FRISCO, Texas (January 8, 2016)- A banner season for the Big Sky Conference ended with a national celebration of the league’s best.



Overall, four Big Sky football players and coaches earned national awards from STATS, as part of the news organization’s 2016 FCS Awards gala in Frisco, where Saturday’s FCS national championship game will be played.



Eastern Washington wide receiver Cooper Kupp won the FCS Offensive Player of the Year; Montana defensive end Tyrone Holmes won the FCS Defensive Player of the Year; Northern Arizona quarterback Case Cookus won the FCS Freshman of the Year; and Portland State coach Bruce Barnum won the FCS Coach of the Year award.



The Big Sky parade of awards started with Cookus, who is the conference’s first National Freshman of the Year since Cooper Kupp won the award in 2013.



Cookus finished the season with 37 touchdown passes- a new FCS record for a freshman quarterback- while throwing for 3,110 yards. Cookus led the nation in passer-efficiency, with a rating of 184.9.



He was the only freshman finalist for STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year, and as was the Big Sky co-Freshman of the Year, with North Dakota’s John Santiago. He was also made the all-Big Sky first team as a quarterback.



The award was presented by Cookus’s head coach, Northern Arizona’s Jerome Souers, who said Cookus has a bright future ahead of him.



“We have high hopes for him,” Souers said. “He just had a remarkable year. You’ll never hear of that kind of efficiency out of a freshman quarterback.”



Next for the Big Sky came the presentation of the FCS Coach of the Year award, which was handled by former Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore. All season long, college football was captivated by a team and a coach who rallied behind one significant theme- #BarnyBall.



When the 2015 season began, Portland State coach Bruce Barnum was an interim coach. Nine wins, an FCS playoff berth and two wins over FBS opponents later, Barnum is the permanent head coach for the Vikings, and is also the FCS Coach of the Year.



Barnum helped lead the Vikings to many firsts on the field in 2015, but the most significant to him was earned the Big Sky’s Coach of the Year award. He did much more than just earn a postseason award; he led the Vikings to their first playoff berth since 2000, and was 5-0 against ranked teams in the regular season.



The season Montana defensive end Tyrone Holmes had was magical, as the Grizzlies upset the top-ranked North Dakota State Bison in the opening game, before moving on to a second-round appearance in the FCS playoffs. Holmes finished the season with 17.5 tackles-for-loss, 14 sacks and two forced fumbles.



Holmes was humble in his acceptance, noting how awards are a team accomplishment.



“It’s a huge honor and I think awards like this are really a team thing,” he said. “There’s no way I could do it by myself, it’s a whole D-line thing, it’s coaches, the secondary giving enough times, so I think it’s just a testament to how well our defense has done this year and I think that’s really important.”



Finally, Eastern Washington receiver Cooper Kupp, who already owns several Big Sky and national records, added another accomplishment to his growing list, adding FCS Offensive Player of the Year to the mix.



Kupp finished the season with 1,642 receiving yards, on 114 receptions. The junior finished with 19 touchdowns, and eight 100-yard receiving games. Kupp also set the all-time record for yards at Oregon’s Autzen Stadium.



Ever humble, Kupp said before the ceremony just being there is an accomplishment, and is thanks to the motivation he receives from teammates and coaches.



“The challenge to be great day in and out, the coaches and players here (at Eastern Washington), they do that,” he said. “There’s no entitlement.”



The Big Sky swept the on-field national awards, with the Eddie and Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete award going to Jacksonville State’s Dalton Screws.



Southern Utah defensive end James Cowser and Portland State safety Patrick Onwuasor finished as finalists for the FCS Defensive Player of the Year award.



The Big Sky is the first-ever conference to sweep the on-field national awards.



Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton, who attended the ceremony, said the evening was a banner moment for the Big Sky Conference.



“Tonight’s awards were outstanding, and we want to thank Craig Haley and STATS for their continuing support of FCS football,” he said. “2015 proved to be a banner year for the Big Sky Conference, and we are very proud of all of the great coaches and student-athletes who make the Big Sky the ‘Heart of the American West.’”



Saturday, Cowser and Kupp will be honored at halftime of the national championship game, as the 2015 FCS ADA Players of the Year.