FARMINGTON, Utah (Nov. 26, 2025) — The Big Sky Conference announced its annual football individual awards and all-conference teams on Wednesday, highlighted by a pair of Treasure State standouts in Offensive Player of the Year Eli Gillman of Montana and Defensive Player of the Year Caden Dowler of Montana State. The 2025 postseason accolades were voted on by the league’s head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
In addition to Dowler’s Defensive MVP honor, Montana State took home three of the five individual honors on Wednesday, with Brent Vigen being voted the Coach of the Year and Justin Lamson winning the title of Newcomer of the Year. Rounding out the individual award winners for the 2025 season, Caden Pinnick of UC Davis was a unanimous selection for Freshman of the Year.
The Coach of the Year honor for Vigen is the third of his career, as he becomes the first Big Sky coach to win the honor solely in back-to-back years since Montana’s Bobby Hauck in 2006-07. Vigen led his Bobcats to a No. 2 overall seed in the upcoming FCS Playoffs, after winning his final 10 games of the season, including most recently a win in Missoula, which was the first road victory in the series since 2018. The Bobcats, who have won their last 16 conference games overall, became the first Big Sky team to win outright titles in back-to-back seasons since 2013-14.
Lamson and Dowler, two of the heroes from MSU’s 31-28 victory over Montana in last weekend’s Brawl of the Wild, won individual honors partly for their outstanding play down the stretch. Lamson scored 26 touchdowns (17 passing, 9 rushing) in conference play alone, while Dowler had four interceptions and two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the final three games of the season. The Bobcats have now won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year honors and three of the last five awards overall, as Dowler joins Brody Grebe in 2024 and Troy Andersen in 2021. The Newcomer of the Year recognition is the first for MSU since Sean Chambers won the same honor in 2022.
Gillman, who led the league in rushing yards per game (105.1) and rushing touchdowns (17), became the first Grizzly to win Offensive Player of the Year honors since John Edwards in 2002. Additionally, Gillman joins all-time great Cooper Kupp as the only Big Sky players to have won both the Freshman of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year honors during their career.
This year’s Freshman of the Year was a unanimous selection, as Pinnick played like a veteran all season long for the Aggies. In conference play, Pinnick racked up 294.6 passing yards per game and tossed 18 touchdowns, which led all other Big Sky quarterbacks during that stretch. Pinnick becomes the third Aggie to win Freshman of the Year honors, but the first to win on the offensive side of the ball, as he joins Nick Eaton (2019) and Chubba Maae (2020).
Montana led the way in all-conference honors, picking up 18 selections, as Montana State was a close second behind the Griz with 16 honorees.
There were only two unanimous first-team selections, with UC Davis’ Jacob Psyk and Cal Poly’s Mikey D’Amato garnering every available first-team vote.
Below is the full list of individual awards and all-conference honors.
2025 Big Sky Football Individual Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Eli Gillman, RB, Montana
Defensive Player of the Year: Caden Dowler, DB, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year: Justin Lamson, QB, Montana State
Freshman of the Year: Caden Pinnick, QB, UC Davis*
Coach of the Year: Brent Vigen, Montana State
* – Unanimous selection
First Team All-Big Sky Offense
QB: Keali’i Ah Yat, Montana
RB: Rodney Hammond, Sac State
