Kamara Named Defensive Player of the Year; 11 Named All-Conference

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A season filled with strong performances was recognized Tuesday with four Colorado State players earning first-team All-Mountain West honors, led by Defensive Player of the Year Mohamed Kamara, the conference announced Tuesday.

Receiver Tory Horton and safety Jack Howell were both repeat first-team selections, while Kamara and tight end Dallin Holker join them in 2023. In total, 12 Rams earned all-conference honors with three second-team selections and five more named honorable mention. The team is selected from voting from Mountain West coaches and select media members who cover the conference.

Kamara became the first Ram to earn a Mountain West player of the year award since Garrett Grayson was named the top offensive performer in 2014, the first to be named the top defender since Shaquil Barrett in 2013.

The graduate student defensive end from Newark, N.J., led the conference with 13 sacks and 17 tackles for loss, ranking fourth nationally with 1.08 sacks per contest, ninth in tackles for loss at 1.4 per. His sack total was the third best for a season in school history, his TFLs tied for eighth. He finished his CSU career with 30.5 sacks and 45.5 tackles for loss. His sack figure ranks second in school history behind Clark Haggans and also in the Mountain West behind Curtis Weaver of Boise State. His career TFL numbers rank third at CSU, fifth in the conference.

Horton, a senior from Fresno, Calif., finished the season with 96 receptions for 1,136 yards and eight touchdowns. He led the league at 8.0 receptions per game and was third in yards per game with 94.7. His second 1,000-yard season as a Ram extended the program streak to nine years with a pass catcher reaching the yardage milestone. His 96 catches tied Preston Williams for the second most in a campaign by a Ram, while his yardage ranks eighth – five yards more than he had the season prior. With 167 catches for 2,267 yards and 16 scores, he ranks seventh, seventh and 10^th, respectively, in those career categories at Colorado State.

Howell led all Mountain West defensive backs with 114 tackles on the season, averaging 9.5 per game. He became the first member of the Rams' secondary to reach the century mark in tackles in consecutive seasons since defensive statistics became official in the NCAA in 2000. The junior from Fort Collins ranked second nationally among defensive backs with his 114 stops – 50 of them solo – and added his fifth career interception.

In his first season with Colorado State, Holker led the league's tight ends with 64 catches for 767 yards and six touchdowns, the most memorable his last one – the Hail Mary catch as CSU beat Boise State for the first time. His 64 receptions were the third most by a CSU tight end in a season, his yardage ranking second, while the BYU transfer tied the school mark for scoring grabs in a season, joining both Kivon Cartwright and Kory Sperry.

Center Jacob Gardner, linebacker Chase Wilson and Horton, this time as a punt returner, were named to the second team. Defensive backs Chigozie Anusiem and Henry Blackburn, quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, offensive lineman Drew Moss and wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons were honorable mention selections.

Gardner anchored a line which made a one-season turnaround from allowing the most sacks in the country to ranking 13^th. Wilson was third in the conference in tackles with 107 in his first season as a starter; Horton averaged 13.4 yards on his 11 punt returns, posting a long of 79 yards which went for a touchdown at Utah State.

2023 All-Conference Selections
Defensive Player of the Year – Mohamed Kamara

First Team
Tory Horton, WR
Dallin Holker, TE
Jack Howell, DB
Mohamed Kamara, DL

Second Team
Jacob Gardner, OL
Tory Horton, PR
Chase Wilson, LB

Honorable Mention
Chigozie Anusiem, CB
Henry Blackburn, S
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, QB
Drew Moss, OL
Justus Ross-Simmons, WR

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