Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott and Montana safety Robby Hauck were each named to the list of finalists for national FCS individual awards, announced Tuesday.
Mellott, who was named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after running for 141 yards and two touchdowns in a 55-21 rivalry win over Montana, is one of 30 finalists for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the best offensive player in the subdivision.
Mellott, a sophomore, missed multiple games with a head injury and has thrown for only 1,327 yards and nine touchdowns, but has added 856 yards rushing and nine more touchdowns in just nine games.
Hauck, a senior, is one of 30 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the best defensive player in the subdivision. He leads the Griz with 95 total tackles and has added four tackles for loss, a pass breakup, and a 100-yard touchdown return of a missed field goal against Portland State earlier this year. He also became the leading tackler in Montana history in that game.
The duo joins Montana State head coach Brent Vigen and Montana punter Patrick Rohrbach, who were named finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and the Jerry Rice Freshman of the Year Award, respectively, on Monday.
After leading the Bobcats to the national title game last year in his first season, Vigen won the program’s first Big Sky title since 2012 this year. The Bobcats finished the regular season 10-1 and 8-0 in conference, and enter the playoffs as the No. 4 overall seed.
Rohrbach’s average of 46.2 yards per punt is second in the FCS, and the Grizzlies’ net average of 42.2 yards per punt leads the subdivision.
UC Davis running back Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr. and Sacramento State running back Cameron Skattebo joined Mellott on the list of Walter Payton Award finalists.
Gilliam, the Big Sky’s preseason offensive player of the year, is 15th in the country with 1,182 rushing yards (107.5 per game), and has added 13 touchdowns as well as 50 catches for 366 more yards.
Skattebo, a sophomore, is ninth in country with 1,251 yards, has nine total touchdowns including one on a kick return, and is third in the nation with 7.4 yards per carry.
Southeast Missouri State running back Geno Hess, who’s third in the country in rushing yards and second in yards per carry, was also named to the list of finalists. Montana hosts the Redhawks in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday.
Despite leading the country in touchdown catches with 15 and also hitting the 1,000-yard mark, sophomore Idaho wide receiver Hayden Hatten did not make the list of finalists.
Weber State linebacker Winston Reid and Sac State defensive back Marte Mapu joined Hauck on the list of finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award.
Reid racked up 89 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, an interception and four forced fumbles for the Wildcats, who finished sixth in the country in total defense.
Mapu, a in-the-box nickelback, finished with 64 tackles, 6 1/2 TFLs and two interceptions for the Hornets.
SEMO also had a player on the Buchanan list after sophomore linebacker Bryce Norman finished the season with 108 tackles.
Despite being named the Big Sky’s preseason Defensive Player of the Year and leading the conference with eight sacks and 13 TFLs, senior linebacker Patrick O’Connell did not make the final list, nor did Weber State defensive back Maxwell Anderson, who tied for third in the country with five interceptions.
UC Davis defensive back Rex Connors was another potential snub for the Buck Buchanan list after racking up 92 tackles and five interceptions of his own, but Connors did join Rohrbach on the list of finalists for the Jerry Rice Award.
Idaho quarterback Gevani McCoy, who completed 68% of his passes and threw for 25 touchdowns against five interceptions in his redshirt freshman season, was also named to the Rice list, and should be one of the favorites for the award.
Finally, Sac State head coach Troy Taylor joined Vigen as a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award after the Hornets finished 11-0 and split the conference title with the Bobcats.
It’s the third time in his three seasons at Sacramento State that Taylor has been a finalist for the Robinson Award, which he won in his debut season in 2019.
Southeast Missouri State’s Tom Matukewicz was also named one of 16 finalists for the award after leading the Redhawks to a 9-2 record and a share of the Ohio Valley Conference title.
Idaho coach Jason Eck, who led the Vandals to their first winning record (7-4) and first playoff berth since returning to the FCS in 2018, was left off the list.