RB: Eli Gillman, Montana
WR: Carver Cheeks, Northern Colorado
WR: Samuel Gbatu, UC Davis
WR: Kolbe Katsis, Northern Arizona
TE: Ian Simpson, UC Davis
TE: Evan Shafer, Montana
OL: Stryker Rashid, Idaho State
OL: Titan Fleischmann, Montana State
OL: Cannon Panfiloff, Montana
OL: Eli Simonson, UC Davis
OL: Gavin Ortega, Weber State
OL: Nate Azzopardi, Idaho
AP: Michael Wortham, Montana
First Team All-Big Sky Defense
DL: Jacob Psyk, UC Davis*
DL: Paul Brott, Montana State
DL: Kenneth Eiden IV, Montana State
DL: Hunter Peck, Montana
DL: DeSean Watts, Sac State
LB: Mikey D’Amato, Cal Poly*
LB: Peyton Wing, Montana
LB: Isiah King, Idaho
LB: Travis Arena, Northern Arizona
LB: Kenny Olson, Cal Poly
DB: Caden Dowler, Montana State
DB: Quentin Moten, Northern Arizona
DB: Cam Chapa, Northern Colorado
DB: Koa Akui, Sac State
DB: Jaylon Jenkins, Eastern Washington
DB: Khalani Riddick, UC Davis
DB: Montae Pate, Weber State
* – Unanimous selection
First Team All-Big Sky Specialists
KR: Kolbe Katsis, Northern Arizona
PR: Taco Dowler, Montana State
K: Trajan Sinatra, Idaho State
P: Ben D’Aquila, Northern Arizona
ST: Tanner Huff, Montana
LS: Spencer Moore, Cal Poly
Second Team All-Big Sky Offense
QB: Justin Lamson, Montana State
RB: Julius Davis, Montana State
RB: Dason Brooks, Idaho State
WR: Taco Dowler, Montana State
WR: Michael Wortham, Montana
WR: Tsion Nunnally, Idaho State
TE: Landon Cooper, Eastern Washington
TE: Noah Bennee, Weber State
OL: Aidan Meek, Sac State
OL: Liam Brown, Montana
OL: Dean Abdullah, Sac State
OL: Zaire Collier, UC Davis
OL: Racin Delgatty, Cal Poly
OL: Jeremiah Katt, Northern Arizona
OL: Ethan Kramer, Northern Arizona
AP: Rodney Hammond, Sac State
Second Team All-Big Sky Defense
DL: Matt Herron, Weber State
DL: Dylan Hampsten, Sac State
DL: Jayland McGlothen, Sac State
DL: Victory Johnson, Cal Poly
DL: Cam’ron Willis, Idaho State
LB: Solomon Tuliaupupu, Montana
LB: Nate Rutchena, UC Davis
LB: Brandon Wong, Northern Arizona
LB: Cole Taylor, Montana State
LB: Read Sunn, Eastern Washington
DB: Drew Cofield, UC Davis
DB: Rylan Leathers, Idaho State
DB: TJ Rausch, Montana
DB: Jeremiah Bernard, Cal Poly
DB: Carsten Mamaril, Portland State
DB: Tayden Gray, Montana State
Second Team All-Big Sky Specialists
KR: Rodney Hammond, Sac State
PR: Drew Deck, Montana
K: Sloan Calder, Weber State
P: Gabe Russo, Idaho State
ST: Brayden Rice, Idaho
LS: Grayson Pibal, Montana
Honorable Mention Offense (at least 3 votes)
QB: Caden Pinnick, UC Davis
QB: Ty Pennington, Northern Arizona
QB: Jordan Cooke, Idaho State
RB: Adam Jones, Montana State
RB: Jordan Fisher, UC Davis
WR: Michael Shulikov, Idaho State
WR: Michael Briscoe, Cal Poly
WR: Damien Morgan, Idaho State
WR: Brooks Davis, Montana
TE: Kristian Ingman, Portland State
OL: JT Reed, Montana State
OL: Dylan Conner, Eastern Washington
OL: Cedric Jefferson, Montana State
OL: Jack Ziebell, Northern Colorado
OL: Burke Mastel, Montana State
AP: Nate Bell, Eastern Washington
Honorable Mention Defense (at least 3 votes)
DL: Alec Eckert, Montana State
DL: Matyus McLain, Idaho
DL: Spencer Elliott, Portland State
DL: Isaiah Perez, Eastern Washington
DL: Hunter Parsons, Montana State
DL: Jake Mason, Montana
LB: Mayson Hitchens, Weber State
LB: Dylan Lane, Idaho
LB: Nathan Reynolds, Idaho State
LB: Caleb Otlewski, Montana
LB: Hudson Voggesser, Northern Colorado
DB: Isaiah Green, Portland State
DB: Jason Oliver, Sac State
DB: Angel King, Weber State
DB: Drew Carter, Eastern Washington
Honorable Mention Specialists (at least 3 votes)
KR: Cru Newman, Portland State
PR: Isaiah Eastman, Northern Arizona
K: Ty Morrison, Montana
P: Landon Ogles, Eastern Washington
LS: Maddox Broughton, Northern Colorado
LS: Adam Johnston, Sac State
