Utah Utes football: Utes' Sakoda named 1st team All-American

Utah kicker/punter Louie Sakoda has joined an elite fraternity. The senior became just the fourth player in University of Utah football history to be named a consensus All-American.

Sakoda added first-team All-American kicker honors from the Associated Press to his growing list of accolades. Previous All-American recognition has come from the American Football Coaches Association, the Walter Camp Foundation, and Football Writers Association of America. He's expected to add recognition from The Sporting News later today.

"Everybody knows what a valuable asset he has been to our football team," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. "All these postseason honors are very well deserved."

Sakoda joins defensive tackle Luther Elliss (1994), offensive tackle Jordan Gross (2002) and defensive back Eric Weddle (2006) as Utah's only consensus All-Americans.

"Very select company," Whittingham said. "That just speaks to his talent and how important he is to our football team."

Sakoda, a three-time Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Year and National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete, was a finalist for the Lou Groza (kicking) and Ray Guy (punting) awards. He'll complete his Utah career Jan. 2 against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Whittingham noted that players like Sakoda are special and don't come around very often.

"Certainly in my time as a football coach, he's without a doubt the best dual kicker that I've ever been around or ever seen."

Sakoda also received first-team All-American honors from SI.com on Tuesday. Teammates Robert Conley (offensive line) and Paul Kruger (defensive end) netted honorable mention recognition.

The players weren't alone in receiving accolades.

After leading the Utes to a 12-0 record and a berth in the Bowl Championship Series, Whittingham was named a finalist for the prestigious Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award. He's also in the running for the Liberty Mutual and Eddie Robinson coaching awards.

"It means we have good players. That's what it means," Whittingham said. "It means we've done a good job recruiting and our players have performed well on the field."

Other Bryant Award finalists include Mack Brown (Texas), Turner Gill (Buffalo), Mike Leach (Texas Tech), Houston Nutt (Mississippi), Chris Petersen (Boise State), Nick Saban (Alabama) and Bob Stoops (Oklahoma).

The winner will be announced on Jan. 15.

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E-mail: dirk@desnews.com