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History will be made on Saturday (May 15) at 11 a.m. Pacific time when the most prestigious award in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision is presented for the 34th time. And hopefully with the name of another Eagle etched on it.
 
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, no in-person awards presentation is taking place as it has in the past. Instead, the three finalists – including Eastern Washington University quarterback Eric Barriere -- are pre-recording remotely the announcement, which will highlight the FCS Football National Awards show that will air across Bally Sports Regional Networks and affiliates, beginning the evening of Saturday, May 15.
 
However, since the show is being aired on different platforms and at different times, Stats Perform will make the official announcement of the winner at 11 a.m. Pacific time via its website: https://theanalyst.com/na/sport/american-football/fcs/. Results will also be available shortly after that via http://goeags.com.
 
The Payton Award, in its 34th year and honoring the offensive player of the year in FCS, will be presented to either Barriere, quarterback Cole Kelley of Southeastern Louisiana or running back Julius Chestnut of Sacred Heart. There were 16 finalists.
 
Eastern and Villanova currently share the lead in FCS by winning three Payton trophies apiece all-time. Wide receiver Cooper Kupp was EWU's latest recipient in 2015, with other former Eagles honored including quarterback Erik Meyer (2005) and quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell (2011).
 
Other past recipients of the Heisman of the FCS include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance. Lance is the most recent recipient in 2019, and the former North Dakota State quarterback was the No. 3 pick overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Draft on April 29, 2021.
 
The show will also feature the winners of several other awards presented annually by Stats Perform. Linebackers Colby Campbell of Presbyterian and Stone Snyder of VMI and defensive end Jordan Lewis of Southern are up for the Buchanan Award, in its 26th season and honoring the FCS defensive player of the year. There were 18 finalists.
 
Also being honored are UIW quarterback Cameron Ward, the 10^th Jerry Rice Award recipient for national freshman player of the year; VMI's Scott Wachenheim, the 34th Eddie Robinson Award recipient for national coach of the year; and North Carolina Central defensive end Jessie Malit, the sixth Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award recipient.
 
Former Northwestern State and two-time Super Bowl-champion linebacker Gary Reasons will host the hour-long show. Over 115 airings are scheduled across the networks. A program for the event is available at: https://theanalyst.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-21-FCS-Awards-Program.pdf.
 
A 40-member national media panel voted on the four longstanding FCS awards following the unprecedented 2020-21 regular season, which spanned the fall and spring semesters. The Doris Robinson Award was selected from nominations by the 13 FCS conferences.
 
FCS National Awards - Initial Air Dates (local air times listed)
Bally Sports Arizona (BSAZ): Saturday, May 15 (9 p.m.)
Bally Sports Detroit (BSDET): Saturday, May 15 (9 p.m.)
Bally Sports Florida (BSFL): Sunday, May 16 (5 p.m.)
Bally Sports Midwest (BSMW): Saturday, May 15 (9 p.m., CENTSOIL/CENTIN/FW/SWIN/STL/ILTH-EVANS); Sunday, May 16 (9 p.m., all)
Bally Sports North (BSN): Saturday, May 15 (10 p.m.)
Bally Sports Ohio (BSOH): Saturday, May 15 (11:30 p.m.)
Bally Sports SoCal (BSSC): Thursday, May 20 (1 p.m.)
Bally Sports South (BSSO): Sunday, May 16 (10 p.m., AL-Hunt/GA/KY/NC/SC/TN); Tuesday, May 18 (11 a.m., all)
Bally Sports Southeast (BSSE): Saturday, May 15 (9:30 p.m., AL/GA/MS/NC/SC/TN-Chat,Knox,Tri); Friday, May 21 (3 a.m., all)
Bally Sports Southwest (BSSW): Saturday, May 15 (9:30 p.m.)
Bally Sports Sun (BSSUN): Saturday, May 15 (11:30 p.m., Heat); Sunday, May 16 (5 a.m., all)
Bally Sports West (BSW): Saturday, May 15 (11 p.m.)
Bally Sports Wisconsin (BSWI): Saturday, May 15 (9:30 p.m.)
AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh (ATTPT): Thursday, May 20 (5 p.m.)
AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (ATTRM): Monday, May 17 (4:30 p.m. Las Vegas; 5:30 p.m., all)
MSG Network Plus (MSGP): Sunday, May 16 (9 p.m.)
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network 2 (MASN 2): Saturday, May 15 (9 p.m.)
Root Sports Northwest (RSNW): Monday, May 17 (12:30 a.m.)
Note: Most networks will have multiple airings. Please consult local listings.
 
 

More on Barriere . . .

 
Barriere has already been honored as a first team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association (May 14), FCS Athletic Director's Association (May 13), Associated Press (May 12) and Stats Perform (May 10). The senior from Inglewood, Calif., was also named the FCS Offensive Player of the Year by the FCS ADA.
 
The list of former EWU first team All-Americans at quarterback is impressive – Gage Gubrud, Vernon Adams Jr., Bo Levi Mitchell, Matt Nichols, Erik Meyer and Harry Leons. Mitchell and Meyer turned their honors into Payton Awards in 2011 and 2005, respectively, and Barriere hopes to have his named etched to a trophy this week.
 
