In the FCS Huddle: NDSU headlines FCS All-Americans
Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – The value of experience and intangibles can’t be understated within a successful football team.
But there’s even more to be said for good old fashioned talent.
North Dakota State is one win shy of capturing an unprecedented fourth straight FCS national title because of the way it blends all of the factors together. Senior defensive end Kyle Emanuel, the 2014 Buck Buchanan Award winner, led the way Tuesday as the Bison placed a national-high six players on The Sports Network FCS All-America Team.
Bison junior left tackle Joe Haeg joined Emanuel on the first team, while senior running back John Crockett, senior safety Colten Heagle and junior punter Ben LeCompte were named to the second team, and junior fullback Andrew Bonnet to the third team. No other program had more than four players on the three All-America teams, which were comprised of 104 players spread across 64 programs and all 13 FCS conferences.
Like Emanuel, the national defensive player of the year, the other players to win major FCS awards earned All-American honors. Villanova junior quarterback John Robertson (Walter Payton Award, outstanding player) and South Dakota State senior running back Zach Zenner (Mickey Charles Award, outstanding FCS student-athlete) were named to the first team, and Fordham freshman running back Chase Edmonds (Jerry Rice Award, freshman of the year) made the second team.
Zenner’s spot on the first team was his third straight, and it follows his third consecutive season of rushing for more than 2,000 yards, which had never been done previously on the Division I level. He had 2,019 rushing yards and 26 total touchdowns this season.
Eastern Washington sophomore wide receiver Cooper Kupp, Southern Illinois senior tight end MyCole Pruitt and Eastern Illinois senior offensive lineman Collin Seibert made the first team for a second consecutive season. Senior safety Jaquiski Tartt of Samford also landed on the first team for a second time, having previously earned the honor in 2012.
During the regular season, the 6-foot-3, 251-pound Emanuel tied for the FCS high in sacks and ranked second in tackles for loss. He now has 93 tackles, 19.5 sacks and 31 tackles for loss for the 14-1 Bison heading into the national championship game against Illinois State on Jan. 10. Emanuel is part of a North Dakota State senior class that will try to finish with more FCS titles than losses in their career as they have an incredible 57-3 record over the last four seasons.
“I’ve been extremely blessed to be put in a great situation at North Dakota State,” Emanuel said, “whether it’s my teammates, my coaches or just friends and people that I’ve met at North Dakota State. It really is a special place.”
Haeg is the other first-team All-American from the Missouri Valley Football Conference co-champion Bison, anchoring an offensive line that set up Crockett for a record-setting season in the backfield.
Villanova reached the national quarterfinals as Robertson added to his 2012 Jerry Rice Award with the 2014 Payton. CAA Football’s top offensive player surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the third time and threw for a career-high 2,846 yards to average 301.8 total yards per game and account for 46 total touchdowns (35 passing, 11 rushing).
“Being around this team,” Robertson said, “I’ve never been around a team with so much passion. And they made me the best player that I could be. They showed me so much support.”
Other offensive players on the All-America first team were: running backs Marshaun Coprich of Illinois State and Gus Johnson of Stephen F. Austin; fullback Seth Fisher of Richmond; wide receivers DeAndre Carter of Sacramento State and R.J. Harris of New Hampshire; offensive linemen Mason Halter of Fordham, Chad Hamilton of Coastal Carolina and Max Holcombe of Jacksonville State; and all-purpose player David Johnson of Northern Iowa.
Among the defensive standouts, there were defensive linemen Javon Hargrave of South Carolina State, Davis Tull of Chattanooga and Zack Wagenmann of Montana; linebackers Quinn Backus of Coastal Carolina, Don Cherry of Villanova, Nick Dzubnar of Cal Poly and Connor Underwood of Indiana State; and defensive backs Jacob Hagen of Liberty, Donald Payne of Stetson and Christian Ricard of Stony Brook.
The first-team specialists were Liberty’s John Lunsford (place-kicker), Portland State’s Kyle Loomis (punter), Murray State’s Pokey Harris (kick returner), South Carolina State’s Antonio Hamilton (punt returner) and Illinois State’s Chris Highland (long snapper).
