Four Stanford student-athletes earned SI.com All-America football honors, as announced Tuesday. Andrus Peat headlined the group with his selection to the first team.
Senior strong safety Jordan Richards, senior wide receiver/kick returner Ty Montgomery and fifth-year senior defensive end Henry Anderson all earned honorable mention nods.
For Peat, the accolade continues a busy stretch for the left tackle from Chandler, Ariz., earning his fifth postseason honor. He also earned first team All-America honors from ESPN.com while garnering second team accolades from the Associated Press, CBS Sports and the Walter Camp Foundation.
Peat, a junior psychology major, anchored the Cardinal’s offensive line at left tackle in 2014.
Peat was the only returning starter from last season’s team on the line, teaming with four classmates in Stanford’s 2012 recruiting class for an all-junior unit that helped the Cardinal average 154.8 yards/game on the ground.
With Peat at left tackle, Stanford allowed only 22 sacks this season, 18 fewer than the Cardinal recorded on defense.
Peat was an Outland Trophy quarterfinalist, member of the All-Pac-12 first team and was on the USA Today, SI.com and Athlon’s preseason All-America first teams.
Peat has started 26 consecutive games since taking over the starting left tackle job for the 2013 season opener against San Jose State.
Richards hails from Folsom and majoring in public policy.
As a team captain in 2014, Richards earned a place on the All-Pac-12 first team with 76 tackles, three interceptions and three forced fumbles. An accomplished student-athlete, Richards received the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award in 2014 for his efforts on and off the field and was this year’s Pop Warner Award winner.
With Richards anchoring the secondary, Stanford’s defense had another successful season in 2014. The Cardinal limited opponents to 16.0 points a game, second in the nation behind Ole Miss. Stanford also held all 12 of its opponents below their season averages in passing yards and total offense.
Montgomery, a political science major from Dallas, Texas, led the Cardinal with 61 catches and 604 receiving yards in 2014. Montgomery averaged 128.6 all-purpose yards/game, bolstered by 21.6 punt return yards/game. On 12 punt returns, Montgomery averaged 19.8 yards/return with two touchdowns.
The Cardinal is 13-2 overall and 10-1 since 2013 when Montgomery scores at least one touchdown. Montgomery has scored four rushing touchdowns, 15 receiving touchdowns, two punt return touchdowns and three kickoff return touchdown in his Stanford career, adding up to 24 all-purpose scores.
Anderson, a political science major, has been an integral cog on the Cardinal defensive line.
Anderson has started 18 consecutive games and 34 games overall at defensive end for Stanford, and he leads the team with 14 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks in 2014. Anderson’s 62 tackles rank fourth on the team and are tops among Cardinal defensive linemen.
Anderson missed six games in 2013 after suffering a knee injury at Army, but he fought his way back onto the field against Oregon and contributed five tackles as Stanford’s defense blanked the Ducks out for three quarters and came away with a victory.
In 2012, Anderson played in every game, finishing with 50 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. With Anderson’s help, Stanford led the nation in sacks in 2012 and 2013.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics