The FCS stars will shine Saturday evening when the top individual awards in college football’s Division I subdivision will be presented at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards banquet in Frisco, Texas.
Highlighting the annual event are the announcements of the Walter Payton and Buck Buchanan awards for the 2022 national offensive and defensive players of the year, respectively.
The Payton Award, in its 36th season and often called the Heisman of the FCS, is down to quarterbacks Tim DeMorat of Fordham and Lindsey Scott Jr. of UIW and Monmouth running back Jaden Shirden.
Linebackers John Pius of William & Mary and Zeke Vandenburgh of Illinois State and defensive end David Walker of Central Arkansas are up for the Buchanan Award, which is in its 28th season.
The winners of the three other awards were announced previously: Idaho quarterback Gevani McCoy, 12th Jerry Rice Award for national freshman player of the year; South Dakota State’s John Stiegelmeier, 36th Eddie Robinson Award for national coach of the year; and Dayton running back Jake Chisholm, eighth FedEx Ground Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award.
A national media panel selected the four longstanding FCS awards, while the Doris Robinson Award was chosen from nominations made by the 15 FCS conferences.
“The evolution of the awards and this banquet,” said Brian Orefice, Stats Perform’s vice president of global operations, “have mirrored the strides the FCS itself has made over the course of the last few decades in regard to quality and scope.”
The national awards presentation will begin airing on Bally Sports Regional Networks on Sunday, with former Northwestern State All-American and two-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker Gary Reasons serving as the host. Over 175 airings are planned for Bally regional and affiliate networks.
FCS National Awards – Bally Sports Initial Air Dates
While all following networks will have multiple airings, please consult local listings for respective network territories. Each initial air time listed is local time.
Bally Sports Arizona (BSAZ): Monday, Jan. 9 (8 p.m. MT)
Bally Sports Detroit (BSDET): Sunday, Jan. 8 (9 p.m. ET)
Bally Sports Florida (BSFL): Sunday, Jan. 8 (8 p.m. ET)
Bally Sports Great Lakes (BSGL): Monday, Jan. 9 (1 p.m. ET)
Bally Sports Midwest (BSMW): Monday, Jan. 9 (2 a.m. CT)
Bally Sports North (BSN): Sunday, Jan. 8 (9 p.m. CT)
Bally Sports Ohio (BSOH): Sunday, Jan. 8 (6 p.m. ET)
Bally Sports San Diego (BSSD): Sunday, Jan. 8 (4 p.m. PT)
Bally Sports SoCal (BSSC): Sunday, Jan. 8 (4 p.m. PT)
Bally Sports South (BSSO): Sunday, Jan. 8 (9 p.m. ET)
Bally Sports Southeast (BSSE): Sunday, Jan. 8 (7 p.m. ET)
Bally Sports Southwest (BSSW): Sunday, Jan. 8 (8 p.m. CT in Houston, San Antonio, Arkansas and Louisiana regions; 9 p.m. CT in Dallas and Oklahoma regions)
Bally Sports West (BSW): Sunday, Jan. 8 (4 p.m. PT)
Bally Sports Wisconsin (BSWI): Sunday, Jan. 8 (9 p.m. CT)
Bally Sports SUN (BSSUN): Tuesday, Jan. 10 (3 p.m. ET)
MSGSN (formerly MSG Plus in New York): Sunday, Jan. 8 (6 p.m. ET)
Stadium College Sports Atlantic (SCSA): Monday, Jan. 9 (5 p.m.)
Stadium College Sports Central (SCSC): Friday, Jan. 13 (2 p.m. CT)