2017 Big Sky Awards

[smallcollegefbfan]

http://bigskyconf.com/news/2017/11/21/2017-big-sky-all-conference-football-teams-announced.aspx


2017 Big Sky Football All-Conference Team Announced

OGDEN, Utah (November 21, 2017) – The Big Sky Conference has three teams competing in postseason play, as it has announced its Football All-Conference team and individual award winners for 2017.

The All-Conference teams and individual award winners were selected by the 13 league head coaches and released by the league office Tuesday.

UC Davis junior wide receiver Keelan Doss was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player. Doss, a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, finished the regular season as the top wide receiver in the nation among all Division I FBS and FCS players in receiving yards (1,499), receiving yards per game (136.3) and receptions per game (10.5).

Weber State senior cornerback Taron Johnson was voted as the Defensive Most Valuable Player. Johnson, the only unanimous selection to the defensive first team, helped lead the Wildcats to a share of the Big Sky title in his final season. He finished the regular season with 30 tackles, 3.0 tackles-for-loss, 2.0 sacks, 10 passes defended, and three interceptions for a total of 59 yards.

Additional top honors went to Aggie sophomore quarterback Jake Maier for Newcomer of the Year. The sophomore finished his season ranked second in the FCS in completion percentage (.686), third in passing yards (3,669) and fifth in passing yards per game (333.5).

Freshman of the Year honors went to double threat Troy Andersen, who plays running back and linebacker for Montana State. He notched 515 rushing yards to go along with five touchdowns on the ground and a touchdown reception. On defense he had nine tackles and a sack for the Bobcats.

Southern Utah outside linebacker Michael Needham and North Dakota running back John Santiago were the only three-time First-Team All-Big Sky honorees.

Northern Arizona quarterback Case Cookus and Weber State tight end Andrew Vollert were named two-time first team honorees. Vollert was also the only offensive player voted as a unanimous First Team selection. Both players will lead their teams in the FCS Playoffs.

Co-conference champion Weber State placed eight players on the first team. Idaho State, Northern Arizona and Southern Utah all had four players receive first team honors. In all, 11 of the 13 conferences teams had at least one player selected to the First Team.

Weber State led all schools with 16 honorees on the three teams, followed by Southern Utah (12), Eastern Washington (10), Sacramento State (10), and Northern Arizona (9).

The Big Sky All-Conference team is selected by the Big Sky’s head football coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players. The conference’s Coach of the Year award will be announced on Wednesday.

Offensive Player of the Year: Keelan Doss, UC Davis
Defensive Player of the Year: Taron Johnson, Weber State
Freshman of the Year: Troy Andersen, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year: Jake Maier, UC Davis


* - Unanimous All-First Team Selection
$ - Two-Time All-Big Sky First Team Selection
% - Three-Time All-Big Sky First Team Selection







