Football Southern Conference

Four SoCon Football Players Named to Preseason Watch Lists

SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Four Southern Conference football players were among the 32 selected for inclusion on the preseason watch lists for the Walter Payton Award and the Buck Buchanan Award, it was announced Friday by the Sports Network.

 

Appalachian State junior quarterback Armanti Edwards, the preseason SoCon offensive player of the year, was joined on the Payton Award watch list by a pair of wide receivers in Elon’s Terrell Hudgins and The Citadel’s Andre Roberts.

 

A first-team All-American selection in 2007 as a sophomore, Edwards accounted for more than 3,500 yards of total offense while leading ASU to its third-straight FCS national championship.

 

Hudgins, also a first-team All-American last season, led the country in receiving yards per game last season with 134 yards per contest. In total, he caught a SoCon-record 117 passes for 1,474 yards and 18 touchdowns.

 

Roberts was a third-team All-America selection in 2007 after making 78 receptions for 1,060 yards and 10 touchdowns, leading The Citadel to its first winning season in a decade.

 

ASU linebacker Pierre Banks was added to the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award. Banks, the 2008 SoCon preseason defensive player of the year, picked up 108 tackles a year ago.

 

The two awards, which along with the Eddie Robinson Award for the national coach of the year, are presented at the conclusion of each season by the Sports Network, recognizing the top players in the Football Championship Subdivision. The watch lists will be revised in early October and once again for a final time in early November. The three finalists will be announced on Monday, Dec. 1.

 

Georgia Southern’s Jayson Foster claimed the 2007 Walter Payton Award, becoming the fourth SoCon player to do so. Appalachian State linebacker Dexter Coakley remains the only two-time winner of the Buck Buchanan Award.

 

All four SoCon players begin play this weekend as top-ranked Appalachian State visits FBS No. 7 LSU at 5 p.m. on ESPN while No. 23 The Citadel hosts Webber International at 7 p.m. and No. 15 Elon entertains sixth-ranked Richmond at 7 p.m.