KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- D'Wayne Eskridge was named the Mid-American Conference Special Teams Player of the Year for the 2020 campaign, with the Western Michigan football team earning 12 All-MAC nods in the end-of-year honors announced by the conference Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Eskridge was also a first team All-MAC selection at both wide receiver and kick returner. He was joined on the first team by OL Mike Caliendo, DL Ralph Holley and S Bricen Garner.

Second team All-MAC selections included OL Jaylon Moore, WR Skyy Moore and RB La'Darius Jefferson. Broncos on the third team were QB Kaleb Eleby, WR Jaylen Hall, LB Treshaun Hayward and P Nick Mihalic.

With 12 total selections, head coach Tim Lester's squad trailed only Ball State's 13 all-conference selections. In four seasons under Lester, WMU boasts 45 All-MAC selections, most in the league. Only Western Michigan (45) and Buffalo (40) have collected more than 32 all-conference honors in the time period (since 2017). Western Michigan has had at least seven All-MAC honorees in each of Lester's four years as head coach.

Eskridge was one of two players in the league with a kickoff return for a touchdown this season, while his 27.5 yards per kickoff return led the league among players with at least five returns. At receiver, Eskridge led the MAC in receiving yards (784), yards per game (130.7) and receiving touchdowns (eight). It marks the third time in the last five seasons a Bronco has collected Special Teams Player of the Year after Darius Phillips won it in 2016 and '17.

Caliendo (first team OL) and Jaylon Moore (second team OL) played in all six games this year and blocked for a Bronco offense that ranked fourth in the league in yards per game (479.7). The seven sacks allowed by the WMU offensive line were the fewest by any MAC team which played its full six-game season.

Playing at nose guard, Holley led the way for a Bronco defensive line which led the league with 19 sacks on the year. His 9.0 tackles for loss on the season tied for third in the MAC with teammate A.J. Thomas. At strong safety, Garner ranked in the top-15 in the conference in both pass break-ups (four) and total tackles (45).

Joining Jaylon Moore on the second team, Skyy Moore finished the year with 388 receiving yards and three TDs. Jefferson capped his season with 624 rushing yards, good for third in the MAC, and five rushing TDs.

Third-team Broncos included Eleby, Hall, Howard and Mihalic. Eleby led the league's QBs in efficiency at 195.1 He finished the year completing 64.7-percent of his passes for 1,715 yards and a MAC-best 18 TDs with just two interceptions. Hall was a big-play threat, averaging a conference-leading 26.9 yards per reception while his seven receiving TDs trailed only Skyy Moore. Hayward finished fifth in the conference with 58 total tackles. Mihalic averaged 42.7 yards per punt, with six pinning opponents inside their own 20-yard line and four going for longer than 50 yards with a long punt of 68 yards good for second in the MAC.

Buffalo's Lance Leipold was named MAC Coach of the Year, while UB running back Jaret Patterson took home Offensive Player of the Year and was the Verne Smith Leadership Award Winner. Ball State's Brandon Martin and Central Michigan's Troy Hairston were Co-Defensive Players of the Year and CMU's Lew Nichols III was named Freshman of the Year.

For a full list of 2020 MAC football honors, visit getsomemaction.com.