RENO — Athlon Sports has announced its 2020 preseason All-Mountain West team and the Nevada Wolf Pack football squad is well represented on the list with 10 selections.
Those earning first team honors include junior defensive end Dom Peterson and sophomore kicker Brandon Talton. Junior wide receiver Romeo Doubs was the Pack’s lone second team selection.
The Wolf Pack had five student-athletes placed on the third team with junior running back Toa Taua, senior wide receiver Elijah Cooks and senior offensive lineman Nate Brown representing the offense and senior linebacker Lawson Hall and senior defensive back EJ Muhammad representing the defense.
Sophomore quarterback Carson Strong and junior defensive back Tyson Williams rounded out the list, picking up fourth team selections.
Peterson was named first team All-MW for the first time in his career after proving to be the Wolf Pack’s most dominant defensive lineman last season.
The then-sophomore ranked second in the conference and led Nevada with 15.0 tackles for loss, 14 of them being solo. Peterson also led the team and ranked second in the MW with nine sacks.
He recorded at least one tackle for loss in all but one game in 2019 and had his best performance of the year in a 21-10 win over New Mexico, where he recorded four solo tackles, three for loss and two sacks.
Talton, who was named to the All-MW second team in the fall, had a stellar first season with the Wolf Pack.
His 21 made field goals in his rookie season are tied for third-most in a single season at Nevada.
Talton began the season making the first 12 field goal attempts of his career without a miss.
He was named the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week on three occasions, including after week one when he drilled a 56-yard field goal to beat Purdue.
His 21 field goals were tied for third in the MW, while his 56-yard game-winner was the second-longest field goal made by anyone in the conference last season.
Doubs lived up to the hype following his freshman campaign, ranking second on the Wolf Pack with 44 receptions, 649 yards and four touchdowns.
The then-sophomore led the Wolf Pack with 14.8 yards per reception and hauled in the longest touchdown of the season, a 75-yard catch-and-run against San Jose State.
His 167 receiving yards against the Spartans in that game were the fifth-most by any MW receiver in a game last season, and was the most of his career in a single contest.
He was named an All-MW honorable mention following the regular season.
Taua, who also earned an All-MW honorable mention, continued his dominant play into his sophomore campaign, as he led Nevada with 807 yards on the ground in 2019.
On 196 attempts, he scored six touchdowns while averaging 4.1 yards per rush. Putting together 62.1 yards per game,
Taua went over the century mark twice last season with a huge game against San Jose State where he totaled 160.
He also put up 135 at Fresno State, where he scored the game-winning touchdown with 12 seconds left in regulation.
He played in all 13 games this season, totaling double-digit carries in all but two contests.
Cooks posted a breakout season in 2019, leading Nevada in receptions with 76, 926 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, all of which were career highs.
His 12.2 receptions per game average ranked fourth in the MW and 71.2 receiving yards per game were good for seventh in the league.
He recorded a huge performance in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, totaling 197 receiving yards on 14 catches.
His 197 receiving yards in the bowl game were third-most by a receiver in the conference last season. Cooks’ presence on the field was felt in nearly every game as he hauled in at least three receptions in 12 of the Pack’s 13 contests.
Brown was a staple on the Wolf Pack’s offensive line in 2019, starting all 13 games.
He was named the team Basalite Big Blocker of the Year for his efforts in his junior season. Brown helped anchor an offensive line that blocked for Taua, who earned an All-MW honorable mention, and an offense that ranked in the top half of the conference in passing yards per game.
Hall posted his best season to date with the Wolf Pack in 2019 as he finished the year tied for second on the defense with 58 total tackles, setting a single season career high.
He totaled 3.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks on the year and added two interceptions. His two picks were tied for second-most on the team.
Muhammad returned from an injury-plagued 2018 season and posted a breakout season as one of the Pack’s top cornerbacks in 2019.
His previous season high in tackles was 13 and he shattered that number last season, recording 58 total tackles on the year, which also ranked second on the team.
Additionally he posted six pass breakups and added 2.5 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.
In his redshirt freshman season, Strong served as Nevada’s primary starting quarterback, appearing and starting in 10 contests. He threw for 2,335 yards and 11 touchdowns on the year, completing 63.4 percent of his passes. Strong averaged 233.5 passing yards per game, good for fifth in the Mountain West in 2019. In his first-ever collegiate start, he helped Nevada knock off Purdue to start the season in a come-from-behind effort where he tossed three touchdowns, no interceptions and 295 yards.
Strong threw a career-best 402 passing yards in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Ohio, where along with his 31 completions, were Nevada bowl game records.
Williams served as one of Nevada’s starting safeties during the 2019 season and led the team with 85 tackles on the year.
His 85 tackles ranked in the top 20 in the Mountain West among all defenders. Williams posted a career-high 12 tackles in the first game of the season in a win over Purdue.
He snagged the first interception of his career at UTEP and returned it 14 yards. Additionally, Williams recorded seven pass breakups on the season to lead the Wolf Pack.
