Utah State’s Zach Vigil named second-team All-American by USA Today Sports

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State’s Zach Vigil has been named a second-team All-American by USA Today Sports it was announced Thursday.

Overall, Vigil is one of just six linebackers at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level to earn All-America honors from USA Today Sports as Scooby Wright (Arizona), Paul Dawson (TCU) and Erik Kendricks (UCLA) were named to the first-team, while Mike Hull (Penn State) and Hau’oli Kikaha (Washington) joined Vigil on the second-team.

Vigil becomes just the 13th Utah State football player in school history to be named a first or second-team All-American, and the first-ever linebacker to be recognized this highly.

Vigil is also one of just three players from the Mountain West to be recognized by USA Today Sports as Colorado State wide receiver Rashard Higgins was named to the first-team, while Boise State running back Jay Ajayi was named to the second-team. Vigil also joins Utah DE Nate Orchard and Utah P Tom Hackett, both second-team honorees, as the only other players from the state of Utah to be honored by USA Today Sports.

Along with being named a second-team All-American by USA Today Sports, Vigil was also named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, becoming just the 14th player in school history to earn all-conference honors (first or second team) at least three times.

Vigil, a 6-2, 240-pound senior linebacker from Clearfield, Utah (Clearfield HS) ranks first in the Mountain West and tied for 12th in the nation in tackles for loss (1.50 pg), second in the MW and ninth in the nation in tackles (11.2 pg), and tied for second in the MW and tied for 30th in the nation in sacks (0.69 pg).

On the season, Vigil leads the team with 145 tackles and 19.5 tackles for loss, and is tied for first on the team with 9.0 sacks. He also ranks second on the team with five quarterback hurries to go along with three pass breakups, one forced fumble and one interception he returned 35 yards for a touchdown.

Vigil recorded a career-high 22 tackles against Air Force (10/11), which ranks tied for the most at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level this year, and has eight double-digit tackle outings on the season. During his senior season, Vigil was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week twice.

Vigil’s 145 tackles this year rank fourth all-time in Mountain West single-season history and seventh in Utah State single-season history. Furthermore, Vigil’s 19.5 tackles for loss is just 1.0 shy of tying the MW single-season record of 20.5 set a year ago by Boise State’s Demarcus Lawrence and Colorado State’s Shaquil Barrett, and 2.5 shy of tying the USU single-season record set by Jermaine Younger in 1993.

Vigil has led a Utah State defense that ranks among the top 36 defenses in the nation in five different statistical categories, including fourth in sacks (3.69 pg), 21st in scoring defense (20.8 ppg), 24th in passing efficiency defense (112.50), 26th in rushing defense (129.3 ypg), and 36th in the nation in total defense (362.3 ypg).

Utah State’s defense also ranks tied for seventh nationally with its 29 forced turnovers, tied for ninth nationally with its 18 interceptions, 15th in the nation in turnover margin (0.77 pg), and 31st nationally with its 11 fumble recoveries.

Furthermore, Utah State’s defense ranks fifth in the nation with an average of 8.2 tackles for loss per game, tied for sixth nationally with its five defensive touchdowns, 13th in the nation in three-and-outs as it is averaging 5.08 per game, and 37th in the nation in opponents third down conversations at 36.8 percent (78-212).

Utah State (9-4, 6-2 MW) will conclude its 2014 season against UTEP (7-5, 5-3 CUSA) in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 12:20 pm (MT) in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN. USU is 2-0 all-time against the Miners with the last meeting between the two teams occurring in 1961.

Utah State is playing in its fourth-straight bowl game and has won each of its last two bowl games, both of which are school records. With a victory against UTEP, USU will win 10 games for just the second time in school history joining the 2012 Western Athletic Conference and Famous Idaho Potato Bowl championship team that went 11-2.

Tickets for the 2014 Gildan New Mexico Bowl are available by contacting the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305. Tickets can also be purchased 24 hours a day at www.UtahStateAggies.com.

Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball or on Facebook at Utah State Football, as well as on Instagram at instagram.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

-USU-

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Posted in USU