FARMINGTON, Utah (November 26, 2019) – With a record four first-round byes in the NCAA Division I Championships on deck and a wealth of players ranked amongst the best in the nation, the 2019 Big Sky Football All-Conference Teams were announced by the league office on Tuesday.
Sacramento State quarterback Kevin Thomson, a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, has earned the league’s Offensive Player of the Year honor. It is the first time since 2000 and the third time overall that a Hornet has received the award.
Thomson guided Sacramento State to a share of the Big Sky title and an FCS Playoff berth – the first in school history. The dual-threat quarterback completed 244 of 397 passes for 2,910 passing yards. He completed 25 touchdown passes and averaged 264.5 yards per game. The junior also rushed for 532 yards – second-most on the team – and the led the Hornets with 10 rushing touchdowns.
Montana’s Dante Olson was named the league’s co-defensive player of the year honoree. The senior linebacker leads the FCS in tackles with 151, while his average of 12.6 tackles per game ranks second. The Buck Buchanan Award finalist has 9.5 tackles for a loss of 37 yards and is an instrumental part of a Griz defense that has held opponents to an average of 135.1 rushing yards per game. Olson is the first Grizzly since 2014 to take home top defensive honors.
Sharing co-defensive honors is Wildcat defensive end, Jonah Williams. He helped lead Weber State to a share of its third straight league title and is a key member of a Wildcat team that ranks in the top 10 in the FCS in rush defense. He has 48 tackles on the season, including 9.0 tackles for a loss of 64 yards. A senior for Weber State, he’s collected 6.5 sacks for a loss of 59 yards. The senior is the second Wildcat in three years to earn defensive MVP honors, as he’s tallied five quarterback hurries and three pass breakups to go along with two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble this season
Running back Marcus Knight was named the Big Sky Newcomer of the Year, after accounting for 930 rushing yards in his first season at Montana. He’s averaging 77.5 yards per game and leads the Big Sky with 20 rushing touchdowns. Knight has a season-best 148 rushing yards and exploded for six multi-touchdown games in 2019. The newcomer also registered 239 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. His rushing and receiving yards have him at a total of 1,169 all-purpose yards for the regular season. It’s the second straight year a Griz player has won the newcomer of the year award.
Freshman of the Year honors went to Aggie linebacker Nick Eaton. A finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, he has been a breath of fresh air for UC Davis in 2019. Eaton registered 56 tackles and 12.0 tackles for a loss of 55 yards through 12 games. He leads the Big Sky with five forced fumbles, in addition to one fumble recovery for a 78-yard touchdown. He’s also accounted for six pass breakups and three quarterback hurries on the season. Eaton is the first Aggie to earn rookie of the year honors.
Southern Utah offensive lineman Zach Larsen is the lone three-time All-First Team honoree on the all-conference list.
Weber State running back Josh Davis, Sac State running back Elijah Dotson, Portland State tight end Charlie Taumoepeau, Sacramento State defensive end George Obinna, Montana State outside linebacker Troy Andersen, Northern Arizona defensive back Khalil Dorsey, Weber State’s Williams and Montana’s Olson are all two-time first-team honorees. Andersen is the first player to earn First Team All-Big Sky honors on both offense and defense in the two-platoon era.
Larsen and Montana’s Jerry Louie-McGee were both unanimous First Team offensive honorees, while Olson was the lone unanimous selection on defense.
Co-conference champion Sacramento State led the way with seven players on the first team, followed by Weber State and Montana State with five each.
All 13 teams in the league had at least one player selected to one of the three teams. Weber State’s 14 all-conference selections led the league.
The Big Sky All-Conference team and individual award winners were selected by all 13 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.
