LAS VEGAS, Nev (UNLVRebels.com) – No. 19-ranked UNLV football’s record-setting season continued off the field Tuesday with the announcement of three major honors for the Rebels as part of the conference’s annual postseason awards.
Linebacker Jackson Woodard (Little Rock, AR) becomes the first Rebel in 17 years named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, star wide receiver Ricky White III (Marietta, GA) is the program’s second consecutive MW Special Teams Player of the Year for his historic production on coverage teams, and local product and record-smashing place-kicker Caden Chittenden (Las Vegas) earns the school its second straight MW Freshman of the Year honor.
The Rebels, who first joined a conference in 1982, tied last year’s program record with six first team honorees and shattered the school record for combined first and second team winners with 12, beating last year’s total of nine. That doesn’t even include five honorable mention players.
Notably, on the first team, right tackle Tiger Shanks (Lake Oswego, OR) is the first-ever offensive lineman from UNLV to be named First Team all-conference twice in a career, doing it in back-to-back seasons; White III is the first Rebel receiver to earn First Team All-MW in multiple seasons since Hall of Fame member Ryan Wolfe did it three times (2006, ’08, ’09); Chittenden is the first freshman from UNLV named First Team All-MW since Wolfe in 2006; Woodard is the first-ever linebacker to twice be named First Team all-conference at UNLV; safety Jalen Catalon (Mansfield, TX) is the first defensive back from the school to be named First Team All-MW since Hall of Famer Jamaal Brimmer 20 years ago; and Jacob De Jesus (Manteca, CA) is the first Rebel return man to earn First Team all-league more than once, taking it this time as a punt returner.
The six Rebels on the second team were Hajj-Malik Williams (Atlanta, GA), who is just the second Rebel quarterback since 1996 to be named either first or second team; running back Jai’den Thomas (Atlanta, GA), who is the first UNLV back to be honored since all-time rushing leader Charles Williams in 2021; offensive lineman Jalen St. John (St. Louis, MO); defensive end Antonio Doyle (St. Louis, MO); defensive back Johnathan Baldwin (Houston, TX); and De Jesus again, this time as a kickoff returner.
Earning honorable mention were defensive back Jett Elad (Ontario, Canada), center Jack Hasz (Omaha, NE), defensive tackle Alexander Whitmore (Memphis, TN), along with repeat honoree punter Marshall Nichols (Atlanta, GA) and defensive back Cameron Oliver (Richmond, TX), who was a member of the second team last season.
This marked the first time in program history that four defensive backs were part of an all-conference squad while it was the first time since 2013 that as many as three offensive linemen were honored.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Woodard, who was also the league’s Preseason Player of the Year, went on to tie a school record with three MW Defensive Player of the Week nods this fall. He was named the National Defensive Player of the Week after the season-opening win at Houston by both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Walter Camp Foundation. The team captain currently stands sixth in the nation with 17 tackles-for-loss, is tied for 15th with four interceptions, is fifth in the league with 13 passes defended, has 3.5 QB sacks and last week scored his first career touchdown on a fumble recovery. UNLV’s first NFF Campbell Award Finalist was also a Burlsworth Trophy and Witten Award semifinalist.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Already a returning All-American at wide receiver, White III became a force on punt coverage as a senior, leading all of college football with four blocked punts and altering three other attempts, even scoring on another punt blocked by a teammate vs. Fresno State. White has more blocked punts than any other TEAM in the FBS and becomes the first non-punter, kicker or return man to win the MW Special Teams Award. On October 7 he was named MW Special Teams Player of the Week, which made him the first Rebel to earn a league award in more than one category during a career.
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Chittenden, a graduate of Faith Lutheran High School, was tasked with replacing First Team All-American (and last year’s MW Special Teams Player of the Year) Jose Pizano and is turning in a stunning rookie campaign. Currently the nation’s top scoring kicker, he sits sixth among all players with 126 points and his 25 made field goals shattered the school and league records for a freshman and put him just one back of the national leader among all players. He is a three-time winner of the MW Special Teams Player of the Week award and a three-time Mountain West Freshman of the Week.
FIRST TEAM HONOREES
Leading the way up front, Shanks has started 48 games for the Rebels (third-most in UNLV history) and helped lead UNLV to its best rushing average in a full season since moving to Division I with 254 yards per game, which ranks fourth in the nation. White III is the first Rebel in history to post two 1,000-yard receiving seasons during a career, and did it back-to-back, currently sitting on 1,020 yards off 75 catches and ranking fifth in the nation with 11 touchdowns through the air. Despite only wearing the Scarlet & Gray for three seasons after transferring from Michigan State, he is the third UNLV player ever to break the 3,000-yard career mark, and ranks second at the school in receptions and 100-yard games. With his 25-of-31 field goals and 51-of-52 extra-point attempts, Chittenden has posted seven double-digit scoring games this season and been a weapon on kickoffs as well to help UNLV rank among the nation’s leaders in field position. Woodard’s 114 total tackles rank 17th in the country as he is the first Rebel to have back-to-back 100-tackle seasons since Adam Seward did it three times in 2002-04. Catalon was named a Jim Thorpe Award Semifinalist and Midseason All-America by Sports Illustrated, Athlon Sports and The Athletic. He ranks third in the nation with five interceptions, is in the national top 35 in solo tackles and leads the MW in interception return yards. The two-time MW Defensive Player of the Week honoree scored on a pick-six in his first game as a Rebel and currently has 82 tackles, two sacks and a key forced fumble that helped his team win at Oregon State. De Jesus, who was a finalist for the Jet Award last season as the nation’s top returner, has returned 20 punts for an average of 8.15, including a long of 23 yards.
SECOND TEAM HONOREES
Since taking over the starting role in Game Four, Williams has been dazzling both with his arm and his legs, throwing for at least one touchdown and rushing for at least one score in the same game seven times in nine starts. One of only 35 signal-callers named to the Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2024, his current 64.1 completion percentage ranks second in UNLV single-season history. He ranks 13th nationally in passing efficiency and fourth in the MW with both 17 TD passes and nine rushing scores. The former Campbell transfer leads the team with 1,735 passing yards and his 768 rushing yards rank second in UNLV single-season history by a quarterback. Thomas, who has scored a total of 20 touchdowns in his first two seasons in Las Vegas, leads the Rebels with 832 yards to go with seven rushing scores. He has four 100-yard games as a sophomore and returned the program’s first kickoff return for a touchdown in 13 seasons. St. John has started every game at left tackle and has helped UNLV post 11 100-yard rushing games by five different players in 2024. Doyle ranks eighth in the Mountain West with five QB sacks to go with 49 total tackles and a fumble recovery. Baldwin has three interceptions and eight pass breakups to go with the 60 TT, including 8.5 TFL.
HONORABLE MENTION
Elad ranks third on the team with 68 tackles, including 5.0 TFL, four pass breakups, one sack and an interception. Hasz has been a leader in the middle, starting every game at center since transferring in two years ago. Whitmore has helped the Rebels rank fourth in the nation in rush defense while making 32 TT and 6.0 TFL, including two sacks. Nichols, who last week booted the second-longest punt in school history at 79 yards, is averaging 44.6 yards per attempt, which would rank 20th in the nation if he had enough attempts to qualify for the NCAA stats. Oliver’s three interceptions give him 13 for his career, which ranks fourth in UNLV history and third among all active FBS players. He is tied for the team lead with nine PBU.
UP NEXT
The Rebels (10-2), who have won 10 games for the first time in 40 years, will play in their second consecutive Mountain West Championship game Friday at No. 10 Boise State (11-1). Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. PT and the game will be shown live on FOX5 News Las Vegas.
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