The first team included the FCS leaders in rushing yards (Coprich, 2,168), passing efficiency and points responsible for (Robertson, 181.3 and 280), receiving yards (Harris, 1,551); tackles per game (Payne, 14.5), punting average (Loomis, 46.0) and punt return average (Hamilton, 25.6).
The Missouri Valley Conference had both the most All-Americans (18) and first- team selections (eight). The Big Sky (12), CAA (12), Ohio Valley (11) and Southland (10) also reached double figures in All-American selections.
2014 THE SPORTS NETWORK FCS ALL-AMERICA TEAM
With position, player, school, class, height, weight:
First Team – Offense
QB – John Robertson, Villanova, Jr., 6-1, 221
RB – Marshaun Coprich, Illinois State, Jr., 5-9, 205; Gus Johnson, Stephen F. Austin, Sr., 5-10, 224; Zach Zenner, South Dakota State, Sr., 6-0, 220
FB – Seth Fisher, Richmond, Jr., 6-2, 232
WR – DeAndre Carter, Sacramento State, Sr., 5-10, 185; R.J. Harris, New Hampshire, Sr., 6-0, 201; Cooper Kupp, Eastern Washington, So., 6-2, 195
TE – MyCole Pruitt, Southern Illinois, Sr., 6-3, 255
OL – Joe Haeg, North Dakota State, Jr., 6-6, 299; Mason Halter, Fordham, Sr., 6-8, 297; Chad Hamilton, Coastal Carolina, Sr., 6-3, 305; Max Holcombe, Jacksonville State, Sr., 6-3, 290; Collin Seibert, Eastern Illinois, Sr., 6-4, 290
AP – David Johnson, Northern Iowa, Sr., 6-1, 229
PK – John Lunsford, Liberty, PK, 6-1, 180
KR – Pokey Harris, Murray State, Sr., 5-10, 173
First Team – Defense
DL – Kyle Emanuel, North Dakota State, Sr., 6-3, 251; Javon Hargrave, South Carolina State, Jr., 6-2, 295; Davis Tull, Chattanooga, Sr., 6-3, 240; Zack Wagenmann, Montana, Sr., 6-3, 250
LB – Quinn Backus, Coastal Carolina, Sr., 5-10, 215; Don Cherry, Villanova, Jr., 6-1, 221; Nick Dzubnar, Cal Poly, Sr., 6-2, 250; Connor Underwood, Indiana State, Jr., 6-3, 240
DB – Jacob Hagen, Liberty, Sr., 6-3, 205; Donald Payne, Stetson, So., 6-0, 215; Christian Ricard, Stony Brook, Sr., 6-1, 205; Jaquiski Tartt, Samford, Sr., 6-1, 218
P – Kyle Loomis, Portland State, Sr., 6-2, 230
LS – Chris Highland, Illinois State, Sr., 6-2, 230
PR – Antonio Hamilton, South Carolina State, Jr., 6-0, 185
Second Team – Offense
QB – Vernon Adams Jr., Eastern Washington, Jr., 6-0, 200
RB – John Crockett, North Dakota State, Sr., 6-0, 215; Chase Edmonds, Fordham, Fr., 5-9, 185; Tyler Varga, Yale, Jr., 5-11, 220
FB – Brandon Howe, Cal Poly, Sr., 6-2, 225
WR – Adam Drake, Eastern Illinois, Sr., 6-2, 199; Darrin Peterson, Liberty, Jr., 6-2, 190; Brian Wetzel, Fordham, Sr., 5-11, 190
TE – Harold Spears, New Hampshire, Sr., 6-4, 255
OL – Cole Caruthers, Central Arkansas, Sr., 6-4, 292; Nick Easton, Harvard, Sr., 6-3, 300; Antoine Everett, McNeese State, Sr., 6-3, 325; Darren Pinnock, Morgan State, Sr., 6-4, 330; Jake Rodgers, Eastern Washington, Sr., 6-6, 315; Jack Rummells, Northern Iowa, Sr., 6-5, 300
