PHILADELPHIA -- Bo Beck, the defensive line coach and recruiting coach at Montana State, could have a hard time maintaining what the Bobcats have produced the past two years.
On Monday, Brad Daly became the second consecutive Montana State defensive end to win the Buck Buchanan Award, which honors the outstanding defensive player in the FCS. A year ago, Daly started on the same line with 2012 recipient Caleb Schreibeis.
"This is a great honor," Daly said. "I definitely wasn't happy with how the season went for our team [a 7-5 record], but I couldn't have done anything I did without all of the guys on our defense. It was a fun season individually, and it was a fun season with my teammates, hanging out with the guys on the team. Those are my best memories."
Opponents had to account for Daly on every down, and often didn't do it effectively. Using speed and explosion off the line of scrimmage, the Big Sky Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year led the FCS with 14 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss during the regular season. He played with nagging injuries, yet still wrecked opposing offenses with 68 tackles, seven quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, two blocked kicks and an interception.
Daly became the sixth Buchanan Award winner from the Big Sky in the past 11 seasons.
"I'm really happy for Brad, and really happy for our program," Beck said. "To produce two Buck Buchanan winners in a row is huge. We talked about it one time before the season, and said that no matter who wins an award like this, it's a team accomplishment. It takes everyone in the program and everyone on the defense, and especially every defensive lineman. I know the rest of the guys are extremely proud of Brad, just like Brad and everyone else was extremely proud of Caleb last year."
Georgia Buchanan, whose late husband is the namesake of the award -- the Hall of Famer was the prototype for future NFL defensive linemen -- presented the 19th annual award at The Sports Network's FCS Awards Banquet and Presentation.
| Finish | Name | School | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Brad Daly | Montana State | 64 | 26 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 485 |
| 2. | Stephon Robertson | James Madison | 43 | 28 | 21 | 13 | 5 | 421 |
| 3. | Justin Shade | Samford | 4 | 23 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 213 |
| 4. | Joe Thomas | South Carolina State | 6 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 19 | 139 |
| 5. | Shaquille Riddick | Gardner-Webb | 3 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 124 |
| 6. | Terrence Fede | Marist | 2 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 105 |
| 7. | Quinn Backus | Coastal Carolina | 2 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 87 |
| 8. | Lynden Trail | Norfolk State | 3 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 86 |
| 9. | Tyler Starr | South Dakota | 4 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 82 |
| 10. | Jordan Tripp | Montana | 2 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 70 |
| 11. | Marcus Williams | North Dakota St. | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 69 |
| 12. | Ronnie Hamlin | Eastern Washington | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 66 |
| 13. | Davis Tull | Tennessee-Chattanooga | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 63 |
| 14. | Jerome Couplin III | William & Mary | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 61 |
| 15. | Caleb Schaffitzel | Missouri State | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 54 |
| 16. | Zach Hodges | Harvard | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 31 |
| 17. | Robert Simpson | Mississippi Valley State | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| 18. | Caraun Reid | Princeton | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| T19. | Clarence Bumpas | Northern Colorado | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 11 |
| T19. | Colton Underwood | Illinois State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
