University of Houston Athletics
Eight Receive American Postseason Honors
11/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON - Eight members of the Houston Football program earned postseason honors from The American Athletic Conference led by freshman defensive tackle Ed Oliver earning Rookie of the Year honors, the league announced Wednesday.
Voted on by the league's coaches, Oliver was also a unanimous pick for The American's first team where he was joined by linebacker Steven Taylor and cornerback Howard Wilson.
The American's second team featured quarterback Greg Ward Jr., linebacker Tyus Bowser, cornerback Brandon Wilson and safety Garrett Davis. Wide receiver Linell Bonner received honorable mention honors.
Houston was second in The American with seven first and second team selections.
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Oliver, who was one of only two unanimous picks in the league, finished the regular season second in The American and eighth nationally with 19.5 tackles for loss and led all defensive linemen nationally with nine pass breakups. He finished the year fourth nationally among all defensive linemen with 43 solo tackles and was 14th among all defensive linemen nationally with 61 total tackles.
Named The American's Rookie of the Year, Oliver's 61 tackles led all freshmen in the league, regardless of position, and all freshmen defensive linemen nationally. His five sacks led all freshmen in The American while his nine pass breakups ranked fourth in the league, regardless of position. Oliver also led Houston and finished second in The American with three forced fumbles, a number that ranked second nationally among freshmen.
Taylor received all-conference honors from The American for the second straight year, bumping up to the first team after receiving second-team honors in 2015. Taylor led Houston with 72 stops in the 11 games he played in and was second on the team with 11 tackles for loss, resulting in a loss of 77 yards.
Taylor led Houston and was third in The American with 8.5 sacks and enters bowl season with 25.5 career sacks and 49 career tackles for loss, both fifth on the Houston career charts. The linebacker also had one interception, which he returned 74 yards for a touchdown at Cincinnati, and one fumble recovery to go along with two forced fumbles.
Houston's leader in interceptions, Howard Wilson picked off five passes this season to rank second in The American and eighth nationally. Wilson also broke up nine passes, ranking fourth in The American. The rangy sophomore cornerback had 49 tackles on the year including two for a loss of 16 yards and also recovered two fumbles. Wilson also returned one of his five interceptions 28 yards for a touchdown at Cincinnati.
Ward earned second team honors from The American for the second straight year after leading the league in passing with 3,328 yards despite missing Houston's second game of the year vs. Lamar. Ward also led The American in total offense with an average of 349.6 yards per game. He was third in the league with 22 passing touchdowns and seventh with nine rushing touchdowns.
Ward finished the year as the only player nationally to average over 300 yards passing (302.5) and over 40 yards rushing (47.1) per game. Over the last two seasons he ranks third nationally with 13 games with both passing and rushing touchdowns in the same game.
Despite missing five games with an injury, Bowser managed to rank fourth in The American with 7.5 sacks, part of a 10.5 tackles for loss that were 13th in the league. Bowser led Houston with nine quarterback hurries to go along with 40 tackles, three pass breakups and one forced fumble. With 20.5 career sacks, Bowser enters Houston's bowl game at No. 10 on the Houston career sacks chart.
Another Houston honoree despite missing a quarter of the season due to injury, Brandon Wilson had 42 tackles on year including four for loss and two sacks. The versatile defensive back broke up five passes and recorded a key interception in Houston's win over UCF while also forcing a fumble on the year. He also made his mark on special teams where he returned 17 kicks for 401 yards and returned a missed field goal 100 yards for a pivotal touchdown in Houston's win over then-No. 3 Oklahoma.
The third member of Houston's secondary to receive conference honors, Davis led the Houston defensive backs with 61 tackles on the year and was second among secondary players in The American with seven tackles for loss including three sacks, a number that led all defensive backs in league. Davis also added four pass breakups along with one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Bonner received honorable mention honors from the league coaches despite finishing third in The American with 93 receptions for 1,076 yards and three touchdowns. He became the 19th player in Houston history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for receiving in a season and currently ranks 15th on the single-season chart entering Houston's bowl game. His 93 receptions are the 10th-best single-season total in program history and he needs seven receptions in the bowl game to become the seventh player in program history to eclipse the century mark in a season.
Oliver's Rookie of the Year honor is Houston's second in The American's four seasons of existence after quarterback John O'Korn earned the honor in 2013.
