FCS Roundtable: Award Winners and Team/League Leaders

Leading up to and throughout the season, SaturdayBlitz.com is checking in with FCS writers from around the nation. This weekly roundtable is geared toward providing fresh prospectives and insights for ardent fans of the subdivisions and the uninitiated alike. Don’t get caught off-guard when another James Madison-over-Virginia Tech occurs, or when the next Jared Allen emerges.

If you are an FCS blogger and/or beat reporter interested in contributing, email saturdayblitz@yahoo.com.

This week’s debut topic:
Which player is the frontrunner for the Walter Payton Award? The Buck Buchanan? From which players in either the team/onference you cover are you expecting the best season?

Ben Moore, Editor Georgia State site PantherTalk.com

Payton – Delaware’s RB Andrew Pierce is my early favorite. He was unreal as a Freshman in 2010, as he put up 1,655 yards on 329 attempts and 14 touchdowns. Andrew is the reigning CAA Football Offensive Rookie of the Year and Delaware returns 4/5 starters along the OL.

Buchanan – Wofford DE Ameet Pall. He was a monster from a very good Terrier team in a very good league in the SoCon. Put up 12.5 sacks and 22.5 TFL in 2010. I expect similiar numbers in 2011 from the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year.

[Georgia State’s] top offensive weapon is WR Danny Williams. The RS Soph was spectacular and reminds many a bit of a young Ed McAffrey. Williams caught 54 balls for 649 yards and 5 TDs in 2010. With the uncertainty at QB for the Panthers, he will be leaned on more heavily to get open down the field. On the defensive side of the ball, LB Jake Muasau returns and already has been included on the CFPA Preseason Watch List. He finished 2010 with 50 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 4 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 3 PBU and 1 INT. He is the heart and soul of the Panthers front seven and will be leaned on heavily in 2011.

Russell Varner, Southern Conference writer for SouthernPigskin.com

It’s pretty easy to figure out who are the favorites to win the Walter Payton award from the Southern Conference. The Buck Buchanan – well, that’s another story.

As for the Walter Payton award, Appalachian State quarterback DeAndre Presley has done a great job of making Mountaineer fans forget about two-time Payton Award winner Armanti Edwards, helping lead the team to a 9-2 regular season record and their sixth straight SoCon championship. He finished second in the conference in passing efficiency and total offense, third in rushing and passing yards and sixth in total touchdowns. He also finished third in the Payton Award voting last year, so he was that going for him. While it will be hard from Presley to top his numbers last year (2,631 passing yards, 1,039 rushing yards and 34 total touchdowns), but no one thought he’d do such a great job replacing Edwards either.

The Buck Buchanan award is a two-man race in the SoCon between two dominant defensive linemen: Wofford’s Ameet Pall and Georgia Southern’s Brent Russell. Both are forces in the trenches that need a double team at all times. Their stats are pretty similar as well. Pall finished last year with 60 tackles, 22.5 for loss (first in the SoCon) and 12.5 sacks (also first in the conference). Russell, also known by the fans as “Manbearpig,” ended the 2010 campaign with 71 tackles, 18.5 for loss (second in the conference behind Pall) and eight sacks (fourth in the conference). Both also finished in the top 11 in the Buchanan award voting last season. If I have to pick one, to call a favorite, I’d have to go with the 2010 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year, Ameet Pall. The fact that he led the conference in so many different categories and finished tied for second in the Buchanan award voting last year puts him just ahead of Russell in my opinion.

Kyle Roth, North Dakota State reporter at bisonillustrated.com and blogging the Bison at ndsubisonsports.areavoices.com

Payton – Denarius McGhee, QB, Montana State

I’ve been a fan of the freshman phenomenon, Denarius McGhee, since first looking at his performance in anticipation for last year’s MSU-NDSU playoff game. McGhee finds himself in a Bobcat system that put up ridiculous numbers last year, averaging an impressive 263.6 yards per game through the air and with a 23:6 TD-INT ratio. Even as a freshman, McGhee was able to garner the Big Sky’s co-Offensive MVP award on an increasingly-relevant Montana State squad. Though the BSC isn’t Montana State’s just yet, they face two other foes in a pretty top-heavy conference in Eastern Washington and Montana that could also vie for supremacy. If Mcghee can lead his team past those two hurdles and improve on his stellar numbers from 2010, his dark horse candidacy for the Payton could quickly become legitimate.

