Football | November 30, 2016

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan earned widespread praise from the Mid-American Conference coaches and media on Wednesday, as the football team was honored with four specialty awards and 14 all-conference members. The 14 all-conference members sets a new program record.

P.J. Fleck – MAC Coach of the Year

Earning MAC Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three seasons was head coach P.J. Fleck who has led Western Michigan to its first 12-0 regular season in program history. Under Fleck's guidance, the Broncos finished 8-0 in league play and became the first team in MAC history to win each of its league games by 14+ points.

This year the Broncos have achieved 46 "nevers" in program history, including beating two B1G teams, becoming ranked in the Associated Press poll, USA Today Amway Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff Ranking. Earlier this season the Broncos hosted ESPN's College Gameday for the first time in program history and just the second time in MAC history. Fans have responded to the unprecedented success by setting a home attendance record with over 143,000 fans coming to Waldo Stadium this season.

With his Coach of the Year honor, Fleck becomes the 10^th coach in league history, and the first since Bob Pruett of Marshall in 1999 to win the honor multiple times. Fleck previously won in 2014, after guiding the Broncos to the best turnaround in league history going from 1-11 to 8-5.

Corey Davis – MAC Offensive Player of the Year

Corey Davis was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year for the first time in his career. Davis currently leads the FBS in receiving touchdowns with 17 and is seventh in receiving yards with 1,287.

Last week, Davis became the all-time leading receiver in FBS history with 5,068 yards. He is the first player in FBS history with 300 receptions, 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a career. This year he has set MAC career records for receptions (318), yards (5,061) and receiving touchdowns (50). Against Ball State he broke the Western Michigan record for most yards in a single game with 272.

Davis is now a four-time All-MAC player, including three straight seasons as a first-team selection. He is the first Bronco wide receiver to be named MAC Offensive Player of the Year since Greg Jennings in 2005 and just the second WMU wide receiver to earn the award in program history.

Darius Phillips – MAC Special Teams Player of the Year

Darius Phillips became the second Bronco in history earn MAC Special Teams Player of the Year and the first since kicker Brad Selent in 1998. Phillips has returned a kickoff and punt for a touchdown this season, making it three straight years he has done so in a career. He also returned his first punt for a touchdown in just his second return.

For his career, Phillips has 2,347 kickoff return yards, fifth most in MAC history. His three career kick returns for touchdowns are a new Western Michigan record and his yards are second most in program history. This season, Phillips' 718 kickoff return yards are seventh best in a single season at Western Michigan.

Phillips' punt return for a touchdown vs. North Carolina Central was the first by a Bronco since Greg Jennings did it in 2004.

Zach Terrell – Vern Smith Leadership Award

Senior quarterback Zach Terrell was honored with the 2016 Vern Smith Leadership Award. He is the first Western Michigan player to earn the honor since Greg Jennings in 2005 and just the fourth player in program history to earn the award.

This season Terrell has led the Broncos to the best season offensively speaking in program history, scoring a record 538 points, shattering the record set last season of 482. He has 30 touchdowns and just one interceptions, the best TD-INT ratio in FBS recorded history. Terrell was the last starting QB in the country this season to throw an interception, with his first coming in the seventh game at Akron.

For the season he is 228-of-318 yards for 3,086 yards along with the 30 TDs and just one INT. Earlier this month, he set the Western Michigan career passing record with 11,657 yards.

Along with his on the field accolades, Terrell has also been honored by the National Football Foundation as a finalist for the NFF Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was a semifinalist for the Wuerffel Trophy and has been a semifinalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Davey O'Brien Award and Manning Award.

All-Conference Selections

First-Team

Corey Davis – WR
Taylor Moton – OL
Chukwuma Okorafor - OL
Darius Phillips - CB

The Broncos had four All-MAC First-Team selections for the first time since 2000. It is the first time for Moton, Okorafor and Phillips to be named to the first-team while, it marks Davis' third straight first-team appearance.

Davis leads the MAC in receiving yards (1,283) and receiving touchdowns (17), while placing third in the league in total receptions with 83. His 83 receptions this season are 10^th most in a single season at Western Michigan. It marks the third straight year he has gone for 78 catches or more. This year he has four games of 100+ yards and has caught multiple touchdowns in a game six times. Against Northern Illinois, he had two touchdown grabs, including the No. 1 play on SportsCenter with a one-handed catch in the end zone.

