Darius Stills Earns AP First Team All-American
On Monday, West Virginia defensive lineman Darius Stills was the first Mountaineer to be named to the AP First Team All-American since Tavon Austin in 2012.
The Fairmont, WV native finished his senior season with 22 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss, and 3.5 sacks and was the anchor in the middle of the defensive line that held their opponents to 126.2 yards on the ground in the Big 12.
"What has been really rewarding for me as a coach is, Darius, if you look at his stats, his stats really aren’t as good as they were a year ago, but he's played within the scheme of the defense, and as an overall football player he's played much better, and so he's bought into what we're doing from a schematic standpoint," said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown during his Liberty Bowl press conference.
"He's been unselfish in that standpoint, but even though his stats are down, he's still getting rewarded because whether it's coaches, media members, NFL personnel, whoever voting on these rewards understands that the level of football he's playing and how he's affecting the game, or how he's affecting opposing offensive even though his stats maybe are a little bit down. I just don't think that his statistics tell the story. I'm glad he's getting rewarded for his level of play, not necessarily his numbers."
Stills has tallied 82 total tackles, 25.5 tackles for loss, and 11.5 sacks throughout his illustrious career. He has one more opportunity to add to his totals as the Mountaineers take on the Army Black Knights in the Liberty on December 31 at 4:00 pm on ESPN.
Darius Stills 2020 Accolades
First Team All-Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year Honors.
Bleacher Report's 2020 College Football All-American
ESPN All-American
USA Today First Team All-American
AP First Team All-American
West Virginia AP All-American First Team Selections
2020 – Darius Stills, DL
2012 – Tavon Austin, All-Purpose
2006 – Dan Mozes, OC, Steve Slaton, Running Back
2003 – Grant Wiley, LB
1996 – Canute Curtis, LB
1994 – Todd Sauerbrun, P
1992 – Mike Compton, OL
1985 – Brian Jozwiak, OL
1982 – Darryl Talley, LB
1970 – Jim Braxton, TE
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