Two Pre-Season All-Americans and more....

[TimothyC3]

White, De Jesus Earn Preseason All-America To Lead 14 Rebels Honored By Phil Steele
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LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV football has a pair of preseason All-Americans heading into the 2024 campaign as wide receiver Ricky White III (Second Team) and return man Jacob De Jesus (Third Team) were named by Phil Steele College Football Preview magazine Tuesday.

The Rebels also had 14 players on Phil Steele's Preseason All-Mountain West/Pac-2 Teams, including a league-leading seven First Team selections.

White is college football's leading returning receiver after finishing with a school-record 1,483 yards last fall. He tied the UNLV mark for receptions in season with 88 and became the first Rebel ever to post five consecutive games with at least 100 receiving yards. In 2023, White was named First Team All-America by the Action Network, Second Team by the College Football Network and Third Team by Associated Press, becoming just the second UNLV WR to appear on an AP team in history and first since 1981.

De Jesus, who also plays receiver, led the nation in total return yards with 1,079. The only player to rank in the top 15 nationally in both kick returns and punt returns, his 96-yard kickoff return in the season opener was the fourth-longest in UNLV history while his 59-yard punt return at New Mexico was the longest by a Rebel since 2003. One of three finalists for the 2023 Jet Award, given to the country's best returner, De Jesus last year earned Second Team All-America from USA TODAY and Action Network along with Third Team from Phil Steele.

De Jesus was named Preseason All-MW/Pac-2 at both kickoff return and punt return and joining him and White on the First Team was offensive linemen Tiger Shanks and Jalen St. John, linebacker Jackson Woodard and cornerback Cameron Oliver.

Defensive lineman Jalen Dixon and punter Marshall Nichols were on Phil Steele's Second Team while running back Jai'Den "Jet" Thomas, tight end Kaleo Ballungay, center Jack Hasz and safety Jalen Catalon (a transfer from Texas) were Third Team picks. Linebacker Marsel McDuffie rounded out the Rebel contingent on the Fourth Team.

 

[rebel5280]

Maybe Odom can get a few guys to the NFL draft someday!

 

[ckfitz]

Maybe Odom can get a few guys to the NFL draft someday!

How long has it been?

 

[Couev]

How long has it been?

Joe Hawley I think, 2010.

 

[RebelScrub]

Who’s everyone’s favorite player on the team?

I like black Jesus but gotta roll with Balungay.

This will be our best squad of all time.

 

[dcut03]

White, De Jesus Earn Preseason All-America To Lead 14 Rebels Honored By Phil Steele​

​

Story Links​

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV football has a pair of preseason All-Americans heading into the 2024 campaign as wide receiver Ricky White III (Second Team) and return man Jacob De Jesus (Third Team) were named by Phil Steele College Football Preview magazine Tuesday.

The Rebels also had 14 players on Phil Steele's Preseason All-Mountain West/Pac-2 Teams, including a league-leading seven First Team selections.

White is college football's leading returning receiver after finishing with a school-record 1,483 yards last fall. He tied the UNLV mark for receptions in season with 88 and became the first Rebel ever to post five consecutive games with at least 100 receiving yards. In 2023, White was named First Team All-America by the Action Network, Second Team by the College Football Network and Third Team by Associated Press, becoming just the second UNLV WR to appear on an AP team in history and first since 1981.

De Jesus, who also plays receiver, led the nation in total return yards with 1,079. The only player to rank in the top 15 nationally in both kick returns and punt returns, his 96-yard kickoff return in the season opener was the fourth-longest in UNLV history while his 59-yard punt return at New Mexico was the longest by a Rebel since 2003. One of three finalists for the 2023 Jet Award, given to the country's best returner, De Jesus last year earned Second Team All-America from USA TODAY and Action Network along with Third Team from Phil Steele.

De Jesus was named Preseason All-MW/Pac-2 at both kickoff return and punt return and joining him and White on the First Team was offensive linemen Tiger Shanks and Jalen St. John, linebacker Jackson Woodard and cornerback Cameron Oliver.

Defensive lineman Jalen Dixon and punter Marshall Nichols were on Phil Steele's Second Team while running back Jai'Den "Jet" Thomas, tight end Kaleo Ballungay, center Jack Hasz and safety Jalen Catalon (a transfer from Texas) were Third Team picks. Linebacker Marsel McDuffie rounded out the Rebel contingent on the Fourth Team.