Moton and Okorafor have led a Bronco offensive line that was ranked No. 4 in the country by Pro Football Focus. Western Michigan leads the league in rushing at 247.3 yards per game, good for 13^th overall in the country. The offensive line has allowed just 12 sacks this season, ninth fewest in the country. Last week the group was recognized by the Joe Moore Award as being a semifinalist for the best line in the country. This is the first time since 1976 the team has had two offensive linemen earn first-team honors.

Along with his special teams' skills, Phillips has also been a ballhawk in the secondary with four interceptions, just one off his total from last season. He has returned three of his interceptions for touchdowns this year, setting a new Western Michigan record and tying the MAC single season record with three and the MAC career record with four after returning an interception for a touchdown last season. Phillips has returned his interceptions for 263 yards, the most in the FBS this season.

Second-Team

Zach Terrell – QB
Jarvion Franklin - RB
John Keenoy – OL
Keion Adams – DL
Asantay Brown - LB
Robert Spillane - LB
Darius Phillips – KR/PR

For Terrell this is the third straight year he has earned All-MAC honors. He is fourth all-time in MAC history with 93 TD passes, which is also good for second-most in WMU history. He is currently tied for the lead among active FBS QBs with 93 TDs. He leads the country this season in completion percentage at 71.1, giving him a career completion percentage mark of 65.5, highest in Western Michigan history.

This is the second time Franklin has earned MAC honors after earning MAC Freshman of the Year and MAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2014 when he ran for 1,551 yards and 24 TDs. This year he topped himself in a single game as he set a new Bronco single-game record with 281 rushing yards against Akron. He has found the endzone 12 times this year, giving him 41 for his career, most by any Bronco.

This is also the second straight year Brown has been named All-MAC and the first time as a linebacker after moving from safety to linebacker in the offseason. Brown had the highlight of the night in Western Michigan's 55-35 win over Toledo on Friday, when he intercepted a pass on the very first play of the game and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown. This season, Brown has 81 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and the interception.

Spillane is on the MAC honor roll for the first time in his career after having to come back from a season-ending injury last season. He leads the Broncos in tackles with 98 and has 8.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and two interceptions. In the team's season-opener against Northwestern, Spillane forced a fumble in the endzone as time was running out, to give Western Michigan the 22-21 victory. With the forced fumble he was named MAC West Defensive Player of the Week for the first time of what would become four times this season. He also tackled a Kent State player in the end zone for a safety to break a 21-21 tie in the fourth quarter, as the Broncos went on to win 37-21.

Adams is receiving All-MAC honors for the first time in his career. He leads the league in tackles for loss with 17.0 and leads the Broncos in sacks with 7.5. He has constantly harassed opposing quarterbacks, registering 10 quarterback hurries and forced three fumbles. Against Toledo, Adams came from the blindside of quarterback Logan Woodside to force a fumble which set up an eventual score.

Keenoy has been the Broncos' protection caller since the beginning of his true freshman season last year. He has anchored the offensive line which leads the league in rushing and giving up just 1.0 sack per game. His selection gives the Broncos three All-MAC selections on the offensive line which ties for the most in program history, last done in 1990.

Phillips' selection is the second straight year he has been named to the second team and the third straight year overall he has earned All-MAC honor for his kick returning. He was a Freshman All-American in 2014.

Third-Team

Donnie Ernsberger – TE
Justin Ferguson – DB

The All-MAC selections for Ernsberger and Ferguson are the first for each of them. Ferguson was a first-time starter this season after primarily playing on special teams the last three years following his transfer from Notre Dame. He recorded three interceptions in 10 games this year, ranking fifth in the league.

Ernsberger has been known as more of a blocker for the majority of the season and is seen as the anchor to the Broncos 13^th-ranked rushing attack in the country. The last two weeks he has found himself involved in the passing game as well, recording a career-high three catches for 56 yards against Buffalo and another two catches for 23 yards and his first career touchdown last week vs. Toledo.