FIRST TEAM OFFENSE







Position

Player

Year

School



Wide Receiver

Elijah Marks

Senior

Northern Arizona



Wide Receiver

Keelan Doss

Junior

UC Davis



Wide Receiver

Mitch Gueller

Sophomore

Idaho State



Tackle

Iosua Opeta

Junior

Weber State



Tackle

David Reese

Senior

Montana



Guard

Skyler Phillips

Senior

Idaho State



Guard

Tyler Shank

Senior

Northern Arizona



Center

Zach Larsen

Sophomore

Southern Utah



Tight End

*$Andrew Vollert

Senior

Weber State



Quarterback

$Case Cookus

Sophomore

Northern Arizona



Running Back

%John Santiago

Junior

North Dakota



Running Back

James Madison

Junior

Idaho State



Fullback

Jared Mohamed

Senior

Cal Poly



Kicker

Trey Tuttle

Freshman

Weber State



Returner

Rashid Shaheed

Freshman

Weber State







FIRST TEAM DEFENSE







Position

Player

Year

School



Tackle

McKay Murphy

Senior

Weber State



Tackle

Anu Pole’o

Senior

Southern Utah



End

Ben Sorenson

Senior

Sacramento State



End

George Obinna

Junior

Sacramento State



Outside Linebacker

%Michael Needham

Senior

Southern Utah



Outside Linebacker

Mac Bignell

Senior

Montana State



Inside Linebacker

Mario Jenkins

Senior

Idaho State



Inside Linebacker

LeGrand Toia

Junior

Weber State



Cornerback

*Taron Johnson

Senior

Weber State



Cornerback

Jarmaine Doubs

Senior

Southern Utah



Safety

Wes Sutton

Junior

Northern Arizona



Safety

Mister Harriel

Junior

Sacramento State



Punter

Jordan Dascalo

Senior

Eastern Washington



Special Teams

Brady May

Junior

Weber State







SECOND TEAM OFFENSE







Position

Player

Year

School



Wide Receiver

Nic Sblendorio

Senior

Eastern Washington



Wide Receiver

Alex Wesley

Junior

Northern Colorado



Wide Receiver

Andre Lindsey

Junior

Sacramento State



Tackle

Dylan Mahoney

Senior

Montana State



Tackle

Marquez Tucker

Junior

Southern Utah



Guard

Pailake Aiono

Senior

Sacramento State



Guard

Tyshon Mosley

Senior

Portland State



Center

Spencer Blackburn

Junior

Eastern Washington



Tight End

Charlie Taumoepeau

Sophomore

Portland State



Quarterback

Gage Gubrud

Junior

Eastern Washington



Running Back

Antoine Custer

Sophomore

Eastern Washington



Running Back

James Felila

Sophomore

Southern Utah



Fullback

Brady May

Junior

Weber State



Kicker

Devon Medeiros

Junior

Sacramento State



Returner

Dre’Sonte Dorton

Sophomore

Eastern Washington







SECOND TEAM DEFENSE







Position

Player

Year

School



Tackle

Augustino Elisaia

Senior

Cal Poly



Tackle

Robert Torgenson

Senior

Southern Utah



End

Albert Havili

Senior

Eastern Washington



End

Tucker Schye

Senior

Montana



End

Jonah Williams

Sophomore

Weber State



Outside Linebacker

Josh Buss

Junior

Montana



Outside Linebacker

Landon Stice

Junior

Weber State



Inside Linebacker

James Banks

Senior

Montana



Inside Linebacker

Chinedu Ahanonu

Junior

Southern Utah



Cornerback

Xequille Harry

Senior

Weber State



Cornerback

Khalil Dorsey

Sophomore

Northern Arizona



Safety

Kam’ron Johnson

Junior

Northern Arizona



Safety

Jordan Preator

Junior

Weber State



Punter

Jered Padmos

Sophomore

Montana State



Special Teams

Dante Olson

Sophomore

Montana







THIRD TEAM OFFENSE







Position

Player

Year

School



Wide Receiver

Nsimba Webster

Junior

Eastern Washington



Wide Receiver

Michael Dean

Sophomore

Idaho State



Wide Receiver

Darnell Adams

Senior

Portland State



Tackle

Jon Blade

Senior

Sacramento State



Tackle

Chase Collins

Senior

Idaho State



Guard

Baron Bruce

Junior

Weber State



Guard

PJ Nu’usa

Sophomore

Southern Utah



Center

Blake Porter

Senior

Northern Arizona



Tight End

Wes Preece

Sophomore

UC Davis



Quarterback

Jake Maier

Sophomore

UC Davis



Running Back

Cory Young

Junior

Northern Arizona



Running Back

Treshawn Garrett

Junior

Weber State



Fullback

Sefesi Vaa’ivaka

Senior

Southern Utah



Kicker

Brandon Purdy

Sophomore

Montana



Returner

Xequille Harry

Senior

Weber State







THIRD TEAM DEFENSE







Position

Player

Year

School



Tackle

Tank Harris

Junior

North Dakota



Tackle

James Walton

Senior

Northern Arizona



End

Kiefer Morris

Junior

Northern Colorado



End

Taylor Pili

Senior

Southern Utah



Outside Linebacker

Tanner Palmborg

Junior

North Dakota



Outside Linebacker

Marcus Bruce

Junior

Sacramento State



Inside Linebacker

Taylor Nelson

Senior

Southern Utah



Inside Linebacker

Manoah Pearson

Junior

Sacramento State



Inside Linebacker

Connor Strahm

Senior

Montana



Cornerback

Dre Terrell

Junior

Sacramento State



Cornerback

Ryan McKinley

Senior

Montana



Safety

Mitch Fettig

Junior

Eastern Washington



Safety

Bryson McCabe

Senior

Montana State



Punter

Jake DeMaio

Senior

Weber State



Special Teams

Anfernee Gurley

Freshman

Eastern Washington






Honorable Mention
Wide Receiver - Keenan Curran, Montana; Jerry Louie-McGee, Montana; Mitch Herbert, Montana State; Isaiah Hennie, Sacramento State; Landen Measom, Southern Utah; Drew Batchelor, Weber State.

Tackle - Brian Fineanganofo, Idaho State; Cole Habib, Northern Arizona; Randin Crecelius, Portland State; Kyle Sulka, UC Davis; Tyler Downs, Weber State.

Guard - Tristen Taylor, Eastern Washington; Robert Luke, Montana; Wyatt Ming, Sacramento State; Julian Bertero, UC Davis.

Center - Joey Kuperman, Cal Poly; Cooper Sprunk, Montana; Alex Neale, Montana State.

Tight End - Logan Parker, Southern Utah.

Quarterback - Patrick Tyler, Southern Utah.