2019 Big Sky Football All-Conference
Offensive Player of the Year: Kevin Thomson, QB, Sacramento State
Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Dante Olson, LB, Montana; Jonah Williams, DE, Weber State
Newcomer of the Year: Marcus Knight, RB, Montana
Freshman of the Year: Nick Eaton, LB, 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 | Player | Year | School |
| Quarterback | Kevin Thomson | Junior | Sacramento State |
| Wide Receiver | Samori Toure | Junior | Montana |
| Wide Receiver | J.J. Koski | Senior | Cal Poly |
| Wide Receiver | Pierre Williams | Sophomore | Sacramento State |
| Running Back | Josh Davis$ | Sophomore | Weber State |
| Running Back | Elijah Dotson$ | Junior | Sacramento State |
| Offensive Line | Zach Larsen*% | Senior | Southern Utah |
| Offensive Line | Mitch Brott | Senior | Montana State |
| Offensive Line | Wyatt Ming | Senior | Sacramento State |
| Offensive Line | Spencer Blackburn | Senior | Eastern Washington |
| Offensive Line | Chris Schlichting | Senior | Eastern Washington |
| Offensive Line | Ty Whitworth | Junior | Weber State |
| Offensive Line | Cole Habib | Senior | Northern Arizona |
| Tight End | Charlie Taumoepeau$ | Senior | Portland State |
| Fullback | Clay Moss | Junior | Weber State |
| All-Purpose | Travis Jonsen | Senior | Montana State |
| Kicker | Luis Aguilar | Junior | Northern Arizona |
| Punt Returner | Jerry Louie-McGee* | Senior | Montana |
| Kick Returner | Nick Romano | Freshman | Idaho |
| FIRST TEAM DEFENSE | |||
| Tackle | Jared Schiess | Junior | Weber State |
| Tackle | Dariyn Choates | Senior | Sacramento State |
| End | George Obinna$ | Senior | Sacramento State |
| End | Jonah Williams$ | Senior | Weber State |
| Outside Linebacker | Troy Andersen$ | Junior | Montana State |
| Outside Linebacker | Christian Ellis | Junior | Idaho |
| Inside Linebacker | Dante Olson*$ | Senior | Montana |
| Inside Linebacker | Jace Lewis | Junior | Montana |
| Inside Linebacker | Josh Hill | Senior | Montana State |
| Defensive Back | Daron Bland | Junior | Sacramento State |
| Defensive Back | Brayden Konkol | Senior | Montana State |
| Defensive Back | Devon King | Sophomore | UC Davis |
| Defensive Back | Khalil Dorsey$ | Senior | Northern Arizona |
| Defensive Back | Anthony Adams | Sophomore | Portland State |
| Punter | DJ Arnson | Junior | Northern Arizona |
| Special Teams | Emmanuel Daigbe | Junior | Portland State |
| SECOND TEAM OFFENSE | |||
| Quarterback | Case Cookus | Senior | Northern Arizona |
| Wide Receiver | Jeff Cotton | Senior | Idaho |
| Wide Receiver | Brandon Porter | Sophomore | Northern Arizona |
| Wide Receiver | Samuel Akem | Junior | Montana |
| Running Back | Ulonzo Gilliam | Sophomore | UC Davis |
| Running Back | Antoine Custer Jr. | Senior | Eastern Washington |
| Offensive Line | Nick Bianco | Seniors | Sacramento State |
| Offensive Line | Conlan Beaver | Junior | Montana |
| Offensive Line | Noah Johnson | Senior | Idaho |
| Offensive Line | Cy Sirmon | Senior | Montana |
| Offensive Line | Lewis Kidd | Junior | Montana State |
| Offensive Line | Tyler Whisenhunt | Senior | Cal Poly |
| Offensive Line | Tristen Taylor | Senior | Eastern Washington |
| Tight End | Marshel Martin | Freshman | Sacramento State |
| Tight End | Wes Preece | Senior | UC Davis |
| Fullback | Duy Tran-Sampson | Sophomore | Cal Poly |
| All-Purpose | Joe Logan | Senior | Northern Arizona |
| Kicker | Trey Tuttle | Junior | Weber State |
| Punt Returner | Cutrell Haywood | Sophomore | Idaho |
| Kick Returner | Wille Fairman | Senior | Northern Colorado |
| SECOND TEAM DEFENSE | |||
