Liberty senior defensive end Chima Uzowihe is one of 22 players who have been named to the 2015 STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year award watch list.
Seven of the players on the watch list were among the finalist for last year’s Buck Buchanan Award, which was presented by the Sports Network to last year’s top FCS defensive player in the country.
Earlier this year, STATS LLC purchased the Sports Network and will continue to provide its national coverage of FCS football.
Uzowihe is the second Liberty player to be honored this week by STATS. On Monday, senior wide receiver Darrin Peterson was named to the 2015 STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year award watch list.
Liberty is one of two teams in the country to have a player on both the STATS FCS Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year award watch lists. Villanova is the other program with reigning Walter Payton Award winner John Robertson (QB) and Don Cherry (LB) on their respective watch lists.
Uzowihe was one of two Big South representatives on the list, as he was joined by Gardner-Webb nose guard OJ Mau on the defensive watch list. Uzowihe and Mau were two of the nine defensive linemen named to the preseason award list (six defensive ends, two defensive tackles and one nose guard).
The STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year Watch List can undergo revision during the 2015 season. A national panel of over 150 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries will vote on the winner following the regular season.
Also this season, STATS will honor the outstanding defensive player in the FCS, a freshman player of the year and a coach of the year with season-ending awards.
This is the second honor Uzowihe has received from STATS, recently. Last week, Uzowihe was named to the 2015 STATS FCS Preseason All-America second team.
Uzowihe earned his second All-Big South first team honor last season and was named to the 2014 VaSID second team all-state squad.
The Houston, Texas, native led the Big South with a career-best 14.0 tackles for a loss and ranked second in the conference with 8.0 sacks in 2014. He also ranked third in the conference with three forced fumbles.
Uzowihe, who started all 14 games at right end, was also a key member of Liberty’s special teams units. He finished the season with two blocked kicks, including a field goal block as time expired to allow Liberty to upset No. 1 Coastal Carolina, 15-14, during the final game of the regular season and push the Flames into the NCAA FCS Playoffs.
2015 STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year Award Watch List
- Kourtney Berry – Alabama State (Jr., LB)
- Don Cherry – Villanova (Sr., LB)
- James Cowser – Southern Utah (Gr., DE)
- Casey DeAndrade – New Hampshire (Jr., CB)
- P.J. Hall – Sam Houston State (So., DE)
- Javon Hargrave – South Carolina State (Jr., DT)
- Jermaine Hough – Jacksonville State (Sr., CB)
- Deon King – Norfolk State (Sr., LB)
- Cory Magwood – Furman (Sr., LB)
- O.J. Mau – Gardner-Webb (Sr., NG)
- Harlan Miller – Southeastern Louisiana (Sr., CB)
- Victor Ochi – Stony Brook (Sr., DE)
- Donald Payne – Stetson (Jr., SS)
- James Rentz – Sacred Heart (Jr., LB)
- Derek Rivers – Youngstown State (Jr., DE)
- Luke Rhodes – William & Mary (Sr., LB)
- Darnell Sankey – Sacramento State (Sr., LB)
- Devaunte Sigler – Jacksonville State (Sr., DT)
- Connor Underwood – Indiana State (Sr., LB)
- Chima Uzowihe – Liberty (Sr., DE)
- Jonathan Woodard – Central Arkansas (Sr., DE)
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