2019 Stats Perform Fcs Awards Finalists
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1 2 WELCOME TABLE OF CONTENTS What a landmark year it’s been for Stats Perform and the FCS. Just a Page few months ago, our company completed the biggest acquisition in its Welcoming Letters 4-5 history. At about the same time, our voters placed North Dakota State and James Madison 1-2 in our preseason poll. If we’re as spot-on with 2019 FCS Awards Finalists 7 our plans for growth as we are with championship-game predictions, Case Cookus – Walter Payton Award Finalist 8 the future is indeed bright for both of us. Stats Perform stands before Pete Guerriero – Walter Payton Award Finalist 10 you tonight as a new, expanded and rebranded company from previous Trey Lance – Payton Award Finalist/Jerry Rice Award Recipient 12 iterations of these banquets. But our commitment to FCS football has never been stronger. Our North Star of revolutionizing sport through Kevin Thomson – Walter Payton Award Finalist 14 AI is now complemented by a broader global footprint and inroads into Ron’Dell Carter – Buck Buchanan Award Finalist 16 markets that never existed for us before. Underneath that differentia- Sully Laiche – Buck Buchanan Award Finalist 18 tion lies a foundation built on passion. It is the inspiration that powers Dante Olson – Buck Buchanan Award Finalist 20 our people and our products, the fuel of our innovation. This evening, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Buck Buchanan Award, which Alex Pechin – Doris Robinson Award Recipient 22 happens to coincide with the NFL’s 100th anniversary. Buck’s legacy Troy Taylor – Eddie Robinson Award Recipient 24 has inspired the best defensive players in the subdivision for a quarter FCS Awards Namesakes 26-27 of a century, a fact reinforced by him recently being named one of the NFL’s Top 100 players along with fellow award namesakes Walter Past FCS Awards Winners 28 Payton and Jerry Rice. May the skill and passion of Buck, Walter and FCS Playoff Bracket 30 Jerry continue to serve as an example to us all, regardless of what kind Master of Ceremonies Gary Reasons 31 of field we play on. Tonight, we kick that sentiment off with the repre- FCS Awards Voters 31 sentatives of freshly minted football royalty… Autographs Page 32 Brian Orefice Vice President, Global Operations FCS AWARDS SUPPORTERS Page STATS PERFORM FCS AWARDS BANQUET Stats Perform Front Inside Banquet Coordinators: Brian Orefice, Philip Sokol, Craig Southland Conference 2 Haley and MaryKate House Missouri Valley Football Conference 6 Graphic Designer: Jeffrey Reitzes Northern Arizona University 9 Program Editor/Writer: Craig Haley Ohio Valley Conference 9 Awards Designers: Vicki Davila, Don Dyen and Katie Fogel Monmouth University 11 Advertising: Andrew Shapiro North Dakota State University 13 Photography: Joyce Bishop Sacramento State University 15 Video: Caleb Thomas James Madison University 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference 19 Stats Perform FCS Website: www.fcs.football Patriot League 19 University of Montana 21 For future FCS business and advertising inquiries, please contact Pioneer Football League 21 Brian Orefice at [email protected]. Bucknell University 23 Big Sky Conference 25 Stats Perform Global Headquarters CAA Football 29 203 North LaSalle St. Northeast Conference 29 Suite 2200 Southern Conference 30 Chicago, IL 60601 Big South Conference Back Inside 1-847-583-2100 Stats Perform Back www.statsperform.com 3 January 10, 2020 Welcome to Frisco, recognized as one of the top places to live in America by Money Magazine and home to the NCAA Division I Football Championship game. You'll find we are a "can-do" city with a creative approach and vision for our future, and an integral part of that future is sports. Your collegiate achievements and future are what we celebrate today. On behalf of the City of Frisco, I want to congratulate the award finalists and winners. We commend you for years of hard work, dedication and commitment to football. We wish you all the best as you pursue your dreams. We also congratulate your parents for their patience, perseverance and devotion to you as you pursued your college football careers. We recognize your parents were your first "coach.” Whether you're a competitor or spectator, we invite you to checkout Frisco beyond Toyota Stadium. Within minutes of the home field for the championship game, you can enjoy some of the finest sports venues in the country, more than 9 million square feet of retail, dining, and attractions, and hundreds of pieces of art and sculpture that capture the heritage and the talent of Texas and International artists. With multiple professional sports teams, national and international athletic organizations, world- class facilities, prestigious sports medicine and rehabilitation centers, and an emerging esports community, Frisco is the ultimate sports destination. We are proud to be home to the Frisco Rough Riders, AA affiliate to the Texas Rangers; FC Dallas, Major League Soccer team; the