Running Back - Sam McPherson, Eastern Washington; Ty Flanagan, Idaho State; Jeremy Calhoun, Montana; Brady Oliveira, North Dakota; Joe Logan, Northern Arizona; Jay Green, Southern Utah.

Placekicker - Reid Taubenheim, North Dakota.

Return Specialist - Jerry Louie-McGee, Montana; John Santiago, North Dakota.

Tackle - JonRyheem Peoples, Idaho State; Zach Wright, Montana State; Tucker Yates, Montana State; Khairi Bailey, Northern Colorado; Dariyn Choates, Sacramento State.

End - Clarence Smith, Northern Arizona; Chance Bearnson, Southern Utah; Brandon Weaver, UC Davis.

Outside Linebacker - Darren Adjei, Cal Poly; Beau Duronslet, Portland State; Immanuel Anderson, Sacramento State; Kyle Tauili’ili, Southern Utah.

Inside Linebacker - Byron Evans, Northern Arizona; Taylor Powell, Northern Arizona; Henry Stelzner, Northern Colorado; Ryan Bua, UC Davis.

Cornerback - Josh Lewis, Eastern Washington; Maurice Davison, Northern Arizona; Marshaun Cameron, Northern Colorado; Donovan Olumba, Portland State; Vince White, UC Davis.

Safety - B.J. Nard, Cal Poly; Stone Kane, Northern Colorado; Tyler Collett, Southern Utah; Mitch Dalley, Southern Utah.

Punter - Casey Sublette, Cal Poly; Rashaan Miller, Southern Utah.

Special Teams Player - Andy Whittier, Idaho State; Mitchell Thompson, Portland State; Alan Holsten, Southern Utah.

[Professor Chaos]

Isn't Cookus a junior not a sophomore?

[smallcollegefbfan]

Isn't Cookus a junior not a sophomore?

Redshirt sophomore. He got a medical redshirt for last season.

[SochorField]

How in the world was Doss not unanimous first team offense. He is Offensive POY and by far the best receiver in the country.

Would love to know what coach picked someone over him.

[Professor Chaos]

Redshirt sophomore. He got a medical redshirt for last season.
Interesting, that doesn't quite add up to me though. He played in 4 of 11 games (36%) for them last year and I thought you had to play in 30% or less to qualify for a medical. I also thought you had to lose two seasons of eligibility for "reasons beyond your control" to qualify for a medical and you had to wait until your 5 years were up before you can apply for one (so saying last year was his medical redshirt is jumping the gun a bit). Judging from his bio (http://nauathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1071) he graduated high school in 2014 but didn't appear in a game for NAU until 2015 so he must've redshirted in 2014 (although it does say he went to a JUCO for a time also). If a school voluntarily redshirts a kid that's considered a "reason within your control" so it doesn't count towards the two seasons necessary to get a medical.

I'm just curious because NDSU has a very promising redshirt freshman OL who tore his ACL in game 1 this year and from what I understood he won't get a medical unless he loses another season (or 70+% of a season) to injury since his redshirt season last year was "voluntary".

[smallcollegefbfan]

Interesting, that doesn't quite add up to me though. He played in 4 of 11 games (36%) for them last year and I thought you had to play in 30% or less to qualify for a medical. I also thought you had to lose two seasons of eligibility for "reasons beyond your control" to qualify for a medical and you had to wait until your 5 years were up before you can apply for one (so saying last year was his medical redshirt is jumping the gun a bit). Judging from his bio (http://nauathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1071) he graduated high school in 2014 but didn't appear in a game for NAU until 2015 so he must've redshirted in 2014 (although it does say he went to a JUCO for a time also). If a school voluntarily redshirts a kid that's considered a "reason within your control" so it doesn't count towards the two seasons necessary to get a medical.

I'm just curious because NDSU has a very promising redshirt freshman OL who tore his ACL in game 1 this year and from what I understood he won't get a medical unless he loses another season (or 70+% of a season) to injury since his redshirt season last year was "voluntary".

Maybe it is the redshirt for not playing the one year but I was under the impression he was getting a medical. I do know he is suppose to be a redshirt sophomore. Need to confirm the reason why.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Obviously the people voting for this didnt see all the "elite" talent that Bob Stitt brought to Montana. I do not put much credence in these awards, there is no way Griz fans are wrong about the talent level at UM

NO WAY!

[Simple Jack]

As I member Cookus took a greyshirt in 2014 at Ventura Junior College (think a foot injury just prior to season). Then managed a redshirt last year. Hopefully he breaks with big sky QB tradition and sticks around, because he does indeed have sophomore elidgability.

...be nice if we can keep the band together and get another 1000 yard year out of Emanuel Buttler as well. If Butler decides it's in his best interest to come back for the 2018 season great, haven't heard anything about Buttler in a while though. On the other hand if he's getting the draft day green light, love to see him on Sundays.

