FARMINGTON, Utah — Five Sacramento State football players were named to the all-Big Sky Conference teams, it was announced today. The group is comprised of Jackson Slater and Will Leota on the first team, Jared Gipson on the second and Elijah Tau-Tolliver and Zach Schreiner as honorable mention.
 
Slater earned first team honors for the third consecutive season, becoming just the fifth player in school history to do so and the first offensive lineman. The guard debuted in the Hornet lineup during the fourth game of the 2021 season and started 44 consecutive games until an injury cut his 2024 campaign. Slater has already been invited to compete at the 2025 East-West Shrine Game and is on the Reese's Senior Bowl watch list.
 
Leota garnered all-league honors for the fourth time in his career and first time in the Big Sky. The linebacker led the team with 94 total tackles during the year, including 9.5 for loss. Leota was credited with at least five tackles in the final 11 games of the year and had 10 or more stops in four games. He was one of two Sacramento State players who recorded an interception, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble during the year. Prior to coming to Sacramento State, Leota was named second team all-WAC in 2021, first team in 2022 and second team all-United Athletic Conference in 2023.
 
Gipson earned second team all-Big Sky accolades for the second consecutive year. He set career highs during the year with 56 receptions, 797 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns. Gipson caught at least one pass in every game and had five or more grabs in five contests. He wide receiver had a pair of 100-yard games as he posted 138 at Fresno State and 130 at Cal Poly. He finished his career ranked sixth in school history with 2,218 receiving yards and 147 receptions and is tied for sixth with 17 career receiving touchdowns.
 
Tau-Tolliver led the team with 950 yards and seven rushing scores during the year. The junior opened the season by surpassing 100 rushing yards in three of the first four games and crossed the century mark in five of the first eight games before being slowed by an injury. His season was highlighted by a career high 141 rushing yards and three scores and catching 11 passes for 85 yards in the overtime victory over Weber State. He led the team with 1,267 all-purpose yards during the year for an average of 115.2 yards per game.
 
Schreiner was the team's leading scorer with 97 points as the senior made 19-of-23 field goal attempts and all 40 of his extra point attempts. His 19 field goals were the second most in school history and included eight makes between 40-49 yards. Despite playing just two years with the Hornets, Schreiner finished his career ranked fifth in school history with 27 field goals, is sixth with 89 extra points and 10^th with 188 career points. His 11 career field goals of at least 40 yards places him third in the Hornet record book and he became the only Sacramento State kicker to not miss a PAT with at least 30 attempts (89-89).
 
2024 Big Sky Football Individual Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Tommy Mellott, Montana State
Defensive Player of the Year: Brody Grebe, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year: Ty Pennington, Northern Arizona
Freshman of the Year: Adam Jones, Montana State
Coach of the Year: Brent Vigen, Montana State
 
First Team All-Big Sky Offense 
QB: Tommy Mellott, Montana State
RB: Lan Larison, UC Davis*
RB: Scottre Humphrey, Montana State
FB: Rohan Jones, Montana State
WR: Efton Chism III, Eastern Washington
WR: Jeff Weimer, Idaho State
WR: Christian Fredericksen, Idaho State
TE: Bryzai White, Northern Arizona*
TE: Winston Williams, UC Davis
OL: Marcus Wehr, Montana State*
OL: Jackson Slater, Sacramento State*
OL: Conner Moore, Montana State
OL: Brandon Casey, Montana
OL: Wyatt Hansen, Eastern Washington 
OL: Ayden Knapik, Idaho
AP: Michael Wortham, Eastern Washington
 
First Team All-Big Sky Defense
DL: Brody Grebe, Montana State*
DL: Keyshawn James-Newby, Idaho
DL: Elijah Ponder, Cal Poly 
DL: Dallas Afalava, Idaho
DL: Zach Kennedy, UC Davis
LB: McCade O'Reilly, Montana State
LB: David Meyer, UC Davis
LB: Jaxton Eck, Idaho
LB: Tommy Ellis, Northern Arizona
LB: Will Leota, Sacramento State
DB: Rex Connors, UC Davis*
DB: Alex McLaughlin, Northern Arizona*
DB: Tommy McCormick, Idaho
DB: Andrew Marshall, Idaho
DB: Kavir Bains, UC Davis
DB: Rylan Ortt, Montana State
 
