ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Five Navy defensive players and one specialist were named to the American Athletic All-Conference teams it was announced today by the league office, while the Navy offense got two honorable mention selections. The all-conference teams are selected by the league's 14 head coaches.
Tulane (7-1 in the AAC) led the way with 17 all-league selections, while Army (8-0) had 11 and Memphis (6-2, lost to Navy) had 10. Navy's (6-2) 6 selections were tied with East Carolina (5-3) and UAB (2-6) for fourth.
Junior nose guard
Landon Robinson, senior linebacker
Colin Ramos and senior safety
Rayuan Lane III were named First-Team All-American Athletic Conference.
Senior defensive end
Justin Reed, senior corner
Dashaun Peele and senior punter
Riley Riethman were named to the second team.
The Mids did not have a player selected to the third team, while senior tackle
Connor McMahon and junior guard
Ben Purvis were named honorable mention all-conference.
Robinson, in his first year as a starter, has been a dominant force on the defensive line with 43 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, a team-high tying 4.5 sacks, 6 quarterback hurries, 1 forced fumble and 1 blocked kick. His 4.5 sacks are tied for the most on the team, while his 6 quarterback hurries were the most on the team. This is his first all-conference selection.
This is the second time Ramos has been named First-Team All-AAC, as he was also named to the first team in 2023. Ramos leads Navy in tackles for a second-consecutive year with 110 stops, while he has also recorded 8 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, 2 pass breakups, 3 quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. Ramos is eighth in the country in tackles per game in 2024 (10.0), while his 20 tackles vs. Memphis are tied for the second most in the FBS this year. Ramos is the first Navy player since Ross Pospisil (2008-09) to record back-to-back 100-tackle seasons, while he needs just 20 tackles in the last two games to tie Clint Bruce and Marc Firlie for fifth on Navy's career tackle list.
Lane III was named First-Team All-AAC for the first time in his career, as he was named to the third team in 2023. He is third on the team in tackles with 61, has 2 interceptions (including a memorable one against Memphis that he returned for a touchdown to seal the upset over the Tigers), has broken up 3 passes and has 3 forced fumbles. Lane III, who has started 41-consecutive games at safety which is the most by any safety in the FBS, is rated as the sixth-best safety in the FBS by Pro Football Focus. He has the second and fifth-longest interception returns for a touchdown in school history.
Reed is having his second-consecutive outstanding season at defensive end and was recognized with a second-team honor. Reed leads the Mids in tackles for a loss (8.5) and is tied with Robinson for the team lead in sacks with 4.5 to go along with his 35 tackles, 1 pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Peele, who received honorable mention honors last year by the coaches, earned second team honors in 2024 thanks to his team-high 4 interceptions and 5 pass breakups. He has recorded 39 tackles on the year with 3.5 tackles for a loss and 2 sacks. Peele is tied for fourth in the country in interceptions per game and is tied for first in the FBS with 2 interceptions returned for a touchdown. His 2 interception returns for a touchdown are also the most in school history, while his 9-career interceptions rank seventh in school history.
Riethman, who was named First-Team All-AAC last year, was named to the second team this year despite leading the conference in punting and ranking fifth nationally with his 46.0-yard average. His career punting average of 44.4 yards per punt ranks as the best in school history. Riethman holds 3 of the 4 best single-season punting averages in Navy history and 4 of the 5 best single-game punting averages in school history.
McMahon and Purvis earned honorable mention honors for the first time, as they were stalwarts on the offensive line for an offense that scored 355 points in the first 11 games in 2024 after scoring just 212 points in 12 games last year. Navy is averaging 247.4 rushing yards per game in 2024, which ranks eighth nationally and is No. 2 in the country in red zone touchdown percentage (80.0 percent). McMahon is ranked as the ninth best offensive tackle in the FBS and the best in the AAC by Pro Football Focus and is ranked as the best pass blocker in the FBS by PFF.
Navy, who was predicted to finish 11
th in the preseason, finished third with a 6-2 mark. In addition to Navy, there were 7 teams in the league that finished with a .500 record or better in the conference and the Mids played 5 of them, going 4-1.
Navy is currently 8-3 overall despite being the only team in the FBS to play just 2 home games in its final 9 contests. The Mids will play Army in America's Game, the 125
th playing of the Army-Navy game presented by USAA on Saturday, Dec. 14 at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md.