Yet still, I keep seeing publications saying that Boise is the "clear favorite" to win the conference.

Because of their overlwhelming talent? Ok, maybe not. Their heavily experienced head coach? Oh, whoops 0 for 2. Their... I don't know what else?

Boise will be good, and they have possibly the best player in the league in Jeanty and probably the best O-Line. (We may have more players with accolades, but they return everyone and performed better as a unit last season).

But people are either not looking close enough and picking based off of reputation (most likely), or just haters?

 

[Masked_rebel]

Yet still, I keep seeing publications saying that Boise is the "clear favorite" to win the conference.

Because of their overlwhelming talent? Ok, maybe not. Their heavily experienced head coach? Oh, whoops 0 for 2. Their... I don't know what else?

Boise will be good, and they have possibly the best player in the league in Jeanty and probably the best O-Line. (We may have more players with accolades, but they return everyone and performed better as a unit last season).

But people are either not looking close enough and picking based off of reputation (most likely), or just haters?

Boise gets picked because its the easy pick. Requires 0 effort to say "Its Boise's league to lose" and publish an article about a Good RB and a former 5 star QB transfer(who might not even be the starter)... and there's 0 accountability in return for lazy preseason predictions. Personally and I've said it multiple times, they got baited into hiring a less than qualified HC(only 6 years of experience at D1) for the level of program Boise is supposedly at because he flipped their season back to something salvageable. I get he was a Boise guy and his ability to win at the end of the year definitely put them in a bind with the coaching situation, but Im not sure hes at the level that people are putting him at and it will still need to be seen how he runs a program.
Again, had we not lost Maiava, we might even be ranked in the preseason, thats how big a loss your incumbent starter is with respect to preseason expectations. Our team got deeper and better at every position it seemed and except for the battle at QB, were a better team with a favorable schedule.

 

[dcut03]

Boise gets picked because its the easy pick. Requires 0 effort to say "Its Boise's league to lose" and publish an article about a Good RB and a former 5 star QB transfer(who might not even be the starter)... and there's 0 accountability in return for lazy preseason predictions. Personally and I've said it multiple times, they got baited into hiring a less than qualified HC(only 6 years of experience at D1) for the level of program Boise is supposedly at because he flipped their season back to something salvageable. I get he was a Boise guy and his ability to win at the end of the year defiantly put them in a bind with the coaching situation, but Im not sure hes at the level that people are putting him at and it will still need to be seen how he runs a program.
Again, had we not lost Maiava, we might even be ranked in the preseason, thats how big a loss your incumbent starter is with respect to preseason expectations. Our team got deeper and better at every position it seemed and except for the battle at QB, were a better team with a favorable schedule.

Agree 100%.

Their coach hadn't been there that long, and he is a disciple of their worst coach in decades. And Avalos was a defensive minded head coach, so it is hard to say how much Danielson had to their success on the defensive side of the ball.

He rallied the team last year, and they got better as soon as he took over. That is great. But there are a lot of factors. Getting a head coach fired can really get your attention. We see it a lot, where that kind of change can really spark and motivate the team.

But that type of thing is a flash in a pan. Hard to say for certain they continue to play at that level of above.

If I were a Boise fan, I would be disappointed with the hire. They are a name program and could have landed a more experienced "sure thing" type of coach.

Already he was named as one of the top coaches in the league a few places. Odom was conference coach of the year, and national coach of the year finalist. Even with him, I would like to see more to see what happens. I feel very confident in his abilities, but also don't think he should be crowned king of the league just yet.

 

[1Tripoda]

"were a better team with a favorable schedule", our sos should be higher than last year. If you are talking about our conference schedule then yes.

 

[Masked_rebel]

"were a better team with a favorable schedule", our sos should be higher than last year. If you are talking about our conference schedule then yes.

thats what I'm referring to... Its much more favorable out of the entire conference who and where we play.

 

[bcvegaspt2]

San Diego State isn't getting picked towards the bottom of the league which is surprising me. They will likely be better than last season but they were a disaster last season. They will be better than UNM, I think.

