Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell was named second-team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Thursday. Mitchell has now been named All-America by four of the five major All-America teams this season. He was named second-team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the Associated Press on Monday, and by the Sporting News Wednesday.
The only major All-America team that did not include Mitchell this year was the Walter Camp Football Foundation, which did have him on its second team in 2022. Thus, Mitchell now becomes the first Rocket ever to be named to all five major All-America teams in his career, and just the second to make at least one major team in consecutive seasons. Legendary defensive lineman Mel Long Sr. earned All-America honors from three major teams in 1970 and four in 1971 (Long did not make the AFCA All-America Team in either season). Long’s total of seven major All-America teams is the most by a Rocket, one more than Mitchell, who also was a third-team pick by the AP in 2022.
Mitchell, who was also named to All-America teams by The Athletic (first team) and USA Today (second team) this season, is second in the nation with 18 pass breakups and in passes defended with 19 (18 pass breakups, one interception). He was named a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s most outstanding defensive player in the country. He is the first Rocket ever to be a Bednarik semifinalist and the first player from a MAC school since Northern Illinois’ Sutton Smith in 2017.
Mitchell led the nation with 25 passes defended (five interceptions, 20 breakups) in 2022.
Mitchell also received an official invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. The game will be held Saturday, Feb. 3, at noon CT (1 p.m. ET) at Hancock-Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, and will be televised live on NFL Network.
Toledo (11-2) will play Mountain West Conference opponent Wyoming (8-4) in the 2023 Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Ariz. on Saturday, Dec. 30. Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. MT (4:30 p.m. ET) and the game will be nationally televised on the CW and can also be seen on the Barstool Sports app.
Ticket orders can be placed online at UTRockets.com/bowltix, by phone at 419-530-GOLD (4653) or at the Rocket Ticket Office located in the Sullivan Athletic Complex at Savage Arena during office hours.
