Photo Gallery from the Sports Network Awards Banquet
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - For the second consecutive season, a Big Sky Conference player has been selected as the Football Championship Subdivision's top defensive player.
Eastern Washington defensive end Greg Peach accepted the Buck Buchanan Award here Thursday night, joining Idaho State's Jared Allen (2003) and Montana's Kroy Biermann (2007) as Big Sky Conference winners of the esteemed prize.
"It's a very prestigious award and I would have never thought coming in here that I could receive it,'' Peach said. "It's an amazing, once in a lifetime honor.
"It's hard for me to see myself as the top defensive player. Fortunately there were other people that thought that, and it's great that I won. It's a great compliment. But I have a lot of work to do to get to the next level, and I'm going to keep working to get better."
Peach, Eastern Washington's Beau Baldwin, Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton and Peach's parents Jay and Anna-Lisa were on hand here, as the senior accepted the honor at the Sports Network Awards Banquet at the Marriott.
Peach, a 6-foot-3, 255-pound senior from Vancouver, Wash., earned 39 first-place votes and 313 total points. Peach had 17 second-place votes, 11 third-place votes, and six fourth-place votes. Jovan Belcher of Maine was second with 206 points.
The Sports Network also presented the Walter Payton Award to Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards, and the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award to James Madison's Mickey Matthews.
Weber State coach Ron McBride finished third in the Robinson voting, earning 13 first-place votes and 174 total points. Matthews had 26 first-place votes and 229 total points. Montana coach Bobby Hauck was 14th in voting with one first-place vote and 39 total points.
Edwards earned 53 first-place votes and 398 total points in Payton voting. James Madison QB Rodney Landers was second with 290 points. Western Illinois running back Herb Donaldson was third with 209 points.
With six Payton winners, no other FCS league can claim as many. A seventh Big Sky winner might be on the horizon. Weber State sophomore quarterback Cameron Higgins finished sixth in voting, earning three first-place votes and 79 total points.
Three other Big Sky players made the final Buck Buchanan ballot. Portland State linebacker Andy Schantz finished 10th with two first-place votes and 43 total points. Montana safety Colt Anderson finished 13th earning three first-place votes and 33 total points, and Northern Arizona cornerback K.J. Gerard finished 14th with 26 points.
Peach was selected the Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP after leading the nation in sacks with 18 and tackles for loss with 22. He also registered 71 total tackles. Peach's 18 sacks set a single-season school record, and were the second-most in Big Sky history. Peach is the Eagles' all-time leader in sacks (35½) and tackles for loss (63).
Peach led an Eastern Washington defense that held five straight conference opponents under 20 points, something that had never been accomplished at EWU.
"There are players who have talent and get good numbers, and there are players who work hard and have solid numbers,'' said Eastern Washington coach Beau Baldwin. "Greg is that rare football player that has both. A lot of his sacks were because of his talent and the things he could do against offensive linemen. There were other situations where it's just a matter of playing to the end of the play -- he was just relentless and kept coming. Instead of letting up when the quarterback is scrambling, he never stops and his motor keeps going. It's a combination of both that gets you to the level he is at now as a two-time All-American and the winner of the Buchanan Award."
Peach has been named to the Walter Camp All-America Team. Peach picked 14 of his 18 sacks during a torrid five-game stretch. Peach tallied three sacks against Western Washington on Sept. 20, and three more the next week against Idaho State. He followed a one-sack game against Portland State with four against Montana and three against Montana State.
Montana will play Richmond on Friday night here for the Division I Football Championship at Finley Stadium. "Montana is always our biggest competition every year, and it was great to have a good game against them,'' Peach said. "We lost the game, but it was a feather in my cap to have that kind of game against a team that can be the national champions. I'm going to be there rooting for them. It really represents our conference well when a team from the Big Sky can play for the national title."
Peach is the second Eastern Washington player in the last four years to win a major individual award from the Sports Network. In 2005, Eagle QB Erik Meyer became the sixth Big Sky player to win the Walter Payton Award."It's special. It was an exciting time three years ago when Erik Meyer won the Payton Award and this is just as special,'' said Baldwin. "With all the great players at this level, to have the player of the year come from Eastern Washington University is humbling. It's a great feeling for our university, but the credit goes to Greg and what he was able to do. We are very fortunate to reap the benefits of what he was able to accomplish here."