CLEVELAND – Ten members of the BYU football team earned Phil Steele All-Independent team honors on Friday.
First-team honorees included defensive lineman Corbin Kaufusi, defensive back Dayan Ghanwoloku, punter Jonny Linehan and punt returner Michael Shelton.
BYU had six more players earn a place on the second team. On offense, running back Squally Canada, tight end Matt Bushman and offensive lineman Tejan Koroma. Defensively, defensive lineman Sione Takitaki, linebacker Fred Warner and defensive back Micah Hannemann earned second-team recognition.
Kaufusi posted 67 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and led the team with six sacks. Ghanwoloku recorded 58 tackles and had two interceptions he returned for 105 yards.
Linehan averaged 42.9 yards per punt and dropped 26 punts inside the 20-yard line and had 10 of 50 or more. He helped BYU rank No. 12 in average punt return allowed at just 3.56 yards per return. Shelton returned 17 punts for 114 yards, ranking No. 36 nationally in punt return average (6.71) and No. 1 among independent teams.
Canada finished the year with 710 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He ran for a career-best 213 against UNLV. Bushman led all freshman tight ends in the FBS with 49 receptions and 520 yards to go along with his three touchdowns. He was named a freshman All-American by 247Sports, USA Today and Chat Sports.
Koroma was named a second-team All-American by Pro Football Focus after wrapping up his Cougar career with 13 more starts at center, giving him 51 starts in 51 career games played.
Takitaki led the team in tackles for loss with 12.5 and was second in total tackles (79) and sacks (5.0). Warner led the team in tackles with 87 and posted 9.0 tackles for loss, one interception, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Hannemann had 48 tackles and had one pick-six on an interception he returned 46 yards at Utah State.