Individual Award Winners Award Name School Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp Eastern Washington Defensive Player of the Year James Cowser Southern Utah Freshman of the Year Case Cookus Northern Arizona John Santiago North Dakota Newcomer of the Year Alex Kuresa Portland State

First Team All-Conference Name School Year Position Hometown Cooper Kupp* Eastern Washington Jr. WR Yakima, Wash. Emmanuel Butler Northern Arizona So. WR Phoenix, Ariz. Jamaal Jones Montana Sr. WR Spanaway, Wash. Clay DeBord Eastern Washington Sr. OT Asotin, Wash. John Weidenaar Montana State Sr. OT Manhattan, Mont. Sean Meehan North Dakota Sr. OG Trevor, Wis. Aaron Neary Eastern Washington Sr. OG Richland, Wash. Joe Hawkins Weber State Sr. C Vero Beach, Fla. Beau Sandland Montana State Sr. TE Simi Valley, Calif. Case Cookus Northern Arizona Fr. QB Thousand Oaks, Calif. John Santiago* North Dakota Fr. RB St. Francis, Minn. Casey Jahn Northern Arizona Sr. RB Peoria, Ariz. Joe Protheroe Cal Poly So. FB Concord, Calif. Ryan Hawkins Northern Arizona Sr. PK Peoria, Ariz. Hakeen Deggs Northern Colorado RSo. ST Plaquemine, La. Ellis Onic II Northern Colorado RSo. RS Dallas, Texas Tyler Kuder Idaho State RSr. DT Payette, Idaho Caleb Kidder Montana RJr. DT Helena, Mont. James Cowser* Southern Utah Sr. DE Fruit Heights, Utah Tyrone Holmes Montana Sr. DE Eagle Point, Ore. Michael Needham Southern Utah So. OLB St. George, Utah Herbert Gamboa Montana Sr. OLB San Clemente, Calif. Will Ratelle North Dakota Sr. ILB Edina, Minn. Darnell Sankey Sacramento State Sr. ILB San Jose, Calif. Marcus Alford Northern Arizona Sr. CB Oxnard, Calif. LeShaun Sims Southern Utah Sr. CB Las Vegas, Nev. Miles Killebrew Southern Utah Sr. S Las Vegas, Nev. Patrick Onwuasor Portland State Sr. S Inglewood, Calif. Ryan Hawkins Northern Arizona Sr. P Peoria, Ariz.

Second Team All-Conference Name School Year Position Hometown Madison Mangum Idaho State Sr. WR Boise, Idaho Mike Sharp Southern Utah Jr. WR St. George, Utah Kendrick Bourne Eastern Washington Jr. WR Portland, Ore. John Schmaing Montana Sr. OT Billings, Mont. Kyle Smith Portland State Jr. OT Elmira, Ore. Brandon Anderson North Dakota Sr. OG Sartell, Minn. Cameron Young Weber State Jr. OG Cove, Texas Colton Boas North Dakota Sr. C Bloomfield, Ill. R.J. Rickert Northern Arizona Sr. TE Gilbert, Ariz. Dakota Prukop Montana State Jr. QB Austin, Texas David Jones Portland State Sr. RB Kent, Wash. Xavier Finney Idaho State Sr. RB Oceanside, Calif. Zach Adler North Dakota Sr. FB Omaha, Neb. Daniel Sullivan Montana Sr. PK Mill Creek, Wash. Miles Killebrew Southern Utah Sr. STP Las Vegas, Nev. Eric Wilkes Weber State So. RS Las Vegas, Nev. Taylor Sheridan Montana State Sr. DT Littleton, Colo. Sadat Sulleyman Portland State Sr. DT Spanaway, Wash. Samson Ebukam Eastern Washington Jr. DE Portland, Ore. Davond Dade Portland State So. DE Los Angeles, Calif. Brian Labat North Dakota Jr. OLB Detroit Lakes, Minn. Tre'von Johnson Weber State Jr. OLB Salt Lake City, Utah Kendrick Van Ackeren Montana Sr. ILB Bellevue, Wash. Emmett Tela Weber State So. ILB Provo, Utah Devonte Johnson Weber State Sr. CB Denver, Colo. Xavier Coleman Portland State Jr. CB Portland, Ore. Eddie Horn Northern Arizona Sr. S Hayward, Calif. Cole Reyes North Dakota So. S Schaumber, Ill. Mitch Meindel North Dakota RSo. P Waukesha, Wis.

