• Complete Buck Buchanan Award Release and Voting Totals
In results of voting for the 2022 Buck Buchanan Award, presented by Stats Perform to the FCS National Defensive Player of the Year, UT Martin graduate linebacker
John H. Ford II finished 20th while Southeast Missouri State sophomore linebacker
Bryce Norman finished 21st in the voting.
The Buchanan, named for the Pro and College Football Hall-of-Famer and presented since 1995, will be handed out at the FCS Awards Banquet on January 7 in Frisco, Texas - on the eve of the national championship game. Past winners include Dexter Coakley, Rashean Mathis, Jared Allen and Arthur Moats. The OVC has had two all-time winners in Jacksonville State's Darius Jackson (2017) and SEMO's Zach Hall (2018).
The 2022 winner, selected by a 54-member, national media panel after the regular season.
Ford received one third-place, one-fourth place and three fifth-place votes to tally eight points while Norman picked up one second-place, one fourth-place and one fifth-place vote to record seven points.
Ford, the OVC Defensive Player of the Year, helped his team to a share of the OVC Championship, its second-straight title. He tallied 105 tackles, including 10.5 for loss, 5.0 sacks, an interception, two pass breakups, four quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. During the regular season he ranked third in the OVC (and 21st nationally) in tackles (9.5/game), second in sacks (0.45/game) and third in tackles for loss (0.95/game). Ford had double-digit tackles in five games, including a season-high 13 stops in wins over Western Illinois and Murray State. His play helped UTM rank first nationally in turnovers gained (28) and in the Top 20 nationally in tackles for loss (17th) and sacks (20th).
Norman helped SEMO to its third OVC Championship and a berth in the FCS Playoffs. During the regular season he ranked 16th nationally in tackles/game (9.8/game). Including the team's playoff game at Montana, Norman finished the year with 119 tackles (57 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one interception, five pass breakups, eight quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery, a forced fumble and a defensive touchdown. He had a season-best 17 tackles against Nicholls and added 16 versus Eastern Kentucky. As a team he helped SEMO rank 16th nationally in rushing defense (114.0 yards/game) and 26th in scoring defense (21.5 points/game) …
The three finalists for the award are William & Mary linebacker John Pius, Illinois State linebacker Zach Vandenburgh and Central Arkansas defensive lineman David Walker.