Preseason All-America
STANFORD, Calif. - The first preseason honors for the 2014 season were announced Friday, as four Stanford student-athletes were named to Phil Steele’s Preseason All-America football team.
Senior wide receiver Ty Montgomery was named All-Purpose Player of the Year and first-team All-America for his work on special teams. Andrus Peat and Jordan Richards were second-team selections, while A.J. Tarpley was named to the third team.
Eight Cardinal were named to Phil Steele’s preseason All-Pac-12 team, including Henry Anderson to the first team, David Parry to the second, James Vaughters, Wayne Lyons and Ben Rhyne to the third and Barry Sanders to the fourth.
Montgomery, who was named preseason first-team All-Pac-12 as a wide receiver and kick returner, was the winner of the 2013 Jet Award for the nation’s top kick return specialist. He led the nation during the regular season with a 31.2 yards/kickoff return average. His 36 kickoff returns registered 1,091 total yards and a pair of touchdowns. Montgomery added 61 catches on offense for 958 yards and 10 scores. A consensus All-American in 2013, Montgomery recorded the third-best single-season total in program history with 2,208 all-purpose yards, surpassing 100 all-purpose yards 11 times on the season.
Montgomery led the team in receptions in 13 of 14 games last season and heads up a high-octane receiving corps in 2014, as he currently sits 10th on Stanford’s all-time receptions list.
Anchoring one of the nation’s top offensive lines, Peat started 14 games at left tackle as a sophomore in 2013 while protecting quarterback Kevin Hogan’s blindside. He helped pave the way for a line that ranked 11th in sacks allowed and seventh in tackles for loss allowed. Peat enters 2014 highly regarded as one of the premier tackles in the country having played in 27 games during his career on The Farm.
Two of the Cardinal’s top returning tacklers, Richards and Tarpley lead a defense that has held opposing offenses to 20 or fewer points in 20 of its last 26 outings. Richards, a senior strong safety, led the Cardinal in interceptions last season with three. A Lott IMPACT Trophy preseason nominee, Richards led Stanford in a win over UCLA with 10 tackles (five solo), two interceptions for 25 yards and one pass breakup.
Returning for his fifth year, Tarpley was Stanford’s second-leading tackler in 2013 with 93 takedowns (52 solo). An All-Pac-12 honorable mention last season, Tarpley added one interception and one forced fumble on the season .
Stanford kicks off the 2014 season with a three-game homestand starting with UC Davis on Aug. 30 at 1 p.m. (PT). The contest will be televised nationally on Pac-12 Networks.
Tickets are already sold out in five different sections of Stanford Stadium. A full seating chart of available seat locations is available on GoStanford.com. Tickets can also be purchased by calling 1-800-STANFORD.