE • All-American Athletic Conference First Team
Montiel is the second Tigers tight end in the last three seasons to garner All-American Athletic Conference first team accolades (Alan Cross, 2014). The Arlington, Texas, native had the best campaign of his career statistically in 2016, setting personal season bests for receptions (25), yards (304) and TD catches (3). Montiel had a career game against USF in mid-November with single-game highs of 10 receptions for 100 yards. Montiel also was instrumental in helping the 2016 Tigers become one of the top offensive units in school history. The 2016 Memphis offense ranks among the school leaders in scoring (2^nd; 474 points), total offense (5^th; 5,537) and passing yardage (3^rd; 3,539).

Spencer Smith/r-Jr. • P • All-American Athletic Conference First Team
Smith received his second all-league first team nod (2015, 2016) and his overall third all-conference recognition (second team in 2014). The Newnan, Ga., native leads the American Athletic Conference and also is eighth nationally in punting average (45.3). He has 43 punts for a total of 1,947 yards with a long of 63 yards versus Tulane Oct. 14. Smith has placed 20 of his punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line and also has 13 punts of 50 or more yards. Smith had eight games in which he averaged 45 yards per punt in 2016. His 53.7 average in the Oct. 6 win over Temple was his highest for a game with two or more punts.

Anthony Miller/r-Jr. • WR • All-American Athletic Conference Second Team
The 2016 American Athletic Conference second team honor is Miller's first postseason accolade. Miller is the second Tigers wide receiver in the last three seasons to earn all-league honors (Keiwone Malone, 2014). Miller put together the best season for a Tigers wide receiver in school history in 2016. His 84 receptions and 1,283 yards shattered the previous season marks held by Isaac Bruce. Miller's 11 TD catches are tied for second-most for a season in program history. The Memphis, Tenn., native had seven 100-yard receiving games this season, including a school-record, 250-yard performance versus Tulsa Oct. 29. The 250-yard game bulldozed the previous record of 186 yards by Bob Sherlag in 1965. In the regular-season finale win over Houston, Miller's 15 catches set a single-game record. Among the 2016 FBS statistical leaders, Miller is ranked in receiving yards (7^th; 1,283 yards), receiving yards per game (9^th; 106.9 ypg) and TD receptions (15^th; 11). Miller also is ranked in The American in receptions per game (4^th) and receiving yards per game (2^nd).

University of Memphis Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Genard Avery

Alan Cross

Jake Elliott

Anthony Miller

Daniel Montiel

Tony Pollard

Spencer Smith

Related Videos