• Sports Network Release | Complete Team
Two Ohio Valley Conference football players have been named to the Preseason Walter Payton Award Watch List which was released by the Sports Network on Thursday.
Murray State senior quarterback Casey Brockman, who finished 11th in the voting last season, and Eastern Kentucky senior running back Matt Denham were two of the 20 total Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) student-athletes selected to the list.
Brockman enters his final season as one of the most decorated players in Racer history. After becoming the first Racer signal caller to earn All-America honors in 2011, Brockman has been named a first-team preseason All-America by Lindy's Magazine and Beyond College Sports, as well as a second-team All-America by The Sports Network. The former walk-on is coming off a season in which he went 316-for-477 for 3,276 yards and 25 touchdowns. He established school records for attempts and completions, while throwing for the second-most touchdowns and yards in a season. Brockman also rushed for 211 yards and four touchdowns, and hauled in a pair of touchdown passes.
Brockman wowed the home fans in the 2011 home opener against Tennessee State as he went 45-for-67 for 600 yards and seven touchdowns. He set new MSU and OVC records for completions, yards and touchdowns, while becoming just the fifth player in FCS history to throw for 600-yards in a game. His 422 yards passing in the first half established a new mark in FCS football. Brockman's record-breaking performance was completed by catching a 15-yard touchdown pass. The 2011 season-finale victory over Southeast Missouri saw another first for Brockman as he threw for a pair of touchdowns, rushed for one and caught his second touchdown pass of the season. He was the first Racer to score a touchdown three different ways since former All-American Marcus Harris caught a touchdown, returned a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the 2009 season opener against Lambuth.
Denham, who was named a Preseason All-American by the Sports Network earlier in the week, burst onto the scene as a junior and rushed for 1,570 yards last season, which was the highest total by a Colonel since 1991. After breaking into the starting lineup in the fifth game of the season, he averaged 184.5 yards rushing per game in his eight starts in 2011. Four of those final eight games of the season saw Denham rush for 200 or more yards, including 226 yards against Tennessee State, 219 yards against Murray State, 216 yards against Eastern Illinois and 209 yards against Jacksonville State.
Overall Denham rushed for 100 or more yards in each of the final eight games of the season, which was the longest active streak in the FCS at the end of the season. He was the first OVC player to rush for 100-plus yards in eight-straight games since JSU's Clay Green did so in 2005. His play helped the Colonels to a share of the OVC Championship and a berth in the NCAA Playoffs.
The Payton Award Watch List can undergo revision during the 2012 season. Ballots will be sent to a panel of about 175 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries following the regular season on Nov. 19. The top three vote-getters will be invited to The Sports Network FCS Awards Presentation.
The only former OVC player to win the Walter Payton Award, which was first handed out in 1987, was former Eastern Illinois quarterback Tony Romo, who took home the award in 2002.
The Sports Network also presents the Buck Buchanan, Jerry Rice and Eddie Robinson awards. The Buchanan Award honors the FCS defensive player of the year, the Rice Award goes to the FCS freshman of the year and the Robinson Award honors the FCS coach of the year. Those three winners will join the top three Payton finalists at the national awards banquet.
2012 Walter Payton Award Watch List
Zach Bauman (RB), Northern Arizona
Shakir Bell (RB), Indiana State
Eric Breitenstein (FB), Wofford)
Casey Brockman (QB), Murray State
Jordan Brown (RB), Bryant
Jamaine Cook (RB), Youngstown State
Matt Denham (RB), Eastern Kentucky
Timothy Flanders (RB), Sam Houson State
Taylor Heineke (QB), Old Dominion
Kurt Hess (QB), Youngstown State
Jeff Mathews (QB), Cornell
Miguel Maysonet (RB), Stoney Brook
Denarius McGhee (QB), Montana State
Aaron Mellette (WR), Elon
Andrew Pierce (RB), Delaware
Rodrick Rumble (WR), Idaho State
Richard Sincere (All-Purpose), Sam Houston State
Brad Sorenson (QB), Southern Utah
Ryan Spadola (WR), Lehigh
Terrance West (RB), Towson