UNH Josia Silver keeps raking in postseason honors. (File photo)

WACO, Texas – Senior defensive end and captain Josiah Silver (Hampton, Va.) of the 19th-ranked University of New Hampshire football team was named to the 2024 FCS Coaches’ All-America First Team by the American Football Coaches Association on Friday.

Silver was named an All-America First Team selection by both the Associated Press and Stats Perform earlier this week.

Silver ended the regular season ranked No. 3 in the nation in sacks per game (0.96) and 11th in tackles for loss (1.50); both those numbers ranked second in the CAA. He was UNH’s leader in both sacks (11.5) and tackles for loss (17.5), as well as quarterback hurries (four), and he ranked third in both solo tackles (32) and total tackles (58). Silver also had a forced fumble to his credit.

The captain was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 14 in recognition of tying his career highs in both sacks (4.0) and tackles for loss (5.0) in UNH’s 17-10 win at Elon. He finished with seven total tackles.

For the season, he recorded a tackle for loss in 8 of 12 games and a sack in 6 of 12.

Nov. 2 at UAlbany, he finished with 2.5 tackles for loss, including two sacks, with six total tackles. One week earlier, Silver tied for the team lead with eight tackles at nationally-ranked Villanova with 2.5 tackles for loss, including two sacks (one of which was a strip-sack).

In the opener at UCF, Silver made six solo tackles and two assisted for eight total tackles, which included a team-high two tackles for loss. He made eight more tackles, including a sack, at Holy Cross.

Silver recorded his 200th career tackle with the last of his four tackles Sept. 14 against Stonehill. He ended his career as UNH’s all-time sacks leader (37.5) as part of 64.0 tackles for loss and 238 total tackles.

Silver’s other 2024 postseason awards include ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, All-ECAC Team, CAA Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-CAA and All-New England Team.

Silver was also a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented to the FCS national defensive player of the year, as well as a semifinalist for the Ted Hendricks Award, which honors the top defensive end among all levels of college football.

Silver has been named to a total of seven All-America teams in his career. He was named to a total of four All-America teams following the 2022 season — Associated Press Second Team, Phil Steele All-America Second Team, Stats Perform Third Team and HERO Sports Sophomore All-American Team.