NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Four Vanderbilt football players earned All-SEC honors on Tuesday. Eli Stowers was named the first-team tight end, Jesse Mirco (punter) and Martel Hight (return specialist) were chosen for the second team and Brock Taylor was named the third-team kicker.
Vanderbilt has not had more All-SEC selections in a single season since five in the 2005 campaign—WR Earl Bennett, QB Jay Cutler, LB Moses Osemweigie, TE Dustin Dunning and OL Brian Stamper.
Stowers is the first Vanderbilt offensive player to earn first-team All-SEC honors since wide receiver Jordan Matthews and offensive lineman Wesley Johnson in 2013. He also is the first non-specialist to earn All-SEC at Vanderbilt since Dayo Odeyingbo was named second-team defensive line in 2020. It is the first time since 2016 Vanderbilt had an offensive player win All-SEC (second team OL Will Holden) and had a non-specialist on the first team (LB Zach Cunningham).
Stowers was a semifinalist for the Mackey Award this season after leading Vanderbilt in receiving with 45 receptions for 583 yards and four touchdowns. He was twice chosen the Pro Football Focus National Team of the Week tight end. He made six catches for 113 yards in Vandy’s win over No. 1 Alabama, becoming just the sixth tight end to eclipse 100 receiving yards against the Tide since 1996 (Ja’Tavion Sanders, Brock Bowers, Kyle Pitts, Kenny Yeboah and Evan Engram).
Mirco led the SEC in punting in his first year as a Commodore, averaging 47.98 yards per punt. He had a long punt of 69 yards, second-best in the league, and pinned opponents inside the 20 19 times. His 19 punts of at least 50 yards were tied for most in the conference.
Hight led the conference in punt return yards, totaling 259 yards on 16 returns for an average of 16.19 yards per return. He became the first Commodore to return a punt for a touchdown since 2012 in the win over Alcorn State and he was one of three players in the SEC with a punt return touchdown this season.
Taylor was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist in his first season as Vanderbilt’s kicker after he redshirted as a freshman. He was twice named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week and is the first kicker in Vanderbilt history to have five career field goals of at least 50 yards, all coming this season. He made a school-record 57-yard field goal as time expired in the first half at Missouri, the longest field goal in the SEC since 2020. He drilled a 53-yarder on his first collegiate attempt in the season-opening win at Virginia Tech.
Taylor first earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after making a 51-yard field goal in the win over No. 1 Alabama. He won the honor again the following week after making a pair of field goals (49 and 50 yards) in the win at Kentucky, while also recording a touchdown-saving tackle on a kickoff. He connected on his only attempt from 31 yards to give the Commodores the lead for good in the bowl-eligibility-clinching win at Auburn. He finished the season with 88 points, third-most in school history.
The Commodores will play in a bowl game for the first time since 2018 on Dec. 27 when they face Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl. Ticket and travel information is available now.
