MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia defensive back Tykee Smith was named to the Football Writers Association of America’s Freshman All-American Team, which was announced Monday prior to the CFP national championship game.
Smith played in all 12 games for the Mountaineers, starting the final eight.
He was the Mountaineers’ fifth-leading tackler with 53, including 36 unassisted tackles, one sack, 2.5 tackles for loss and four pass breakups. Smith was second on the team in interceptions with two, returning one 19 yards for a touchdown against Iowa State. His long return of the season went for 39 yards at TCU on the opening drive of the game.
Smith registered seven tackles, including six solo stops, both season highs, at Kansas State and finished with five more tackles in seven games. He posted a season-high 1.5 tackles for loss and had his first career sack at Baylor.
Along with Smith, TCU’s Ar’Darius Washington (DB), Texas Tech’s Austin McNamara (P), Oklahoma’s Gabe Brkic (K) and Kansas State’s Josh Youngblood (KR) represented the Big 12 Conference on the team.
2019 Shaun Alexander FWAA Freshman All-America Team
OFFENSE
QB • Sam Howell, North Carolina (6-2, 225, Indian Trail, N.C.)
QB • Kedon Slovis, USC (6-2, 200, Scottsdale, Ariz.)
RB Javian Hawkins, Louisville (5-9, 182, Titusville, Fla.)
RB • Sincere McCormick, UTSA (5-9, 200, Converse, Texas)
WR • David Bell, Purdue (6-2, 210, Indianapolis, Ind.)
WR • C.J. Johnson, East Carolina (6-2, 229, Greenville, N.C.)
WR • Dante Wright, Colorado State (5-10, 165, Navarre, Fla.)
OL • Ikem Ekwonu, N.C. State (6-4, 308, Charlotte, N.C.)
OL Travis Glover, Georgia State (6-6, 330, Vienna, Ga.)
OL • Evan Neal, Alabama (6-7, 360, Okeechobee, Fla.)
OL • Sean Rhyan, UCLA (6-4, 323, Ladera Beach, Calif.)
OL Nick Rosi, Toledo (6-4, 290, Powell, Ohio)
OL • O’Cyrus Torrence, Louisiana-Lafayette (6-5, 342, Greensburg, La.)
DEFENSE
DL Solomon Byrd, Wyoming (6-4, 243, Palmdale, Calif.)
DL • George Karlaftis, Purdue (6-4, 265, West Lafayette, Ind.)
DL Gregory Rousseau, Miami (6-6, 251, Coconut Creek, Fla.)
DL • Kayvon Thibodeuax, Oregon (6-5, 242, Los Angeles, Calif.)
LB • Shane Lee, Alabama (6-0, 246, Burtonsville, Md.)
LB Azeez Ojulari, Georgia (6-3, 240, Marietta, Ga.)
LB Devin Richardson, New Mexico State (6-3, 233, Klein, Texas)
LB • Omar Speights, Oregon State (6-1, 233, Philadelphia, Pa.)
DB • Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati (6-2, 185, Detroit, Mich.)
DB • Kyle Hamilton, Notre Dame (6-4, 240, Atlanta, Ga.)
DB Verone McKinley III, Oregon (5-10, 192, Carrollton, Texas)
DB • Tykee Smith, West Virginia (5-10, 184, Philadelphia, Pa.)
DB • Derek Stingley Jr., LSU (6-1, 190, Baton Rouge, La.)
DB Ar’Darius Washington, TCU (5-8, 175, Shreveport, La.)
SPECIALISTS
P • Austin McNamara, Texas Tech (6-4, 175, Gilbert, Ariz.)
K • Gabe Brkic, Oklahoma (6-2, 175, Chardon, Ohio)
KR • Joshua Youngblood, Kansas State (5-10, 180, Tampa, Fla.)
PR Kyle Phillips, UCLA (5-11, 181, San Marcos, Calif.)
AP Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis (5-11, 183, Yazoo City, Miss.)