2002 Mountain West Conference football season

August 2023 September 2008 2002 Mountain West Conference football season #Mountain West Conference 1 #Mountain West Conference 2 NCAA Division I FBS football 150px 8 2003 NFL draft 2003 NFL draft Jordan Gross, offensive tackle, Utah Carolina Panthers, 8th overall Regular season Colorado State New Mexico Chance Harridge (132 points) Football 2001 2003 The 2002 Mountain West Conference football season was the fourth since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the Mountain West Conference. Colorado State won the conference championship in 2002, the Rams' third title since the league began in 1999. Bowl games BowlDateStadiumCityResultLas Vegas BowlDecember 25, 2002Sam Boyd StadiumLas VegasUCLA 27, New Mexico 13Liberty BowlDecember 31, 2002Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TennesseeTCU 17, Colorado State 3San Francisco BowlDecember 31, 2002SBC ParkSan FranciscoVirginia Tech 20, Air Force 13 In 2002, the Mountain West Conference had four contractual tie-ins with bowl games. In order, the Liberty Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, San Francisco Bowl and Seattle Bowl had the first through fourth selections of bowl eligible MW teams.Ritchie, Jabari. "In the Mountain West, a lack of eligible teams for Seattle Bowl", the Seattle Times. November 6, 2002. Accessed September 26, 2008. However, following the conclusion of the 2002 college football season, only three MW teams had good enough records (six wins or more) to make them eligible for bowl games: Colorado State, New Mexico, and Air Force.ESPN.com. 2002 Mountain West Conference Standings. Accessed September 26, 2008. The Liberty Bowl, with the first selection of eligible MW teams, picked the MW champion Colorado State Rams to represent the conference in its 2002 game. The Rams played the TCU Horned Frogs of Conference USA and lost, 17–3.The Associated Press. https://archive.today/20120714140145/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=223650036 "TCU controls from get-go vs. Colorado State", ESPN.com. December 31, 2002. Accessed September 26, 2008. With the second pick, the Las Vegas Bowl selected the New Mexico Lobos. Though New Mexico lost to favored UCLA, 27–13, the Lobos featured the first female player to play in a Division I football game, Katie Hnida.The Associated Press. "Hnida makes history, but New Mexico falls short", ESPN.com. December 25, 2002. Accessed September 26, 2008. The third bowl with an MW tie-in, the San Francisco Bowl, was thus forced to select the Air Force Academy Falcons, who were the sole remaining bowl-eligible MW team. Facing the Falcons were the Virginia Tech Hokies, who earned a 20–13 victory over the Falcons.The Associated Press. "Suggs makes the most of his final VT game", ESPN.com. December 31, 2002. Accessed September 26, 2008. Awards Coach of the Year: Rocky Long, New Mexico Offensive Player of the Year: QB Bradlee Van Pelt, Jr, Colorado State Defensive Player of the Year: CB Jamaal Brimmer, So, UNLV Freshman of the Year: RB DonTrell Moore, New Mexico All-Conference teams First-team: OffenseQuarterbackBradlee Van Pelt, Jr, Colorado StateRunning backDonTrell Moore, Fr, New MexicoCecil Sapp, Sr, Colorado StateWide receiverKassim Osgood, Sr, San Diego StateJ. R. Tolver, Sr, San Diego StateTight endJoel Dreessen, So, Colorado StateOffensive LineJordan Gross, Sr, UtahMorgan Pears, Sr, Colorado StateAdam Goldberg, Sr, WyomingDustin Rykert, Sr, BYUTony Terrell, Sr, UNLVKickerJoey Ashcroft, Jr, Air ForceKick returnerDexter Wynn, Jr, Colorado State DefenseDefensive linePeter Hogan, Sr, Colorado StateJason Kaufusi, Jr, UtahBrady Poppinga, So, BYUGarrett Smith, Sr, UtahLinebackerKirk Morrison, So, San Diego StateCharles Moss, Sr, New MexicoAnthony Schlegel, So, Air ForceDefensive backJamaal Brimmer, So, UNLVWes Crawley, Sr, Air ForceBrandon Ratcliff, Sr, New MexicoAntwoine Sanders, Jr, UtahPunterMatt Payne, So, BYU Second-team: OffenseQuarterbackChance Harridge, Jr, Air ForceRunning backJoe Haro, Sr, UNLVBrandon Warfield, Jr, UtahWide receiverReno Mahe, Sr, BYUEarvin Johnson, So, UNLVTight endSpencer Nead, Sr, BYUOffensive LineJesse Underbakke, Jr, Air ForceMark Dreyer, Jr, Colorado StateJason Lenzmeier, Jr, New MexicoClaude Terrell, So, New MexicoJohnathan Ingram, Sr, San Diego StateKickerJeff Babcock, So, Colorado StateKick returnerDwight Counter, Jr, New Mexico DefenseDefensive lineDaniel Kegler, Jr, New MexicoD. J. Renteria, Jr, New MexicoAmon Arnold, Sr, San DiegoLauvale Sape, Sr, UtahLinebackerEric Pauly, Jr, Colorado StateAdam Seward, So, UNLVSheldon Deckart, Sr, UtahDefensive backRhett Nelson, Sr, Colorado StateDexter Wynn, Jr, Colorado StateJeff Shoate, Jr, San Diego StateDave Revill, Jr, UtahPunterJoey Huber, Sr, Colorado State https://themw.com/football-all-mountain-west-teams-and-superlative-awards/ Football All-Mountain West Teams and Superlative Awards Mountain West Conference References