Mangum, Mathews, Lamb and Ziggy compete for Governor’s State of Sport Awards

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PROVO, Utah— BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum, former wide receiver Mitch Mathews, assistant head coach Ed Lamb and current NFL defensive end Ziggy Ansah and are among 33 individuals competing for the Governor’s State of Sports Awards.

The 2016 Governor’s State of Sport Awards celebrate Utah’s sports industry and honor excellence in high school, amateur, collegiate, Olympic and professional sports for the 2015 calendar year.

Tanner Mangum and Mitch Mathews are in the best Event and/or Highlight of the year category for the Hail Mary pass in the Cougars’ road win over Nebraska.

Ed Lamb, a former Cougar player and BYU's new assistant head football coach, special teams coordinator and safeties coach, is a nominee for Coach of the Year after his extremely successful season guiding Southern Utah University in 2015. 

Ziggy Ansah, former BYU football player and member of the Detroit Lions, was nominated for the Pro/Olympian Male Athlete of the Year after an All-Pro season in which he finish third in the NFL last year in sacks with 14.5.

In all, eight current or former Cougars are represented among the nominees for this year's awards. Fans are encouraged to vote daily until voting ends.

VOTING 

• Voting ends at midnight on May 3
• Voting will be allowed once per day per web-enabled device
• Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on May 10 at Vivint Smart Home Arena

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NOMINEES

Mangum to Mathews Hail Mary

Facing a 28-27 deficit on fourth down with one second on the game clock, the BYU offense took the field for one more play. Freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum made his collegiate debut, taking over for Taysom Hill who left the game earlier in the third quarter. Mangum took the last snap of the game, rolled out, and launched a 42-yard Hail Mary to the end zone. Senior wide receiver Mitch Mathews found the front of the goal line, hauled in the pass and came down into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown, stunning Nebraska 33-28. The Cougars snapped the Cornhuskers’ 29-game win streak in home openers, which was the longest in the nation.

Ed Lamb

BYU football's new assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and safeties coach Ed Lamb is a nominee for Coach of the Year after being named the American Football Coaches Association Region 5 Coach of the Year and a national finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award last season at SUU. A former Cougar defensive end, Lamb returned to BYU in December on Kalani SItake's staff to help lead the BYU football program. Last year he culminated his outstanding tenure at SUU by leading the Thunderbirds to the outright Big Sky title and to a berth in the 2015 FCS playoffs. 

Ziggy Ansah

Former BYU football player and current Detroit Lion defensive end is a nominee for the Pro/Olympian Male Athlete of the Year. In his third year in the NFL, Ansah finished third in sacks with 14.5, forced four fumbles and recorded 47 tackles. 

Other BYU Cougars nominated for the Governor's State of Sport Awards:

Nadia Gomes

·      Named the 2015 West Coast Conference Player of the Year, and led the conference in points, goals (9), and game-winning goals (5)

·      Was named to the NSCAA All-West Region First Team and the NSCAA All-America Third Team 

·      Was ranked 31st in the nation with five game-winning goals in 2015

Alexa Gray

·      Named AVCA First-Team All-American, back-to-back WCC Player of the Year, added to the All-Pacific South Region First Team, the All-WCC First Team, was named AVCA and ESPNW Player of the week as well as the WCC Player of the Week a conference record five times (including four-straight)

·      Finished as the No. 2 kills per set leader nationally in 2015, averaging 5.24 for a total of 582 on 1,435 attempts – good for first in all three categories in BYU history

·      Started every match in 2015 and collected double-digit kills in 28 of those matches (including at least 20 in 13 matches) while notching the first 30-30 (30 kills & 32 digs) performance in school          history at Portland

Lexi Rydalch

·      Named 2015 WCC Women’s Championships MVP and WCC First Team accolades

·      Named 2014-15 AP Women’s Basketball All-America Honorable Mention

·      Led the league and team in scoring averaging 20.5 points per game; recorded double figures in all 32 games played during the 2015 calendar year; ranked top 20 nationally in scoring

Kyle Collinsworth

·      Is the only player in the country ranked in the top 100 in rebounds, assists and steals through the 2015 calendar year

·      Is the NCAA’s single season and career triple-double record holder posted six triple-doubles and 14 double-doubles

·      Collinsworth is BYU’s all-team leader for assists in a season and career, had 10 games in 2015 with double-digit assists; averaged 14.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals during the 2015 calendar year