Kyle Phillips leads UCLA’s nine All-Pac-12 football selections

The UCLA football schedule was well represented on Tuesday, with nine players listed as All-Pac-12 Conference selections.

The Bruins had the second most players behind conference champion Utah’s 10 selections. Teams are voted on by all 12 conference head coaches.

After leading the conference with 10 receiving touchdowns, Kyle Phillips was listed as a first-team receiver and was second in receiving yards (67.2) per game.

Phillips was also honored as a second team selection for his work as a punt returner. Britain’s Covey of Utah was named as the return specialist to the team ahead of Phillips. He was the only two players to receive the Special Team Player of the Week honors this entire season.

An honorable-mention receiver in 2020, Phillips was the only Bruin to be named to the All-Pac-12 Preseason first team in July.

“He’s a special young man,” UCLA coach Chip Kelly said of Redshirt Jr. on Sunday. “He’s really been the No. 1 guy for us for a few years now. … He has excellent hands and has been a really dynamic punt returner.

Phillips, who starred at San Marcos High in North County, will return home to San Diego when the Bruins compete in the Holiday Bowl against North Carolina State at Petco Park on December 28.

Redshirt junior tight end Greg Dulcich and junior offensive lineman Sean Ryan were also named as first-team picks on the offense. Dulcich, a former walk-on at St. Francis High, was fifth in the conference for receiving yards per game (60.4).

Ryan and Paul Grattan began an offensive line that helped defend quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and holed up for UCLA backfield duo Zach Charbonnet and Briton Brown. Grattan, Redshear Sr., was named as an honorable mention.

Thompson-Robinson and Charbonnet were named as second team selections for the Bruins. Brown was named as an honorable mention.

Charbonnet, a junior transfer from Michigan, ran for 1,137 yards and 13 touchdowns in his first season at UCLA. He averaged 94.8 yards per game, second only to Oregon State’s BJ Baylor, who was named as a running back conference first team with Utah’s Tawian Thomas.

Thompson-Robinson had 2,409 passing yards and his 23 passing touchdowns were second in the conference. Senior also ran for 610 yards and nine touchdowns.

The Bruins did not have a defensive player from the first team, but did have three players from the second team.

Redshirt senior defensive back Quantrez Knight had a team-high 66 tackles, including 8.5 tackles for a total loss of 44 yards. Knight had 2.5 sacks and a forceful fumble this season. Defensive backfield teammate Quentin Lake tied for a team-high three interception. Edge rusher Mitchell Agude made 6.5 tackles for the loss and led the team this season with a four-force fumble. He also recorded two sacks, three pass breakups and one burr recovered. Lake and Agude, both seniors, finished third in the team with 54 tackles.

Improvement

Brown has rushed for 615 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 matches this season.

Redshirt Senior has missed the last two matches due to an undisclosed injury. Brown is expected to be back in time to compete at the Holiday Bowl. After coming to Westwood in 2020 as a grade transfer from Duke, it will be the final game of his college career.

Kelly said the Browns were “really close” to playing against USC and Cal, but wanted to make sure he was fully recovered.

filling the gap

Kelly confirmed this week that Clancy will serve as the defensive line coach for the Pendergast bowl game.

Pendergast, a former USC defensive coordinator who joined the Bruins this summer as a defensive analyst, replaces Johnny Nansen, who became Arizona’s defensive coordinator on Dec.