Garoppolo Named FCS ADA Top Offensive Player

CLEVELAND – The Division I Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association (FCS ADA), in coordination with the 13 FCS conference offices, have announced the inaugural Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year for the 2013 season. Offensively, Eastern Illinois University quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo took home the top honor and defensively, Montana State University defensive end Brad Daly earned the hardware.  Garoppolo was named the 2013 Walter Payton Award winner in December while Daly was named the 2013 Buck Buchanan Award winner.

Garoppolo and Daly will be recognized during a presentation this Saturday, Jan. 4, at the NCAA Division I Football Championship in Frisco, Texas. See below for statistical information on both players.

Jimmy Garoppolo

2013 Walter Payton Award Winner ... Led all Division I players in passing yards (5,050) and TD passes (53) ... Set OVC season and career records for passing yards, total offense and touchdowns ... Recorded 11 games with 300-plus yards and 5 games with 400-plus yards; threw multiple touchdowns in 13 of 14 games, including 10 games with 3 or more TD passes. Only 9 interceptions in 568 attempts ... Ranks 3rd on the FCS single-season passing touchdowns list, 6th on the career passing touchdowns list, 2nd on the single-season passing yards list and 7th on the career passing yards list.

Brad Daly

Became the second straight Montana State defensive end to win the Buck Buchanan Award, which honors the outstanding defensive player in the FCS … Named the Big Sky Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year … Led the FCS with 14 sacks, all solo, and 20.5 tackles for loss, 20 solo, during the regular season ... His sacks per game (1.2) ranks second in the nation. His tackles for loss per game (1.7) rank third in the nation ... Tallied 68 total tackles, seven QB hurries, two blocked kicks, two forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.

Garoppolo and Daly were selected from the 11 players listed below, who were previously honored with the FCS ADA All-America Award, which recognizes the top student-athletes from FCS institutions at 11 different positions.

Position     Name              Institution    
QB      Jimmy Garoppolo Eastern Illinois University    
RB      Terrance West   Towson University      
OL      Billy Turner    North Dakota State University  
TE      MyCole Pruitt   Southern Illinois University   
WR      Erik Lora       Eastern Illinois University    
DL      Brad Daly       Montana State University       
LB      Stephon Robertson       James Madison University       
DB      Daniel Fitzpatrick      Tennessee State University     
PK      Seth Sebastian  Southeastern Louisiana University      
P       Kyle Loomis     Portland State University      
RS      Xavier Roberson Southeastern Louisiana University