PDF of Release
All-Conference First Team
All-Conference Second Team
Honorable Mention
OGDEN, UTAH (November 23, 2010) - Montana State and Eastern Washington shared the Big Sky regular-season football title, so it was only fitting that a Bobcat and Eagle shared the 2010 Offensive Player of the Year award.
Eastern Washington junior running back Taiwan Jones and Montana State freshman quarterback Denarius McGhee were named Co-Offensive Player of the Year, and both were named to the All-Conference First Team.
Eastern Washington senior linebacker J.C. Sherritt captured Defensive Player of the Year, while McGhee was also honored as the Newcomer of the Year.
The individual award winners and All-Conference team were selected by the league coaches Monday, and released by the league office Tuesday. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.
Jones, a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder from Antioch, Calif., was a unanimous All-Conference selection, and was named to the first team for the second straight season. The Walter Payton Award candidate finished the regular season with 1,344 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He averaged 7.6 yards per carry and 134.4 yards per game, which ranks fourth in the nation. Jones ranks second in the nation in all-purpose yards at 195.1 yards per game. He is the first running back to claim Offensive Player of the Year honors since EWU’s Jesse Chatman in 2001.
McGhee, a 5-11, 203-pound redshirt freshman from Euless, Texas, is the first freshman named Offensive Player of the Year since Northern Arizona’s Jason Murrietta in 2003. McGhee, also a Walter Payton Award candidate, completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 2,940 yards with 22 touchdowns and just five interceptions. McGhee’s quarterback efficiency rating of 156.8 leads the Big Sky and ranks third in the nation. McGhee ranks ninth in the nation in total offense at 283.3 yards per game. McGhee is just the second Bobcat to win Offensive Player of the Year. Quarterback Kelly Bradley claimed the honor in 1984, the last time the Bobcats won the national championship. McGhee is the first athlete since Eastern Washington quarterback Josh Blankenship in 2002 to win Offensive MVP and Newcomer of the Year in the same season.
Sherritt, a 5-foot-10, 220-pound senior from Pullman, Wash., finished second in the Big Sky with 125 total tackles. The Buck Buchanan Award runner-up from a year ago also had 10 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, seven pass breakups, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. For the second straight season, Sherritt was a unanimous selection to the All-Conference team. Sherritt is a Buchanan Award candidate this season, and is looking to become the second Eagle in three years to claim the honor. Defensive end Greg Peach won the 2008 Buchanan.
Montana State and Eastern Washington both finished the regular season 7-1 in conference and 9-2 overall. Sixth-ranked and fourth-seeded Montana State will play either NDSU or Robert Morris in a second-round playoff game in Bozeman, Mont., on Saturday, Dec. 4. Top-ranked and fifth-seeded Eastern Washington meets Southeast Missouri State in Cheney, Wash., on Saturday, Dec. 4.
The All-Conference First Team consisted of seven repeat selections from 2009, and seven unanimous selections. Eastern Washington led the way with seven First-Team selections. Weber State has five players named to the First Team, while Montana State had four. All nine Big Sky teams had at least one player selected to the top squad.
Joining Jones and Sherritt as unanimous selections were Weber State wide receiver Joe Collins, Montana State senior offensive tackle Mike Person, Weber State fullback Vai Tafuna, Idaho State return specialist Tavoy Moore, and Sacramento State defensive end Zack Nash.
Jones, Sherritt, Person, Montana safety Trumaine Johnson, Idaho State linebacker A.J. Storms, and defensive tackles Renard Williams (Eastern Washington) and Dan Ogden (Montana State) were repeat picks.
Eastern Washington sophomore Brandon Kaufman and Northern Colorado sophomore Jace Davis joined Collins at First-Team wide receivers. Collins caught 51 passes for a league-high 1,046 yards and six touchdowns. Kaufman enters the playoffs with 55 catches for 922 yards and a league-high 12 touchdowns. Davis finished the season with 992 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
Joining Person on the offensive line were Weber State guard J.C. Oram, Northern Arizona guard Kris Poindexter, Eastern Washington junior center Chris Powers, and Weber State tackle Caleb Turner. Julius Thomas, a former star on Portland State’s basketball team, was selected as the tight end.
Portland State junior Cory McCaffrey, who rushed for 1,287 yards and 10 touchdowns, joined Jones and Tafuna in the First-Team backfield.
Montana State junior Jason Cunningham was tabbed as the top kicker. Cunningham made 19-of-23 field goals and 40-of-46 points after attempts. He ranks second in the nation in field goals per game and eighth in scoring.
Moore, a 5-9, 175-pound junior, returned two punts and two kicks for touchdowns in his first season with the Bengals. His average of 18.3 yards per punt return ranks second in the nation.
Ogden and Williams were both First Team All-Conference picks at defensive tackle last season. Ogden, a senior, has 43 tackles – 10 for loss – and six sacks. Williams, a junior, has 33 tackles – 8 for loss – 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Nash, a junior, led the Big Sky with 12 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss. He set a Big Sky single-game record with five sacks against Idaho State. Northern Arizona junior Isaac Bond is the other first-team defensive end. Bond tallied 5.5 sacks.
Junior Nick Webb joined Storms and Sherritt at outside linebacker. Webb finished the season with 99 tackles, 8.5 for loss. Storms leads the nation with 146 total tackles – an average of 13.3 per game.
Northern Arizona senior Reid Worthington and Northern Colorado senior John Eddy were named as the inside linebackers. Worthington finished with 67 total tackles. Eddy tallied 90.
Montana finished the season ranked third in the nation in pass defense. Two of the Grizzlies’ stating defensive backs earned top honors: Johnson and safety Erik Stoll. Johnson, a junior, intercepted four passes and returned two for touchdowns. Stoll led the league with five interceptions, and tallied 82 tackles.
Joining the two Grizzlies in the defensive backfield were Northern Colorado cornerback Korey Askew and Eastern Washington safety Matt Johnson, who had four interceptions. Askew picked off three passes.
Idaho State’s David Harrington was selected as the punter. Harrington leads the nation with an average of 44.3 yards per punt.
Eastern Washington’s Darriell Beaumtone was selected as the special teams player. He had 13 special teams tackles and blocked two blocked punts.