Third Team All-Conference Name School Year Position Hometown Ellis Henderson Montana RJr. WR Vancouver, Wash. Mitch Herbert Montana State So. WR Eugene, Ore. Shane Harrison Sacramento State Sr. WR Chatsworth, Calif. Jacob Julian Northern Arizona Jr. OT Prescott, Ariz. Mike Davis Portland State Sr. OT Chico, Calif. JP Flynn Montana State Jr. OG Bettendorf, Iowa Cam Keizur Portland State Jr. OG West Linn, Ore. Stephen Sippel Cal Poly Sr. C Folsom, Calif. Steven Wroblewski Southern Utah Sr. TE Brainerd, Minn. Ammon Olsen Southern Utah Sr. QB Draper, Utah Chad Newell Montana State Jr. RB Billings, Mont. Kori Garcia Cal Poly Jr. RB Los Angeles, Calif. Anthony Norris Southern Utah Sr. FB Las Vegas, Nev. Jonathan Gonzales Portland State Jr. K Apple Valley, Calif. Connor Strahm Montana RSo. STP Eugene, Ore. Ellis Henderson Montana RJr. RS Vancouver, Wash. Matt Sommer Eastern Washington Jr. DT Salem, Ore. Daniel Fusi Portland State Sr. DT Santa Ana, Calif. Mikhail Dubose Northern Colorado Jr. DE Chicago, Ill. Brandon Dranka North Dakota So. DE Huntley,, Ill. Taylor Nelson Southern Utah So. OLB Vancouver, Wash. Burton De Koning Cal Poly Sr. OLB Folsom, Calif. Matt Holley Southern Utah Gr. ILB Las Vegas, Nev. Jeremiah Kose Montana RSr. ILB Oceanside, Calif. Nate Harris Montana RSr. CB Chino, Calif. Aaron Sibley Portland State Sr. CB Decatur, Ga. Todd Raynes Eastern Washington Jr. S Kenmore, Wash. Taylor Risner Northern Colorado Jr. S Wiggins, Colo. Tate Lewis Southern Utah Jr. P Plain City, Utah



