Utah State Sophomore LB David Woodward earns Third-Team All-American accolades from the Associated Press

Utah State linebacker David Woodward (9) holds up the football after intercepting a pass in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, in Honolulu. Utah State safety Jontrell Rocquemore (3) signals his team has position of the football. (AP Photo/Eugene Tanner)

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State sophomore linebacker David Woodward was named a third-team All-American by The Associated Press, it was announced Monday morning.

This is Woodward’s second All-American accolade of the season after being named a first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus (PFF), which also selected the native of Olympia, Wash., as its Mountain West Player of the Year.

Woodward, who earned second-team all-Mountain West honors from the league’s head coaches, is the lone representative from the MW to be recognized by The Associated Press.

The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Woodward started all 11 games he played in for the Aggies this season, ranking first in the Mountain West and 10th in the nation with 124 tackles (11.3 pg). He is also fifth in the conference in tackles for loss with 12.5 (1.1 pg), sixth in forced fumbles with two (0.18 pg) and ninth in sacks with 5.0.

On the season, Woodward leads the team in tackles, tackles for loss and forced fumbles, while ranking second in sacks, to go along with one interception. Overall, he has recorded seven double-digit tackle outings this year, including a career-high 20 stops at Colorado State, which are the most tackles by an Aggie since 2015.

Woodward and the Aggies will face North Texas in the 13th-annual Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 15, at noon, at Dreamstyle Stadium in Albuquerque, N.M. The game will be televised live on ESPN.

This will be Utah State’s second appearance in the New Mexico Bowl as it posted a 21-6 win against UTEP in 2014. Only New Mexico (4) and Colorado State (3) have made more appearances in the Albuquerque-based bowl than USU (2). This is the Aggies’ seventh bowl game in the past eight seasons and their 13th in program history as they are 4-8 all-time in bowl games.

Utah State and North Texas will be meeting for the eighth time in series history as USU holds a 4-3 advantage. USU posted a 4-1 record against UNT when both teams were members of the Big West Conference from 1996-2000 and USU went 0-2 against the Mean Green when both programs were members of the Sun Belt Conference from 2003-04.

Utah State, which is ranked No. 23 in this week’s Amway Coaches poll, finished the regular season at 10-2, including a 7-1 mark in the Mountain Division of the MW to tie for first.

Tickets for the 2018 New Mexico Bowl are on sale now and available by contacting the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, or by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305. Tickets can also be purchased 24 hours a day at www.utahstateaggies.com.

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