Final Conference Standings
Team (1st team all-league selections, 2nd team, 3rd team=total)
Army: 8-0 (4, 5, 2=11)
Tulane: 7-1 (4, 8, 5=17)
Navy: 6-2 (3, 3,0=6)
Memphis: 6-2 (7, 0, 3=10)
East Carolina: 5-3 (0, 3, 3=6)
USF: 4-4 (1, 1, 1=3)
UTSA: 4-4 (2, 2, 1=5)
Charlotte: 4-4 (0, 1, 1=2)
North Texas: 3-5 (1, 1, 3=5)
Rice: 3-5 (0, 1, 0=1)
UAB: 2-6 (3, 0, 3=6)
Temple: 2-6 (2, 3, 0=5)
FAU: 1-7 (0, 0, 3=3)
Tulsa: 1-7 (0, 0, 3=3)
2024 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL AWARDS
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bryson Daily, QB, Army
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jimmori Robinson, LB, UTSA
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jonah Delange, K, UAB
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Joseph Williams, WR, Tulsa
COACH OF THE YEAR
Jeff Monken, Army
ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
Pos. Player School
WR Roc Taylor
Memphis
WR DT Sheffield North Texas
WR Dante Wright Temple
OT Xavier Hill Memphis
OT Derrick Graham Tulane
OG Bill Katsigiannis Army
OG Shadre Hurst Tulane
C Brady Small Army
TE Anthony Landphere Memphis
QB Bryson Daily Army
RB Mario Anderson Jr. Memphis
RB Makhi Hughes Tulane
DL Desmond Little UAB
DL William Whitlow Memphis
DL Landon Robinson Navy
DL Patrick Jenkins Tulane
LB Chandler Martin Memphis
LB Colin Ramos Navy
LB Tyquan King Temple
LB Jimmori Robinson UTSA
CB Davion Ross Memphis
CB Zah Frazier UTSA
S Max DiDomenico Army
S Rayuan Lane Navy
K Jonah Delange UAB
P Andrew Stokes South Florida
RS Kam Shanks UAB
ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
Pos. Player School
WR O'Mega Blake Charlotte
WR Chase Sowell East Carolina
WR Mario Williams Tulane
OT Connor Finucane Army
OT Lucas Scott Army
OG Paolo Gennarelli Army
OG Josh Remetich Tulane
C Vincent Murphy Tulane
TE Oscar Cardenas UTSA
QB Chandler Morris North Texas
RB Kanye Udoh Army
RB Rahjai Harris East Carolina
DL Kyle Lewis Army
DL Justin Reed Navy
DL Decarius Hawthorne South Florida
DL Diwun Black Temple
LB Zakye Barker East Carolina
LB D.J. Woodbury Temple
LB Martavius French UTSA
LB Tyler Grubbs Tulane
LB Sam Howard Tulane
CB Dashaun Peele Navy
CB Micah Robinson Tulane
S Gabriel Taylor Rice
S Bailey Despanie Tulane
K Maddux Trujillo Temple
P Riley Riethman Navy
RS Rayshawn Pleasant Tulane
ALL-CONFERENCE THIRD TEAM
Pos. Player School
WR Kam Shanks UAB
WR Sean Atkins South Florida
WR Kamdyn Benjamin Tulsa
OT Parker Moorer East Carolina
OT Rah Green Tulane
OG Jonah Gambill Memphis
OG Walter Young Bear Tulsa
C Trent Holler Memphis
TE Alex Bauman Tulane
QB Seth Henigan Memphis
RB Lee Beebe Jr. UAB
RB CJ Campbell Jr. Florida Atlantic
DL Demon Clowney Charlotte
DL Brandon Brown UTSA
DL Kam Hamilton Tulane
DL Adin Huntington Tulane
LB Michael Moore UAB
LB Elo Modozie Army
LB Andon Thomas Army
LB Jaylen Smith North Texas
LB Gavin Potter Tulsa
CB Ridge Texada North Texas
CB Caleb Ransaw Tulane
S Omar Rogers East Carolina
S CJ Heard Florida Atlantic
K Stephen Rusnak Charlotte
P Logan Lupo Florida Atlantic
RS DT Sheffield North Texas
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION
Pos. Player School
WR Amare Thomas UAB
LB Kalib Fortner Army
CB Dontae Balfour Charlotte
OG Kendall Stanley Charlotte
DL JD Lampley East Carolina
WR Anthony Smith East Carolina
RS Winston Wright East Carolina
OT Connor McMahon Navy
OG Ben Purvis Navy
DL Rod Brown North Texas
OT Landon Peterson North Texas
RB Dean Connors Rice
CB Sean Fresch Rice
WR Matt Sykes Rice
DL Bernard Gooden South Florida
RB Kelley Joiner South Florida
OG Cory Godinet UTSA
LB Jamal Ligon UTSA
K Tate Sandell UTSA
WR Yulkeith Brown Tulane
WR Joseph Williams Tulsa