[TheRealJacks]

Interesting, that doesn't quite add up to me though. He played in 4 of 11 games (36%) for them last year and I thought you had to play in 30% or less to qualify for a medical. I also thought you had to lose two seasons of eligibility for "reasons beyond your control" to qualify for a medical and you had to wait until your 5 years were up before you can apply for one (so saying last year was his medical redshirt is jumping the gun a bit). Judging from his bio (http://nauathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1071) he graduated high school in 2014 but didn't appear in a game for NAU until 2015 so he must've redshirted in 2014 (although it does say he went to a JUCO for a time also). If a school voluntarily redshirts a kid that's considered a "reason within your control" so it doesn't count towards the two seasons necessary to get a medical.

I'm just curious because NDSU has a very promising redshirt freshman OL who tore his ACL in game 1 this year and from what I understood he won't get a medical unless he loses another season (or 70+% of a season) to injury since his redshirt season last year was "voluntary".

He grey shirted at a Juco. So technically he never redshirted so he was a true freshman in 2015. Last year he medical redshirted

[grizband]

Hmmm...Troy Anderson wins Freshman of the year over Gresch Jensen? xeyebrowx

Also, Josh Buss not named First Team linebacker?

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Hmmm...Troy Anderson wins Freshman of the year over Gresch Jensen? xeyebrowx

Also, Josh Buss not named First Team linebacker?

Absolutely, its no contest in either of them. You need to get off the Griz site and watch more college football (Not the BSC)

[Iridebikes]

Rough couple of days in Cheney. We feel that we got stiffed by the NCAA selection committee and then the best offense in the Big Sky does not have a first team selection. Gubrud did not have as good a year as last year. Tough to do when you lose three receivers that had been All-Americans at one point in time or another. But he's better the Cookus. Heres' a little comparison summary out of the Spokesman-Review:
In seven Big Sky games, Gubrud led the conference in total offensive yards per game (391.6), passing yards (371.7) and ranked third in passing efficiency at 150.5.Cookus was fifth in total offense (292.9), passing yards (291) and his pass efficiency rating of 137.3 ranked seventh in the Big Sky.

Make you wonder what the heck is going on.

[Iridebikes]

How in the world was Doss not unanimous first team offense. He is Offensive POY and by far the best receiver in the country.

Would love to know what coach picked someone over him.

Good and legitimate question. Nobody else in the league approaches his skill set IMO.

[jadmt]

Absolutely, its no contest in either of them. You need to get off the Griz site and watch more college football (Not the BSC)

I agree with you especially on Anderson. I am a Jensen fan all the way but I wish we had a Troy Anderson on the team. Buss is good but I can see him as a solid 2nd team not 1st team.

[catbob]

I agree with you especially on Anderson. I am a Jensen fan all the way but I wish we had a Troy Anderson on the team. Buss is good but I can see him as a solid 2nd team not 1st team.

So here's a weird predicament.

1st team RBS:
James Madison, 185 attempts for 933 yards and 5 TDs, 5 YPC 93.3 YPG
John Santiago, 119 rushes for 1717 yards, 5 TDs, 6 YPC, 65.2 YPG

Chris Murray, 191 rushes for 1,124 yards, 10 TDs, 5.9 YPC, 102.2 YPG good for 9th in the country.

What do you when clearly the best rushing player in the conference is a QB?

[jadmt]

So here's a weird predicament.

1st team RBS:
James Madison, 185 attempts for 933 yards and 5 TDs, 5 YPC 93.3 YPG
John Santiago, 119 rushes for 1717 yards, 5 TDs, 6 YPC, 65.2 YPG

Chris Murray, 191 rushes for 1,124 yards, 10 TDs, 5.9 YPC, 102.2 YPG good for 9th in the country.

What do you when clearly the best rushing player in the conference is a QB?

he is a handful no doubt about it.

[catbob]

I just meant from an awards standpoint. Maybe with modern football there needs to be an athlete category or something.

[I Bleed Purple]

I just meant from an awards standpoint. Maybe with modern football there needs to be an athlete category or something.
Don't think it was a problem when teams ran triple option.

It's about performance at a position, not how many yards are gained from scrimmage in any particular way. An RB with a ton of receiving yards would still be an RB.

[MTfan4life]

I just meant from an awards standpoint. Maybe with modern football there needs to be an athlete category or something.

Cal Poly QBs have gotten in there in the past. The fact of the matter is the Big Sky was as loaded as they've ever been at the QB position this season. Outside of the four QBs on the list, you have Cantwell, Murray, Gueller, and even Jensen who had solid seasons within conference play. Then it was probably one of the worst ever seasons for RBs in the conference. So, you have Santiago, who had a very underwhelming season getting a first team all-conference nod and then a guy like Mitch Gueller or Chris Murray who had amazing seasons and they're not even honorable mention. It's a tough balance.