Brown Named to Walter Payton Award Watch List
10/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Walter Payton Award Watch List
Mike Brown's stellar start to the 2010 season has officially caught the eye of the national media, as the junior was added to the Walter Payton Award Watch List earlier today.
The Sports Network, who runs the award handed out annually to the top offensive FCS player in the country, added Brown and three other early season standouts to bring the total number of Watch List members to 20.
Along with Brown, quarterbacks DeAndre Presley of Appalachian State and Casey Therriault of Jackson State and Colgate running back Nate Eachus each were added to this year's Walter Payton Award Watch List.
The Walter Payton Award will be honoring its 24th selection at the annual FCS national awards banquet on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas, the night before the FCS national championship game.
Brown has passed for 200 or more yards in all five games this season and currently ranks No. 8 nationally with 1,315 passing yards. He has completed 100-of-151 pass attempts and also ranks No. 8 nationally in passing efficiency (156.79).
On Saturday, Brown threw for three touchdown passes, giving him 11 on the season. The junior's 11 touchdown passes ranks No. 6 nationally in total passing touchdowns and is already the third-highest season total by a Liberty quarterback in the last nine seasons.
Besides leading the Flames in passing, Brown also leads the Flames with 258 rushing yards on a team-best 56 rushing attempts. He also has two rushing touchdowns and ranks No. 2 nationally in total offense per game (314.60).
Brown is the second player in Liberty's program history to be named to the Walter Payton Award Watch List. In 2008, current NFL running back Rashad Jennings was named to the list and finished the year ranked No. 8 in the final voting for the prestigious honor.
Joining Brown, Presley, Therriault and Eachus on the Payton Award Watch List are quarterbacks Thomas DeMarco of Old Dominion, Pat Devlin of Delaware, Michael Herrick of Northern Arizona, Cameron Higgins of Weber State, Jeremy Moses of Stephen F. Austin, Scott Riddle of Elon, Steve Valentino of Dayton and Chris Whitney of Villanova; running backs Chris Evans of Samford, Jonathan Grimes of William & Mary, Taiwan Jones of Eastern Washington, Kyle Minett of South Dakota State and Chase Reynolds of Montana; wide receivers Tysson Poots of Southern Utah and Matt Szczur of Villanova; and offensive tackle Ben Ijalana of Villanova.
The Payton Award Watch List can undergo a second revision on Oct. 25. Ballots will be sent to a panel of nearly 200 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries after the regular season on Nov. 22.
The Sports Network also presents the Buck Buchanan and Eddie Robinson awards which are sponsored by Fathead. The Buchanan Award honors the FCS defensive player of the year and the Robinson Award honors the FCS coach of the year. Those two awards, like the Payton, will be presented at the national awards banquet.
