Cadet named first-team Academic All-American

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Air Force defensive back Cadet 2nd Class Garrett Kauppila has been named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-American first team, as selected by the College Sports Information Director's of America (CoSIDA).
 
Kauppila is the first Academic All-American football player at Air Force since Ryan Carter in 2004 and just the 31st player to ever earn the honor in program history. Kauppila has a 3.84 grade point average and is majoring in management.
 
Kauppila played in eight games this season, returning after missing just four games with a broken arm. He finished seventh on the team in tackles with 35, despite missing the four games. He also had 2.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt that led to a touchdown vs. Florida Atlantic. He recorded a career-best nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the FAU game. He opened the season with a team-best six tackles and two pass breakups vs. Stony Brook in his first game back after missing all but three games in 2017.
 
Kauppila is the lone player from the Mountain West selected to the first or second team and one of just two from the three service academies earning the honor.