A sixth-year senior, in the 2020-21 season he led Eastern to a 5-2 record and the first round of the FCS Playoffs in the 2020-21 season, including a five-game winning streak to end the regular season. Barriere was a unanimous All-Big Sky Conference first team selection in the 2020-21 season and was the league's Offensive Player of the Year.
 
Barriere finished fifth in the voting for the Payton Award as a junior in the 2019 season, and he made his case for the award in the 2020-21 campaign by passing for at least 300 yards in five of six regular games and having at least 400 yards of total offense in three of them. In the other game, he had 284 passing/324 total offense in barely over two quarters of action in a 62-10 romp.
 
Through seven games, Barriere ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense (sixth, 369.0 per game), passing offense (seventh, 348.4), passing touchdowns (second, 19) and points responsible for (ninth, 17.4 per game). In the 2020-21 season, he completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 2,439 yards, 19 touchdowns and 2,583 total yards of offense.
 
In his illustrious 38-game career, Barriere is now 20-9 as a starter, including 13-0 at home. In the FCS Playoffs he went over the 10,000-yard mark for total offense in his career with a current total of 10,102 – including 8,739 through the air. He ranks fifth in school history in both categories, as well as his career total of 75 TD passes. He's now fourth with 93 total touchdowns responsible for. Eastern career records in those categories are 13,308, 12,616, 110 and 121.
 
Barriere has completed 60.3 percent of his passes in his career (646-of-1071), good for 8,739 yards, 75 touchdowns and 21 interceptions, and has rushed 287 times for 1,363 net yards and 18 more TDs. He had a passing efficiency rating of 146.9 as a sophomore, 151.6 in 2019 and a 148.1 mark in his career to currently rank fifth in school history. Barriere has surpassed the school record for rushing yards by a quarterback -- he now has 1,363 with Vernon Adams Jr. closing his career with 1,232. Eastern is 19-1 when Barriere has rushed for at least 21 yards, with the lone loss coming at Sacramento State (10/5/19) when he finished with 103.
 
 

More on the Payton Award . . .

 
Besides Barriere, the other finalists for this year's Payton Award are quarterback Cole Kelley of Southeastern Louisiana and running back Julius Chestnut of Sacred Heart. That trio was among the 16 finalists previously announced for the Payton, named for the legendary running back and in its 34th season. Voting was conducted prior to the postseason.
 
 "It means a lot because this is a special award that many great players before me have been a part of and won," said the 6-foot, 200-pound Barriere of being in the final three. "I'm very thankful for the honor."
 
Chestnut (Northeast) and Kelley (Southland) also received the offensive player of the year award in their respective conferences, with Barriere and Chestnut guiding their teams to the FCS Playoffs. All three were a Stats Perform national offensive player of the week during the regular season.
 
"Eric Barriere is the best player in America -- he is the most dynamic player at this level and we've known that for some time," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best earlier this season. "He played really, really well for a four or five game stretch. We are all lucky that Eric is part of our Eastern Washington football team for many reasons – not just because of his play on the field but also who he is as a person."
 
"If I was to win, it would be a huge honor for the school because we have had a few previous players win this award previously," Barriere added. "If I could become a part of that it would be a blessing."
 
"He's been phenomenal," said Best. "His play-making ability, ability to escape rush and ability to extend plays has been second-to-none. And we've had a first-hand glimpse of some great ones here. But Eric's development has been thorough and consistent."
 
Chestnut, a 6-1, 215-pound junior, rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown in a playoff loss as well. It followed a four-game regular season in which he led the FCS in rushing yards per game (179.3) and all-purpose yards per game (222.0) and ranked second in points per game (17.0) and fourth in yards per carry (7.7).
 
Kelley, a 6-7, 260-pound senior, played in seven regular-season games, leading the FCS in passing yards (2,662), completions (210), total offensive yards (2,708) and total touchdowns (27). He also was in the top five in pass attempts (305, second), TD passes (18, tied for third) and completion percentage (68.9, fifth).
 
A 40-member national media panel voted on the Payton Award following the unprecedented 2020-21 regular season, which spanned the fall and spring semesters.
 
2020-21 Walter Payton Award Voting Results
A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place vote three points, a fourth-place vote two points and a fifth-place vote one point.
1. TBA, May 15
2. TBA, May 15
3. TBA, May 15
4. Jakob Herres, WR, VMI: 1-4-5-2-4-44
5. Otis Weah, RB, North Dakota: 1-1-5-2-5-33
6. Aqeel Glass, RB, Alabama A&M: 1-1-2-4-7-30
7. Dejoun Lee, RB, Delaware: 0-4-1-1-1-22
8.(tie) Juwon Farri, RB, Monmouth: 0-2-1-2-5-20
8.(tie) Pierre Strong Jr., RB, South Dakota State: 0-2-1-3-3-20
10. Liam Welch, QB, Samford: 0-1-3-1-4-19
11.(tie) Percy Agyei-Obese, RB, James Madison: 1-0-2-1-1-14
11.(tie) Tyler Hudson, WR, Central Arkansas: 0-1-1-2-3-14
13. Quay Holmes, RB, ETSU: 0-1-2-1-1-13
14. Keith Pearson, WR, Presbyterian: 0-0-0-4-1-9
15. DeAngelo Wilson, WR, Austin Peay: 0-1-1-0-1-8
16. Tim DeMorat, QB, Fordham: 0-0-0-1-0-2