| Tackle | Derek Marks | Senior | Montana State |
| Tackle | Jesse Sims | Senior | Montana |
| End | Bryce Sterk | Senior | Montana State |
| End | Adam Rodriguez | Senior | Weber State |
| Outside Linebacker | Marcus Bruce | Senior | Sacramento State |
| Outside Linebacker | Nick Eaton | Freshman | UC Davis |
| Outside Linebacker | Auston Tesch | Senior | Weber State |
| Inside Linebacker | Marcus Hawkins | Junior | Sacramento State |
| Inside Linebacker | Tre Walker | Sophomore | Idaho |
| Defensive Back | Michael Walker | Senior | Northern Colorado |
| Defensive Back | Adkin Aguirre | Seniors | Idaho State |
| Defensive Back | Eddie Heckard | Freshman | Weber State |
| Defensive Back | Caelan Barnes | Senior | Sacramento State |
| Defensive Back | Robby Hauck | Sophomore | Montana |
| Punter | Doug Lloyd | Senior | Weber State |
| THIRD TEAM OFFENSE | |||
| Quarterback | Eric Barriere | Junior | Eastern Washington |
| Wide Receiver | Emmanuel Daigbe | Junior | Portland State |
| Wide Receiver | Kevin Kassis | Senior | Montana State |
| Wide Receiver | Andrew Boston | Sophomore | Eastern Washington |
| Running Back | Marcus Knight | Sophomore | Montana |
| Running Back | Milo Hall | Senior | Northern Colorado |
| Running Back | Kevin Smith | Junior | Weber State |
| Offensive Line | Dallen Collins | Senior | Idaho State |
| Offensive Line | Angel Villanueva | Senior | Montana |
| Offensive Line | Kaleb Levao | Senior | Eastern Washington |
| Offensive Line | Braxton Jones | Sophomore | Southern Utah |
| Offensive Line | Ben Bos | Junior | Weber State |
| Offensive Line | Garrett Stauffer | Senior | Portland State |
| Offensive Line | Taylor Tuiasosopo | Junior | Montana State |
| Tight End | Jayce Gilder | Senior | Eastern Washington |
| Kicker | Cody Williams | Sophomore | Portland State |
| Kick Returner | Judd Cockett | Junior | Southern Utah |
| THIRD TEAM DEFENSE | |||
| Tackle | Elijah Chambers | Junior | Sacramento State |
| Tackle | Chase Benson | Junior | Montana State |
| End | George Tarlas | Sophomore | Weber State |
| End | Jim Townsend | Senior | Eastern Washington |
| Outside Linebacker | Amandre Williams | Junior | Montana State |
| Outside Linebacker | Luke Holloway | Senior | Idaho State |
| Inside Linebacker | Kody Graves | Senior | Idaho State |
| Inside Linebacker | Matt Shotwell | Junior | Cal Poly |
| Defensive Back | Lloyd Hightower | Senior | Idaho |
| Defensive Back | Josh Sandry | Senior | Montana |
| Defensive Back | Preston Smith | Junior | Weber State |
| Defensive Back | Dehonta Hayes | Senior | Eastern Washington |
| Defensive Back | Carlton Johnson | Freshman | Southern Utah |
| Punter | Daniel Whelan | Junior | UC Davis |
Honorable Mention
Quarterback: Dalton Sneed, Montana; Jake Maier, UC Davis; Mason Petrino, Idaho; Jacob Knipp, Northern Colorado.
Wide Receiver: Mitch Gueller, Idaho State; Tanner Conner, Idaho State; Lance Lawson, Southern Utah; Jayson Williams II, Eastern Washington; Khris Vaughn, UC Davis; Willie Fairman, Northern Colorado
Running Back: B.J. Perkinson, Sacramento State
Offensive Line: Jordan Ford, UC Davis
Kicker: Seth Harrison, Eastern Washington
Tackle: Bryce Rodgers, UC Davis; Dylan Ledbetter, Eastern Washington; Kenton Bartlett, Portland State; Anthony Del Toro, Portland State
End: Shawn Richard, Portland State; Josiah Erickson, Sacramento State; Myles Cecil, Cal Poly
Outside Linebacker: Alex Sims, Southern Utah
Inside Linebacker: Luke Nelson, Northern Colorado
Defensive Back: Kitu Humphrey, Cal Poly; Jerone Jackson, Northern Colorado; AJ Stanley, Southern Utah; Carter Nichols, Cal Poly
Punter: Jered Padmos, Montana State; Cade Coffey, Idaho
