BYU football: Matt Bushman named to USA Today Sports Freshman All-America Team

BYU football’s star tight end  – and one of the lone bright spots of the offense -Matt Bushman has been named to the USA Today Sports Freshman All-America Team.

BYU football has a tight end on the USA Today Sports Freshman All-America Team for the first time since 2003.

Matt Bushman, who turned heads all season after exploding during the Cougars’ spring game, was named to the team on Tuesday.

Bushman posted 49 receptions and 520 yards this season – both led all FBS freshmen tight ends. He also scored three touchdowns.

But not only did Bushman find himself atop the mountain of freshmen tight end. He was fifth among all tight ends in catches and sixth in yardage. He arguably had the best freshman season of any BYU football tight end in history – and certainly had the best year since Dennis Pitta in 2009.

Daniel Coats was the last tight end to make the Freshman All-America team. In 2003, Coats had 30 receptions for 378 yards and four touchdowns. So Bushman dwarfed his season, too.

BYU football’s last freshman All-American was offensive tackle Thomas Shoaf, who earned the distinction last year.

There’s certainly a lot to love about Bushman. He’s slated to be the best BYU tight end since Pitta and may be a real game-changer for the Cougars. He put up great numbers while catching passes from four different quarterbacks.

Imagine if BYU stabilizes the quarterback position and gets average production… Bushman could be an absolute monster.

Bushman and the Cougars aren’t going bowling, so he’ll have a full offseason of conditioning and preparation under his belt entering next season. Odds are he’ll build on a very successful 2017 season.