Thompson, Kikaha CBS Sports First Team All-Americans
December 10, 2014 | Football
In the first of several All-America teams to be announced in the coming days, Washington linebackers Shaq Thompson and Hau'oli Kikaha were named to the CBS Sports All-America First Team. Defensive tackle Danny Shelton was named to the second team.
Thompson and Kikaha are the 54th and 55th Huskies to earn first team All-America honors. The last time a Husky landed on a first team All-America list was Mason Foster in 2010. The last two Husky teammates that were first team All-Americans in the same season were offensive linemen Benji Olson and Olin Kreutz in 1997.
Kikaha finished the regular season with a school record 18.0 sacks and 24.0 tackles for loss. He is also the Washington career record holder with 35 sacks. He had at least one sack in 12 of 13 games.
Kikaha is a finalist for the Lombardi Award, Butkus Award, Lott IMPACT Trophy, Ted Hendricks Award and Polynesian Player of the Year. He was also a semi-finalist for the Bednarik Award. The senior from Laie, Hawai'i was also 2014 All-Pac-12 First Team, Academic All-Pac-12 First Team and a CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII.
Thompson made an impact on both sides of the ball for the Huskies this year. On defense, the junior scored four times – three on fumble recoveries and one on an interception. He finished the regular season with 71 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, four pass breakups, five pass defenses, three forced fumbles and a Pac-12 leading four fumble recoveries. Offensively, Thompson rushed for 456 yards on 61 attempts for a team-best 7.5 yards per carry. He rushed for two touchdowns and eclipsed 100 yards on the ground twice and had 98 yards in a third game.
Thompson, from Sacramento, Calif., is a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award, which will be announced on Friday. He was also a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and Walter Camp Award. He earned All-Pac-12 First Team honors as both a linebacker and all-purpose/special teams player.
Shelton, a senior from Auburn, Wash., was second among Huskies with 89 tackles and 16.5 tackles for loss, and ranked third on the team with 9.0 sacks. He also tied for the Pac-12 lead with four fumble recoveries. Shelton spearheaded a defensive line that ranked second in the conference allowing 121.9 rushing yards per game.
Shelton was a Bednarik Award Semifinalist, 2014 All-Pac-12 First Team and Academic All-Pac-12 First Team. He also was named CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, the first Husky to be so honored since 1991.
2014 CBS Sports All-America First Team
QB: Marcus Mariota, Oregon
RB: Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
RB: Tevin Coleman, Indiana
WR: Amari Cooper, Alabama
WR: Kevin White, West Virginia
TE: Nick O'Leary, Florida State
OT: Brandon Scherff, Iowa
OT: Cameron Erving, Florida State
OG: Tre Jackson, Florida State
OG: A.J. Cann, South Carolina
C: Reese Dismukes, Auburn
DE: Joey Bosa, Ohio State
DE: Shane Ray, Missouri
DT: Michael Bennett, Ohio State
DT: Malcom Brown, Texas
LB: Scooby Wright, Arizona
LB: Shaq Thompson, Washington
LB: Hau'Oli Kikaha, Washington
CB: Senquez Golson, Ole Miss
CB: Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida
S: Gerod Holliman, Louisville
S: Landon Collins, Alabama
K: Roberto Aguayo, Florida State
P: Tom Hackett, Utah
KR: JJ Nelson, UAB
PR: Kaelin Clay, Utah
All-Purpose: Tyler Lockett, Kansas State
2014 CBS Sports All-America Second Team
QB: Trevone Boykin, TCU; RB: Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska; RB: James Conner, Pittsburgh; WR: Rashard Higgins, Colorado State; Jaelen Strong, Arizona State; TE: Maxx Williams, Minnesota; OT: Spencer Drago, Baylor, Andrus Peat, Stanford; OG: Josue Matias, Florida State; Arie Kouandjio; C: Hroniss Grasu, Oregon.
DE: Leonard Williams, USC; DE: Vic Beasley, Clemson; DT: Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss; Danny Shelton, Washington; LB: Eric Kendricks, UCLA; Trey DePriest, Alabama; Denzel Perryman, Miami; CB: Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon; CB: Ronald Darby, Florida State; S: Darian Thompson, Boise State; S: Cody Prewitt, Ole Miss
K: Josh Lambert, West Virginia; P: Austin Rehkow, Idaho; KR: Alex Ross, Oklahoma; PR: Tyler Lockett, Kansas State; All-Purpose: Ty Montgomery, Stanford
