Olson named Preseason MVP, Lewis and Akem earn all-conference honors

In 2018, Montana linebacker Dante Olson was one of the best defensive players in the Big Sky Conference, posting an FCS-best and school record 151 tackles as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award. Now as he prepares to enter his senior campaign, pundits around the Big Sky Conference believe he's poised to be the best player in the league.

Olson was named the Preseason Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, and two other Grizzlies were named to the preseason all-conference team the league announced Monday at the annual football kickoff event in Spokane, Wash.

Olson was also named a preseason All-Big Sky linebacker while rising junior linebacker Jace Lewis earned a place on the preseason all-conference special teams, and junior wide receiver Samuel Akem also earned preseason All-Big Sky honors.

Olson becomes the second Grizzly in as many seasons to get the preseason MVP award after fellow linebacker Josh Buss got the nod at the 2018 kickoff event.

"Dante has worked extremely hard to get to this point – coming from a place of almost complete anonymity last September to being one of the most recognized players in the conference now. I'm excited to watch him this year. He is a difference-maker for this team," said Montana head coach Bobby Hauck.

Olson, a 6-3, 237-pound linebacker from Medford, Ore., had one of the best defensive seasons in Grizzly history as a junior. In addition to being named to seven different All-America teams, he earned first-team All-Big Sky honors and won Montana's Steve Carlson MVP award.

"This recognition is a huge honor, and I couldn't be more humbled. God has blessed me in more ways than I will ever know. But I wouldn't have received it if it weren't for my brothers who I go to battle with every day or the coaches who strive to make us better each day. That being said, I'm fired up going into the 2019 season," said Olson from Spokane where he is one of two Grizzlies representing the team at the Kickoff.

As strong in the classroom as he is on the field, Olson was also named to the FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star team, Academic All-Big Sky team, an earned a place on UM's President's List with a 4.0 GPA.

Lewis earned an all-conference special teams accolade following a breakout sophomore campaign where he was a key contributor to Montana's top-ranked kickoff coverage unit.

The Townsend, Mont., native racked up 62 tackles on the season to earn second-team All-Big Sky honors and a place on the HERO Sports Sophomore All-America Team.

Akem picks up a preseason All-Big Sky honor after a leading the league in touchdown receptions as a sophomore with 13. He caught two touchdowns in four of UM's last five games of the season and has now moved into the top-15 for career TD catches in Montana history with two seasons to play.

The junior from Broken Arrow, Okla., was also named to HERO Sports' sophomore All-America team, earned second-team all-conference honors, was named to Phil Steele Magazine's All-Big Sky third team, and won Montana's Terry Dillon Award for the team's top back or receiver.

Eleven of the league's 13 schools have at least one representative on the team. Weber State led the pack with seven honorees. Eighteen seniors take up more than half of the spots on the preseason all-conference team, while ten juniors and one sophomore complete the team.

The Grizzlies open their 2019 campaign on the road at South Dakota on Aug. 31.

2019 Big Sky Preseason Football Team
Preseason Offensive MVP: Jake Maier, QB, UC Davis
Preseason Defensive MVP: Dante Olson, LB, Montana

Offense
QB: Jake Maier, Sr., UC Davis
WR: Mitch Gueller, Sr., Idaho State
WR: Samuel Akem, Jr., Montana
WR: Jared Harrell, Jr., UC Davis
OT: Mitch Brott, Sr., Montana State
OT: Chris Schlichting, Sr., Eastern Washington
OG: Noah Johnson, Sr., Idaho
OG: Ty Whitworth, Jr., Weber State
C: Zach Larsen, Sr., Southern Utah
TE: Charlie Taumopeau, Sr., Portland State
RB: Josh Davis, So., Weber State
RB: Elijah Dotson, Jr., Sacramento State
FB: Troy Andersen, Jr., Montana State
PK: Trey Tuttle, Jr., Weber State
RS: Rashid Shaheed, Jr., Weber State

Defense
DT: Jalen Goss, Sr., Northern Arizona
DT: Kenton Bartlett, Sr., Portland State
DE: Adam Rodriguez, Sr., Weber State
DE: Jonah Williams, Jr., Weber State
OLB: Auston Tesch, Sr., Weber State
OLB: Bryce Sterk, Sr., Montana State
ILB: Dante Olson, Sr., Montana
ILB: Kody Graves, Sr., Idaho State
CB: Khalil Dorsey, Sr., Northern Arizona
CB: Greg Filer, Sr., Montana State
S: Adkin Aguirre, Sr., Idaho State
S: Brayden Konkol, Sr., Montana State
P: Cade Coffey, Jr., Idaho
ST: Jace Lewis, Jr., Montana

University of Montana Athletics

Olson named Preseason MVP, Lewis and Akem earn all-conference honors

Players Mentioned

Samuel Akem

Josh Buss

Jace Lewis

Dante Olson

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