Olsen, Haag Named All-West Region
UW-Oshkosh junior Mike Olsen and sophomore Jaydon Haag were both selected to the D3football.com All-West Region Team.
Olsen was named to the First Team at center while Haag received Second Team honors at kicker. Olsen and Haag, who were both chosen to the All-WIAC First Team, earned All-West Region honors for the first time.
Olsen anchored a UW-Oshkosh offensive line that leads the WIAC with 14 sacks allowed and 4.7 yards per rushing attempt. Olsen and the Titan offensive line paved the way for UW-Oshkosh to rank second in the conference with 2,027 rushing yards and 184.3 yards on the ground per game. The Titans have now rushed for 2,000 yards or more in four of the past five seasons.
Olsen and the Titan offense averaged 26.5 points and 350 yards per contest while playing a pivotal role in UW-Oshkosh's WIAC-leading 5.27 penalties committed and 43.91 penalty yards per game.
Haag led the Titans with 63 points this season as he connected on each of his 12 field goal attempts and 27 of 30 extra points. He is one of two Division III kickers with a 1.000 field goal percentage.
Haag, who took over UW-Oshkosh's field goal kicking duties in the fourth game of the season, made a pair of field goals against UW-Stout on Oct. 5, providing the decisive points by splitting the uprights from 42 yards out with 8:49 remaining in the Titans' 26-23 victory. He also made two field goals against UW-Stevens Point on Oct. 12, UW-River Falls on Nov. 9 and UW-Whitewater on Nov. 16. Haag connected on three field goals longer than 40 yards, including a season-best 49-yarder that capped the scoring during the Titans' 27-20 upset win over third-ranked UW-Whitewater.
Haag went 6-for-6 on extra points against Huntingdon College (Ala.) on Sept. 21 and converted each his four point-after attempts versus both UW-River Falls and Central College (Iowa) on Nov. 23. Haag's 10 points against UW-River Falls were a season high.
UW-Oshkosh clinched a share of its 11th conference title and secured the WIAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship by defeating UW-Whitewater in the regular season finale in Oshkosh. The Titans then suffered a 38-37 overtime loss to Central College (Iowa) during the first round of the Division III Championship to finish the 2019 season with an 8-3 record (6-1 WIAC).
A total of 43 UW-Oshkosh players have garnered All-West Region accolades from D3football.com since the awards were first presented in 2005.
Saint John's University (Minn.) quarterback Jackson Erdmann was named D3football.com's 2019 West Region Offensive Player of the Year while UW-Whitewater junior defensive end Mackenzie Balanganayi was tabbed West Region Defensive Player of the Year and Chapman University's (Calif.) Bob Owens the region Coach of the Year.
The D3football.com All-America Team will be announced Dec. 20.