Buchanan – Ameet Pall, DE, Wofford (Sr.)

Wofford’s impressive stake in this year’s preseason polls has been buoyed by an impressive defensive performance led by Pall, the 5’10” 2010 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year. Pall held a top ten in most statistical categories relevant to a D-end, including sacks (12.5, 8th nationally) and tackles for loss (22.5, also 8th nationally). His finish at second in last year’s Buchanan race should leave him primed for a repeat performance his senior year, and along the way he’ll likely claim another All-American spot as well.

In the MVFC:

Offensive – DJ McNorton, RB, North Dakota State (Sr.)

Keep your fingers on the “homer alert” button, but McNorton’s inclusion on the Walter Payton Watch List, as well as his inclusion as a Top-10 FCS running back, is no fluke. McNorton was the key in helping the Bison to average an impressive 38.7 points per contest in three playoff appearances last season, and the coaching staff is ready to hand him the keys. With the turntable lineup NDSU has had at quarterback since 2008, look for the rushing game to take an even more prominent focus in this year’s Bison team, and for McNorton to reap the benefits.

Defensive – Ben Boothby, DE, Northern Iowa (Jr.)

The MVFC’s returning leader in sacks (9.5) and tackles for loss (16.0) looks to have another dominant year as he leads the Panthers in search of a repeat conference title. Boothby helped to anchor a tremendous front four for Northern Iowa last season, and that shouldn’t drop off during what could be a banner season for the junior defensive end.

Joe Suhoski, blogging Old Dominion football (as well as pop culture) at vbr-productions.blogspot.com

Both the Payton and Buchanan Award winners will come from the CAA. Call me a homer. For the Payton Award I have to go with rising senior running back Jonathan Grimes of William and Mary. After only three seasons he is the Tribe’s career leader in all-purpose yards and is top ten in career rushing yards/touchdowns/attempts, as well as top ten in kickoff return yards. Last year he was fourth in the CAA with almost 74 yards rushing per game and was top-25 nationally with 135 all-purpose yards per game. He is the reigning CAA Special Teams Player of the Year and you can expect Coach Laycock to rely on him more this season.

The Buchanan Award will go to New Hampshire’s rising junior linebacker Matt Evans. As a sophomore last season, he was second in the nation with 135 tackles. Those stats included four sacks, 10.5 TFL, two INT’s, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. The man was all over the field for the Wildcats’ defense last year as a sophomore. With co-captain DE Brian McNally (also on the Buchanan Award Watch List) returning to anchor a superior defensive line, I’d expect Evans to create further havoc for UNH this season.

The top offensive player on Old Dominion’s roster is redshirt senior QB Thomas DeMarco. The signal-caller has guided ODU to a 17-5 record over its first two seasons, including an FCS-best 9-2 for first year programs. The Monarchs employ a spread offense that involves three-and-four receiver sets on most snaps, and DeMarco is responsible for making the correct calls with whether to run or pass based on the defensive set. He’s thrown for 43 touchdowns through two seasons and has run for another 25 over that span. What makes him so effective is his toughness. He’s listed at 5-11 (he may be even shorter than that), and the spread calls for him to take off on occasion. He’s not afraid to get popped if it means picking up extra yards. In the 2010 season finale against North Carolina Central University , he started the game with a separated shoulder on his non-throwing arm. Later in the game he had to come out after separating his other shoulder, but only after the training staff kept him on the bench. This toughness will be tested in conference play this season, as the gauntlet of CAA defenses await.

On defense, the best player for the Monarchs is redshirt senior DT Ronnie Cameron. After Hofstra football folded in December 2009, Head Coach Bobby Wilder recruited Cameron and Deron Mayo to transfer to Old Dominion. From the defensive tackle position he was second on the Monarchs with 72 tackles; 19 of those were TFL. His best quality, other than his physical gifts, is his leadership. He was so influential on the Monarchs during his first camp with the team that he was elected one of four captains before ever playing a down for ODU. In a more subtle way, Cameron can provide leadership to the team by having been through the rigors of two CAA seasons with the Pride. He should be able to keep the team grounded (not too high, not too low) throughout the season. He knows that no matter how the team did against the prior week’s opponent, another tough foe is lined up the following Saturday. This is invaluable to a team that to date has played zero conference games but is now joining arguably the toughest FCS conference in the land.