Vandals land Snyder, Barrow on All-WAC first-team, Smith on second in football

Idaho’s Cole Snyder and Mike Barrow were rewarded for their record-setting seasons by earning All-Western Athletic Conference first-team honors in football.

Snyder, a senior middle linebacker from Kamiah, piled up 139 tackles, third on Idaho’s single-season list. Snyder, who was first team All-Sun Belt last season, finished with 306 career tackles, ninth in school history.

“He’s very deserving of the honor after working extremely hard in the off-season and producing on the field,” Vandals assistant head coach Jeff Mills said.

Snyder had three interceptions, five sacks and 16 tackles-for-loss. He led the nation with 93 solo tackles.

Barrow, a junior kicker from Ventura, Calif., rebounded from a shaky sophomore season to make 16 of 19 field goals. His field goals set a single-season school record. Barrow has credited his turnaround in part to working with a UI sports psychologist and ex-Vandals kicker Mike Hollis.

Barrow also stepped in at punter when T.J. Conley broke his leg near midseason, averaging 42.1 yards per punt and launching a 77-yarder.

“It’s just a good example of a guy who works daily on the technique of his position, and he got a little confidence and with that came positive results,” Mills said.

Junior receiver Daniel Smith was selected to the second team. Smith had 67 catches for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns. He was 19th nationally with 6.7 receptions per game and 10th nationally at 100.1 yards per game.

Fresno State had eight first-team selections, including defensive player of the year Garrett McIntyre. Co-champion Boise State had three first-teamers, including repeaters Daryn Colledge and Korey Hall. Co-champ Nevada had five first-team selections, including offensive player of the year B.J. Mitchell, and coach of the year in Chris Ault. Hawaii receiver Davone Bess was named freshman of the year.