First Team All-Big Sky Specialists 
KR: Junior Bergen, Montana
PR: Taco Dowler, Montana State
K: Gabe Panikowski, Idaho State
P: Hunter Green, Northern Colorado
ST: Dwayne McDougle, Idaho 
 
Second Team All-Big Sky Offense 
QB: Miles Hastings, UC Davis
RB: Damon Bankston, Weber State
RB: Eli Gillman, Montana
FB: Austin York, Eastern Washington
WR: Jacob Sharp, Weber State
WR: Jared Gipson, Sacramento State
WR: Keelan White, Montana
WR: Jordan Dwyer, Idaho 
TE: Mike Martinez, Idaho
TE: Tanner Beaman, Portland State
OL: Jonny Bottorff, Northern Arizona
OL: Titan Fleischmann, Montana State
OL: Stryker Rashid, Idaho State
OL: Eli Simonson, UC Davis
OL: Gavin Ortega, Weber State
OL: Cole Sain, Montana State
AP: Dante Chachere, Portland State
 
Second Team All-Big Sky Defense 
DL: Kemari Munier-Bailey, Weber State
DL: Hayden Harris, Montana
DL: Matt Brown, Eastern Washington
DL: Paul Brott, Montana State
DL: Evan Bearden, UC Davis
LB: Riley Wilson, Montana
LB: Peyton Wing, Portland State
LB: Porter Connors, UC Davis
LB: Ryan Tirrell, Montana
LB: Danny Uluilakepa, Montana State
DB: Andrew Powdrell, Montana State
DB: DJ VanHook, Northern Arizona
DB: Zach Lewis, Northern Arizona
DB: Trevin Gradney, Montana
DB: Mason Rivera, Cal Poly
DB: Derek Ganter Jr., Eastern Washington 
 
Second Team All-Big Sky Specialists
KR: Michael Wortham, Eastern Washington
PR: Junior Bergen, Montana
K: Hunter Ridley, UC Davis
P: Brendan Hall, Montana State
ST: TJ Rausch, Montana
 
Honorable Mention Offense (at least 3 votes) 
QB: Dante Chachere, Portland State
RB: Adam Jones, Montana State
RB: Elijah Tau-Tolliver, Sacramento State
WR: Giancarlo Woods, Cal Poly
WR: Mark Hamper, Idaho 
WR: Junior Bergen, Montana
TE: Jett Carpenter, Eastern Washington 
OL: Nate Azzopardi, Idaho 
OL: Jack Seelye, Eastern Washington 
OL: Billy Lutui, Portland State
OL: Ernesto Nava, UC Davis
OL: Luke Dahlgren, Eastern Washington 
OL: Journey Grimsrud, Montana
OL: Richard Estrella, Portland State
 
Honorable Mention Defense (at least 3 votes) 
DL: Micah Carreon, Northern Arizona
DL: Princeton Toki, UC Davis
DL: Ethan Rodriguez, Cal Poly
DL: Malakai Williams, Idaho
DL: Kenneth Eiden IV, Montana State
DL: Brayden Wilson, Weber State
LB: Garrett Beck, Weber State
LB: Isiah King, Idaho
LB: Ammon Allen, Northern Arizona
LB: Zach Johnson, Idaho
LB: Brandon Wong, Northern Arizona
DB: Jaxon Lee, Montana
DB: Tyreese Shakir, Portland State
DB: DaJean Wells, Eastern Washington
DB: Cam Chapa, Northern Colorado
 
Honorable Mention Specialists (at least 3 votes) 
KR: Andrew Marshall, Idaho
PR: Isaiah Eastman, Northern Arizona
K: Zach Schreiner, Sacramento State
K: Mathias Uribe, Portland State
P: Ben D'Aquila, Northern Arizona 
ST: Jeremy Justice, Cal Poly
ST: Sean Farfan, Northern Arizona