Benger Repeats as PAC Offensive Player of the Year; Tartans Place 13 on All-PAC Team
(GREENVILLE, Pa.) – For the second consecutive year, junior Sam Benger (Hingham, Mass.) of the Carnegie Mellon University football team was named Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Offensive Player of the Year. In total 13 Tartans received All-PAC distinction for the 2016 season, as announced by the conference office following voting by the league coaches on Tuesday, November 15. Of the 13, three others join Benger on the first team, five on the second team and four were named honorable mention. After starting the season 2-3, the Tartans won their last five regular season contests to finish with a mark of 7-3 overall and 6-2 in the PAC, tied for third.
Benger currently ranks second among NCAA Division III counterparts with 23 rushing touchdowns and 150 total points scored. The junior is third with 1,581 rushing yards and fourth in rushing yards per game averaging 158.1. Benger's 23 rushing touchdowns surpassed his previous single-season school record of 22 set last season.
Benger, who became Carnegie Mellon's career rushing leader in the Tartans' win over Case Western Reserve, ranks fifth on the PAC's all-time rushing yards list (4,243), sixth in carries (704) and seventh in rushing touchdowns (46) in 31 career games.
Joining Benger on the first team are senior defensive lineman Brian Khoury (Davenport, Iowa/Bettendorf), senior placekicker Gabe Renna (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) and junior punter Tyler Kohman (Pataskala, Ohio/Columbus Academy). This marks Khoury's second straight first team accolade while Renna and Kohman are making their first appearance of the first team. Kohman was a second team honoree last season with Renna garnering honorable mention honors.
Khoury became the school's all-time sack leader earlier this season and currently has 29.5 sacks for his career. His 12.5 sacks this season leads the PAC and ranks fifth nationally. Khoury needs one sack to tie his single-season school record mark he accomplished a year ago. Khoury has a total of 15.5 tackles for a loss of 83 yards which is second-best in the PAC.
Renna has converted all 45 of his point-after-attempts this season and has made 11-of-13 field goals (.846) with a long of 42 yards. His .846 percentage is tops in the PAC and 10th nationally. The senior kicker has converted 46 consecutive PATs which is the second longest streak in PAC history. Earlier in the year, Renna broke the program's PAT record and has converted 107-of-111 (96%) for his career.
Kohman averages 42.7 yards per punt which ranks 10th nationally and second in the PAC. The junior has 11 punts of 50 yards or more including a season-best 57-yarder. Kohman has placed 18 of his 53 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
Of the five second team selections for the Tartans, three were on the offensive side of the ball including two linemen in seniors Luke Nealley (Frederick, Md.) and W. Tyler Reid (Lees Summit, Mo /Lees Summit West) who are joined by junior wide receiver John Prather (Olney, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel). Junior Stanley Bikulege (Greer, S.C./Saint Joseph's Catholic) is the lone defensive player on the second team while freshman William Richter (Leander, Texas/Cedar Park) joins the four as a return specialist.
Reid and Nealley have played a key part in blocking for one of the nation's top rushers. Over the past three seasons, both have started every game with Reid not missing a contest in his four-year career. The two fronted an offensive line that helped the Tartans reach the 500-yard mark of total offense in three games this season including a high of 573 against Washington University.
Prather became the program's single-season receiving leader following his career outing with 178 yards in the Tartans' win over Case Western Reserve. He currently has 1,011 yards receiving and ranks third in the PAC. His 59 receptions in 2016 is also a single-season-school record. Prather ranks second on the school's all-time receiving yards list with 1,931 and needs 225 yards to move into first all-time.
Bikulege leads the team with 96 tackles which ranks third in the conference. He also ranks third on the team with 3.5 sacks for a loss of 11 yards. His 96 tackles ranks ninth best in a single-season for the Tartans.
Richter has a combined 935 return yards and ranks seventh nationally and second in the conference. The freshman averages 13.1 yards per punt return and 24.7 yards per kick return which both rank second in the conference.
The Tartans Honorable Mention Honorees:
Offense:
Sophomore tight end Alex Miller
Defense:
Senior defensive lineman Jacob Bartel
Senior defensive lineman Jack Fagan
Junior corner back Jacob Johnson