Honorable Mention

The Big Sky Conference has announced its football All-Conference team and individual award winners for the 2015 regular season.The team was selected by the league’s coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their student-athletes. Then, the votes were compiled by the league office.Eastern Washington receiver Cooper Kupp is this year’s Offensive Player of the Year, and is also a first-team wide receiver. A three-time first-team receiver in the Big Sky, Kupp was a consensus selection to this season’s first-team. He led the FCS in five categories – receptions (114), receptions per game (10.4), reception yards (1,642), reception yards per game (149.3) and touchdown receptions (19). Kupp also has set eight Big Sky records in his career.Kupp is one of two wide receivers to win the Offensive Player of the Year award, with the other being Idaho’s Eric Yarber in 1985. Kupp is considered to be a strong candidate for the STATS National Offensive Player of the Year award.Southern Utah defensive end James Cowser is the recipient of this season’s Defensive Player of the Year award, in part due to his role leading the Big Sky’s top defense. Cowser, who is a two-time all-Big Sky first-team player, finished the season with 11 sacks and 17 tackles-for-loss. In the process of posting those statistics, Cowser set the FCS all-time record in both categories, as well as besting the Big Sky records posted by Idaho State’s Jared Allen.Cowser is a candidate for National Defensive Player of the Year.For the first time ever in the history of the Freshman of the Year award, the league’s coaches unanimously voted for two players to win the award- Northern Arizona quarterback Case Cookus and North Dakota running back John Santiago.Cookus finished the season by throwing for 3,110 yards and 37 touchdowns, and led the nation for most the season in passer efficiency. Cookus also received the league’s first-team all-Big Sky honors at quarterback, as he kept Northern Arizona in the playoff hunt until the final week of the season.Santiago led all FCS freshman running backs and the Big Sky Conference with 1,459 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns, while also leading all FCS rookies with a UND regular-season record of 2,159 all-purpose yards (1,459 rush, 81 receiving, 38 punt return, 581 kick return).He became the first true freshman to lead the Big Sky in rushing in the 53-year history of the league and burst onto the national scene with an FCS-leading nine 100-yard rushing games in 2015, including surpassing that total in all eight of his league games.Santiago was voted a consensus all-Big Sky first-team running back, to add to his list of accomplishments in the 2015 season.Both Cookus and Santiago are candidates for the National Freshman of the Year award.Portland State quarterback Alex Kuresa won the league’s Newcomer of the Year award, and his victory symbolizes the effort of a Portland State team that barged its way into the league’s upper echelon, as the Vikings finished the regular season with a 9-2 record.Other individual notables on the all-conference list include Northern Colorado earning two special teams honors, as Hakeem Deggs was named first-team all-Big Sky special teams player of the year, and Ellis Onic II was named first-team all-Big Sky return specialist.Southern Utah safety Miles Killebrew earned all-Big Sky honors at multiple positions, being named a first-team safety and a second-team special teams players.Montana State guard JP Flynn earning his third all-Big Sky selection, placing on the third team.Overall, Northern Arizona led all teams by placing five players on the first team, followed by Southern Utah and Montana placing four players on the first team.Southern Utah and Montana led all teams with 12 players selected for all-Big Sky honors, with North Dakota and Portland State adding 11 players to the mix.KW Williams, Idaho State; Ben Roberts, Montana; Darnell Adams, Portland State; Dejzon Walker, Northern Arizona; Justin Brown, Southern Utah; and Chris Martin, UC DavisCalvin Steyn, Weber State; Andrew Eide, Southern Utah; Parker Smith, UC Davis; Lars Hanson, Sacramento State; and Weston Walker, Cal PolyWesley Wingrove, Idaho State; Devon Dietrich, Montana; Randin Crecelius, Portland State; Thomas Gomez, Eastern Washington; Evan Ross, Southern Utah; Joey Kuperman, Cal Poly; and Eric Rodriguez, Northern ArizonaKeyan Norman, Southern Utah; Christian Diehm, Idaho State; Blake Porter, Northern Arizona; and Joel Horn, Montana StateTui Satuala, Weber State, and Michael McCauley, Northern ColoradoAlex Kuresa, Portland State, and Chris Brown, Cal PolyJordan Robinson, Sacramento State; Trae Riek, Northern Colorado; John Nguyen, Montana; Malik Brown, Southern Utah; and Eric Wilkes, Weber StateDerek Baljeu, UC Davis, and Cory Thomson, Weber StateLuke Daly, Montana State, and Brady Stuart, UC DavisLogan Jones, Montana State, and Chris Santini, Cal PolyKahlil Dawson, Portland State, and Josh Kelley, UC DavisShad Ennis, Southern Utah; Sefesi Va’aivaka, Southern Utah; Marcus Paige-Allen, Cal Poly; and Chuntony Johnson, Northern ColoradoNoah Johnson, North Dakota; Michael Doman, Portland State; Zach McDonnell, Northern Arizona; and Chance Bearnson, Southern UtahKyle Newsom, Northern Colorado; Jake Gall, Eastern Washington; Delvin Batiste, Northern Arizona; and Mac Bignell, Montana StateJeremy Lutali, Portland State, and Josh Bamrick, Northern ArizonaTaron Johnson, Weber State; JR Nelson, Montana; and Karlton Dennis, Cal PolyYamen Sanders, Montana; Walter Santiago, Portland State; and B.J. Nard, Cal PolyChris Lider, Montana, and Smith Heath, Sacramento StateBig Sky football continues on in the postseason, as both Southern Utah and Montana play in the opening round of the 2015 Division I Football Championship playoffs Saturday.