AP – Johnta Hebert, Prairie View A&M, Jr., 5-10, 195
PK – Michael Schmadeke, Northern Iowa, Jr., 5-10, 181
KR – Devin Rahming, Duquesne, Sr., 5-11, 170
Second Team – Defense
DL – Jeff Covitz, Bryant, Sr., 6-2, 255; James Cowser, Southern Utah, Jr., 6-4; 244; Zack Hodges, Harvard, Sr., 6-3, 235; Alec May, Georgetown, Sr., 6-4, 255; Xavier Williams, Northern Iowa, Sr., 6-2, 309
LB – Tony Bell, UT Martin, Sr., 6-1, 200; Evan Byers, Bucknell, Sr., 6-0, 235; Isiah Corbett, Southeastern Louisiana, Sr., 6-3, 250; Lynden Trail, Norfolk State, Sr., 6-7, 250
DB – Colten Heagle, North Dakota State, Sr., 5-11, 206; Gordon Hill, Sacred Heart, Sr., 6-0, 220; De’Ante Saunders, Tennessee State, Sr., 5-11, 220; Caleb Schaffitzel, Missouri State, Sr., 6-0, 215
P – Ben LeCompte, North Dakota State, Jr., 5-10, 200
LS – Phil Faccone, Wagner, Sr., 5-9, 195
PR – Ladarius Vanlier, Tennessee Tech, Jr., 5-8, 175
Third Team – Offense
QB – Justin Arias, Idaho State, Sr., 6-1, 210
RB – Malcolm Cyrus, Alabama State, Sr., 5-10, 180; Khairi Dickson, Saint Francis, Jr., 6-0, 182; Connor Kacsor, Dayton, Sr., 6-0, 200; Dy’Shawn Mobley, Eastern Kentucky, Jr., 5-11, 217
FB – Andrew Bonnet, North Dakota State, Jr., 6-3, 250
WR – Chris King, Duquesne, Jr., 6-1, 196; Mark Roberts, Lamar, Sr., 6-3, 190; Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State, Fr., 6-4, 205
TE – Nick Boyle, Delaware, Sr., 6-6, 270
OL – Jermaine Barton, Illinois State, Sr., 6-7, 315; Mike Coccia, New Hampshire, Sr., 6-3, 301; Cornelius Edison, Portland State, Sr., 6-3, 295; Vince Kowalski, Villanova, Sr., 6-4, 298; Corey Levin, Chattanooga, So., 6-5, 285; Jaime Martinez, Sacred Heart, Sr., 6-4, 340
AP – Tarik Cohen, North Carolina A&T, So., 5-6, 172; Chandler Curtis, Mercer, Fr., 5-10, 186
PK – Ryan McCrum, Southeast Missouri, So., 6-0, 228
KR – Xavier Roberson, Southeastern Louisiana, Jr., 5-9, 180
Third Team – Defense
DL – P.J. Hall, Sam Houston State, Fr., 6-1, 270; Sage Harold, James Madison, Sr., 6-4, 245; Mike Reilly, William & Mary, Sr., 6-4, 265; Devaunte Sigler, Jacksonville State, Jr., 6-5, 292; Gary Wilkins, Furman, Sr., 6-3, 240; Jonathan Woodard, Central Arkansas, Jr., 6-6, 271
LB – Kourtney Berry, Alabama State, So., 6-0, 215; Christon Gill, Western Carolina, Sr., 6-0, 225; Jerome Howard, Prairie View A&M, Sr., 6-0, 216; Mike Zeuli, Princeton, Sr., 6-2, 230
DB – Imoan Claiborne, Northwestern State, Sr., 5-11, 187; Jarrett Dieudonne, Wagner, Sr., 6-1, 190; Matt Hermanson, Montana, Sr., 6-1, 198; Jermaine Hough, Jacksonville State, Jr., 5-10, 180; Tye Smith, Towson, Sr., 6-0, 170
P – Lachlan Edwards, Sam Houston State, Jr., 6-5, 214
LS – Shane Ballard, Coastal Carolina, Sr., 6-3, 210
PR – Michael Jones, North Carolina Central, So., 5-10, 180
Categorized in: NCAA Football