 

[1Tripoda]

San Diego State isn't getting picked towards the bottom of the league which is surprising me. They will likely be better than last season but they were a disaster last season. They will be better than UNM, I think.

UNM made a great HC hire, I dont know if SDSU will be better?

 

[Masked_rebel]

Both those teams may see improvement, but they both need roster overhauls and even though UNM has a better HC hire, I think they have a harder time with the roster overhaul due to their programs historical $truggle$.

 

[lvrebalum2012]

San Diego State isn't getting picked towards the bottom of the league which is surprising me. They will likely be better than last season but they were a disaster last season. They will be better than UNM, I think.

A lot of pundits are really high on SDSU’s new HC. I think he may be good, but they’re doing a complete 180 on emphasizing offense vs defense. It will be interesting to see the results, but I wouldn’t expect a big improvement from them until at least year 2.

 

[Rebel1986]

A lot of pundits are really high on SDSU’s new HC. I think he may be good, but they’re doing a complete 180 on emphasizing offense vs defense. It will be interesting to see the results, but I wouldn’t expect a big improvement from them until at least year 2.

Only programs with great coaches see a first year turn around like UNLV! Strange to see UNLV with the quick turn around program after decades of struggles. A great year two is needed to cement the UNLV program in at the top of the MWC!

 

[1Tripoda]

Only programs with great coaches see a first year turn around like UNLV! Strange to see UNLV with the quick turn around program after decades of struggles. A great year two is needed to cement the UNLV program in at the top of the MWC!

A great turnaround would have been 2-4 wins but UNLV went further than that. That was a seismic shift. Most of us could not foresee that. The UNM Coach can have the same impact if this staff is solid enough.

Just my opinion ok? I think UNM finished in the top half of the MWC teams. I thought Fresno would finish 1st until the sudden retirement of Tedford. Then it was UNLV. Third would be Boise. Now I think, UNLV then Boise then UNM..

 

[dcut03]

A great turnaround would have been 2-4 wins but UNLV went further than that. That was a seismic shift. Most of us could not foresee that. The UNM Coach can have the same impact if this staff is solid enough.

Just my opinion ok? I think UNM finished in the top half of the MWC teams. I thought Fresno would finish 1st until the sudden retirement of Tedford. Then it was UNLV. Third would be Boise. Now I think, UNLV then Boise then UNM..

We need to stop pretending that UNLV was in awful position before Odom came in. Arroyo was not a good head coach, but he was a pretty good recruiter. Near the top in the conference in more than one year. And we didn't lose that many players once he left either.
Odom is a better coach obviously. He is also very smart. He hired an OC that runs an offense that can work with different types of pieces. Odom had a much bigger impact on the defense which went from bad to serviceable/ pretty good at times. That with a pretty easy schedule that ended up little tougher than in looked initially and we had a breakout year.
Both UNM and SDSU are in much different situations. UNM has been awful with terrible returning talent. SDSU had some talent but was a defensive minded team with a terrible offense.
Both coaches teams are looking at closer to full rebuilds (especially UNM). I would also put SJSU in the same category with losing their coach and a ton of players and what seems to be a notable change in playing style
On the other hand, Odom inherited a much, much better situation. He didn't do a miracle one year turnaround as he is often given credit for in this site. Odom has done an outstanding job though. And he is recruiting at another level and we have arguably the most talent in the conference this season which is in itself a miracle.he also deserves credit for using talent that we already had for immediate success and not dumping players in the name of fit/playing style

 

[Masked_rebel]

Agree, We were a competent HC away from being a decent program... for multiple years and especially once we got into the Practice Facility and Allegiant. UNM doesnt have the $ to invest in those kind of facilities, their talent is atrocious, and theyre fighting bad history. Mendenhall might be a slam dunk hire for UNM, but thats still within a limited via of what success means. SDSU on the other hand tried to play QB with a CB. Not a great idea. We saw what happens when your team gets a competent coach and QB. Its the same story at schools like Fresno, Boise, and SJSU. SJSU will take a huge step back with the loss of their coach and what 4 year starter Cordiero. I think out of shear schedule plus the bottom half of the conference has to play each other someone will have a better than expected season, but I wouldnt be calling for UNM to jump from 10th to 3rd just based off how we turned things around last year...