NEW HAVEN, Connecticut — BYU left tackle Brady Christensen was named to the 131st edition of the Walter Camp All-America first team on Thursday, while kicker Jake Oldroyd was named to the second team.
Christensen becomes the eighth Cougar to be a first-team selection by the nation’s oldest All-America team, joining Marc Wilson (1979), Gordon Hudson (1982 and 1983), Steve Young (1983), Ty Detmer (1990), Chris Smith (1990), Luke Staley (2001) and Dennis Pitta (2009).
A total of 26 players were selected to the 2020 Walter Camp first team by the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors.
Christensen has now earned first-team All-America recognition from seven sponsoring organizations this postseason to become the first Cougar to earn multiple first-team All-America honors since 2009 consensus All-America tight end Dennis Pitta. Christensen received first-team awards from Walter Camp, The Associate Press, USA TODAY Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, Pro Football Focus and Bleacher Report. He also received second-team honors from the AFCA, FWAA, The Sporting News, Phil Steele and The Athletic.
Having earned grades above 95.0 as both a pass-blocker and run-blocker throughout the regular 2020 season, the 6-foot-6 300-pound junior allowed just three pressures across 372 regular-season pass-blocking snaps and posted a 96.4 overall grade, which is on pace to break the PFF college record set by 2019 Outland Trophy winner Penei Sewell last season.
At left tackle, Christensen protected the blindside of All-America quarterback Zac Wilson. Together they led a BYU offense that currently ranks No. 4 in scoring (43.5 ppg) and No. 7 in total offense (522.2 ypg). USA TODAY called Christensen, “the unsung star of the nation’s fourth-best offense in yards per play.”
Oldroyd, who was one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award, is just the second Cougar to be named second-team All-America by Walter Camp, joining Kyle Van Noy who received the honor in 2013.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore, has been named All-America by four organizations including second-team honors from The Athletic and Walter Camp to go along with third-team recognition from AP and Phil Steele. Oldroyd is the first BYU kicker to earn All-America honors since Matt Payne in 2004.
Oldroyd finished the 2020 season a perfect 13-for-13 on field goals, the most by an FBS kicker without a miss this season. More than half of his kicks came from at least 40 yards out, including three from over 50. That gives him more 50-yard field goals in a perfect season than any FBS kicker since at least 2004.
While sharing the top spot in nation with a perfect percentage, Oldroyd also converted 60 of 62 extra points to tie for No. 2 nationally for the most PAT conversions, while his 99 total points in 2020 ranks No. 11 in the country. He made at least one field goal in nine of the 11 games he has played, including four games with multiple conversions.
The Cougars finished the 2020 season with an 11-1 record after a dominant 49-23 victory over UCF in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. BYU entered the bowl season ranked No. 13 in The Associated Press Top 25 and No. 15 in the Amway Coaches Poll.