Texas Legends, NBA G League, the National Soccer Hall of Fame; and the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars call Frisco home with their corporate office and official practice ice located in Dr. Pepper Arena. Frisco is also the home/headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys and future home of the PGA of America. Frisco is easily accessible from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Love Field Airport, surrounded by major interstate highways, and close to an entire region full of attractions from "cowboys” to culture. We have a variety of exceptional award-winning hotels, a spectrum of dining opportunities, and the warm Texas welcome we can promise you every time you visit our city. We hope you will enjoy the excitement of the NCAA Football Championship game at Toyota Stadium and plan to return to Frisco. Best Regards, Jeff Cheney Mayor 4 5 6 2019 STATS PERFORM FCS AWARDS FINALISTS WALTER PAYTON AWARD JERRY RICE AWARD FCS Offensive Player of the Year FCS Freshman Player of the Year Kenji Bahar QB Monmouth John Bachus III QB UT Martin Eric Barriere QB Eastern Washington Omar Brown DB Northern Iowa Jordan Bentley RB Alabama A&M Tyrese Chambers WR Sacred Heart Julius Chestnut RB Sacred Heart Ian Corwin QB Drake Case Cookus QB Northern Arizona Jacob Dobbs LB Holy Cross Zerrick Cooper QB Jacksonville State Nick Eaton LB UC Davis Domenic Cozier RB Holy Cross Tra Fluellen DB Houston Baptist Tom Flacco QB Towson Ailym Ford RB Chattanooga Pete Guerriero RB Monmouth Xavier Gipson WR Stephen F. Austin Felix Harper QB Alcorn State Tyler Hudson WR Central Arkansas Cade Johnson WR South Dakota State Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim WR Alabama A&M Trey Lance QB North Dakota State Trey Lance QB North Dakota State Jah-Maine Martin RB North Carolina A&T Jalen Leary RB Stetson Aaron Parker WR Rhode Island Jacob Roberts LB North Carolina A&T Alex Ramsey RB VMI Keegan Shoemaker QB Lafayette Kurt Rawlings QB Yale Jake Stebbins LB Cornell James Robinson RB Illinois State Jeff Undercuffler QB UAlbany Chris Rowland WR Tennessee State Tristan Wheeler LB Richmond Reid Sinnett QB San Diego Hajj-Malik Williams QB Campbell Breylin Smith QB Central Arkansas Javon Williams Jr. RB Southern Illinois Daniel Smith QB Villanova Ryan Stanley QB Florida A&M EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD Kevin Thomson QB Sacramento State FCS Coach of the Year Adam Trautman TE Dayton Aaron Winchester QB Central Connecticut State Nathan Brown Central Arkansas Bailey Zappe QB Houston Baptist Kevin Callahan Monmouth Bob Chesney Holy Cross BUCK BUCHANAN AWARD Curt Cignetti James Madison FCS Defensive Player of the Year Bernard Clark Jr. Robert Morris Matt Entz North Dakota State Anthony Adams S Portland State Greg Gattuso UAlbany Bryson Armstrong LB Kennesaw State Mark Hudspeth Austin Peay Ron’Dell Carter DE James Madison Dale Lindsey San Diego Jeremy Chinn S Southern Illinois Connell Maynor Alabama A&M John Daka DE James Madison Ryan McCarthy Central Connecticut Brandon Easterling S Dayton Buddy Pough South Carolina State Willie Eubanks Jr. LB The Citadel Troy Taylor Sacramento State Cam Gill LB Wagner Buddy Teevens Dartmouth Zach Hall LB Southeast Missouri Scott Wachenheim VMI Kordell Jackson DB Austin Peay Rico Kennedy LB Morgan State DORIS ROBINSON AWARD Sully Laiche DE Nicholls FCS Scholar-Athlete of the Year Da’Jon Lee LB Saint Francis Greg Liggs Jr. CB Elon Jacob Bacon OL Drake Eli Mencer DE UAlbany Joe Caputo LB Eastern Illinois Solomon Muhammad LB Alcorn State Spencer DeMedal S Duquesne Dante Olson LB Montana Dorian Kithcart DL Mercer Aaron Patrick DL Eastern Kentucky Ian McBorrough LB Morgan State Christian Rozeboom LB South Dakota State Dante Olson LB Montana Artevius Smith DB ETSU Alex Pechin P Bucknell Elerson Smith DL Northern Iowa Tom Rehfeld LB Western Illinois Bryce Sterk LB Montana State Chucky Smith S Villanova Isiah Swann CB Dartmouth K.J. Smith S North Alabama Derrek Tuszka DE North Dakota State Jelani Taylor S Cornell Nick Wheeler DE Colgate Carl Thompson OL Alabama State Keith Woetzel LB Lehigh Chris Zirkle OL Northwestern State 7 An opposing coach who went up against Northern Arizona’s Case Cookus this season called him the best quarterback he had faced since Jimmy Garoppolo, the 2013 Walter Payton Award recipient. That’s saying a lot because the coach has been matched against Carson Wentz and plenty of other top signal callers. Northern Arizona coach Chris Ball gets the comparison. In Cookus, he felt the Lumberjacks had the best player on the field every week. “He is the face of our program,” Ball said. “Not only is he a great player, his leadership, character and work ethic are second to none. It was a great experience and honor to be around such a quality young man.” Cookus’ resiliency matches his skills. Since stepping onto the FCS scene with a record-breaking season in 2015, when he received the Jerry Rice Award as the national freshman of the year, he has twice battled back from season-ending shoulder injuries.