Dec. 18, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The postseason honors continue to roll in for Western Kentucky University's Mel Mitchell, who was selected first-team All-America by both the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and the Associated Press Tuesday. He was also named to The Sports Network's postseason all-star squad yesterday.
Erik Dandy earned second-team AP honors and Chris Price was a third-team selection on the Associated Press' team.
A 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior free safety from Rockledge, Fla., Mitchell led all members of WKU's secondary with a career-best 116 tackles, adding two interceptions and two fumble recoveries to also earn first-team all-Gateway Football Conference honors. He also had a team-high nine passes broken up, ranking in the top 10 in the conference during the regular season, and was among the Gateway leaders with a pair of blocked kicks. Mitchell was credited with 10 or more tackles in seven games, including the last four, making a season-high 16 tackles against Gateway champion Northern Iowa while posting 14 at I-A Wisconsin.
His efforts helped the Topper defense lead the Gateway in rushing yards, passing yards, total yards and points allowed, ranking second in the country in the latter two categories.
He's the second WKU defensive back to be honored by the coaches - junior Bobby Sippio was a member of the AFCA team in 2000 - and the third Hilltopper in four years to be recognized by their organization.
Dandy, a first-team Sports Network All-American, ranked second in the Gateway in total tackles, finishing the year with 155 in his first season as a starter, en route to earning first-team all-conference honors. The 6-foot, 205-pound linebacker from Mansfield, Ohio, added 10 tackles for loss, including three sacks, and forced a team- and league-best four fumbles. Dandy was the Hilltoppers' leading tackler in eight games this year, including all five Gateway victories, and had 10 or more tackles in a team-high eight contests, with a career-best 19 stops at Wisconsin. He was selected the Gateway Defensive Player of the Week Oct. 27 after posting 18 tackles with two stops for loss including a sack and a key interception in a road victory at nationally-ranked Youngstown State.
Price, a 6-foot, 295-pound guard from Indianapolis, Ind., was honored as a second-team All-America by The Sports Network Monday. The senior, a first-team all-Gateway Conference selection, had an overall grade of 92 percent, an assignment grade of 98 percent and a factor grade of 93 percent. He was credited with a team-leading 115 pancake blocks and 31 decleaters, committing just two penalties on 729 snaps. Price - who was named Gateway Offensive Lineman of the Week on Oct. 20 - was a key member of an offensive line that helped WKU rank second in the nation in rushing this season with 303.18 yards per game, as the Hilltoppers led the Gateway in rushing offense and were second in scoring offense.
WKU finished the 2001 season 8-4, 5-2 and tied for second in its first year in the Gateway Conference, reaching the NCAA I-AA playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons. The Hilltoppers have won 45 of their last 62 games (72.3 percent), and have posted six consecutive winning seasons, the third-longest streak in 83 years of football on the Hill.
- WKU -
