FARMINGTON, Utah — It’s a bye week for Montana State football after earning the fourth seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming FCS playoffs. Montana awaits Southeast Missouri in a first-round home game on Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
With the playoff anticipation mounting, the Big Sky Conference announced its 2022 individual awards and all-conference teams on Wednesday.
Making headlines for MSU are transfer quarterback Sean Chambers and head coach Brent Vigen. Chambers, a transfer from Wyoming, won Newcomer of the Year while Vigen shared Coach of the Year honors with Sacramento State’s Troy Taylor, whose team won a share of the Big Sky Conference title with MSU.
Chambers came in as a backup quarterback to start the season but has been utilized alongside No. 1 QB Tommy Mellott thanks to his tremendous running ability between the tackles. Chambers has rushed for 17 touchdowns, which ranked second in the league and fourth in the FCS. Chambers is the first Bobcat player to win Newcomer of the Year since Tray Robinson in 2010.
Both Vigen and Taylor earned their Coach of the Year honors with both going undefeated in conference play.
Montana and Montana State contributed a total of 27 all-conference picks. The Bobcats had 14 players selected while the Grizzlies had 13.
Below are the full awards and all-conference team lists, which were chosen by the league's head coaches:
Individual Award Winners
Offensive Player of the Year: Cameron Skattebo, RB (SAC)
Defensive Player of the Year: Marte Mapu, OLB/DB (SAC)
Newcomer of the Year: Sean Chambers, QB (MSU)
Freshman of the Year: Gevani McCoy, QB (UI)
Co-Coach of the Year: Troy Taylor (SAC)/Brent Vigen (MSU)
First Team
QB: Miles Hastings (UCD)
RB: Cameron Skattebo (SAC), Ulonzo Gilliam Jr. (UCD)
FB: Derryk Snell (MSU)
WR: Hayden Hatten (UI), Pierre Williams (SAC), Jermaine Jackson (UI)
TE: Marshel Martin (SAC)
OL: Nick Amoah (UCD), Noah Atagi (WSU), Tyson Pauling (PSU), Jackson Slater (SAC), Brandon Weldon (SAC), Hunter Mayginnes (UM)
DT: Sebastian Valdez (MSU), Alex Gubner (UM)
DE: Brody Grebe (MSU), Zach Kennedy (UCD)
OLB: Marte Mapu (SAC), Patrick O'Connell (UM)
ILB: Armon Bailey (SAC), Callahan O'Reilly (MSU), Winston Reid (WSU)
DB: Eddie Heckard (WSU), Justin Ford (UM), Robby Hauck (UM), Maxwell Anderson (WSU), Rex Connors (UCD)
K: Kyle Sentkowski (SAC)
P: Patrick Rohrbach (UM)
KR: Abraham Williams (WSU)
PR: Jermaine Jackson (UI)
ST: Lan Larison (UCD)
AP: Asher O'Hara (SAC)
Second Team
QB: Tommy Mellott (MSU)
RB: Elijah Dotson (UNC), Anthony Woods (UI)
WR: Xavier Guillory (ISU), Ty MacPherson (WSU), Beau Kelly (PSU)
TE: McCallan Castles (UCD)
OL: Nathan Mejia (SAC), Rush Reimer (MSU), Connor Pettek (UCD), Jordan Lutui (WSU), Troy Stiefel (SAC), Jordan Ford (UCD)
DT: Jett Stanley (SAC), Kalisi Moli (WSU)
DE: Cosmas Kwete (NAU), Juliano Falaniko (UI)
OLB: Ty Okada (MSU), Paul Moala (UI)
ILB: Fa'Avae Fa'Avae (UI), Elijah Anderson-Taylor (UNC)
DB: Caleb Nelson (SAC), Desmond Williams (WSU), Morgan Vest (NAU), Devon King (UCD), Marcus Harris (UI)
K: Ricardo Chavez (UI)
P: Nick Kokich (EWU)
KR: Malik Flowers (UM)
PR: Haze Hadley (WSU)
ST: Tyler Flink (UM)
AP: Sean Chambers (MSU)
Third Team
QB: Gevani McCoy (UI)/Jake Dunniway (SAC)
RB: Dontae McMillan (WSU), Marcus Fulcher (SAC)
WR: Coleman Owen (NAU), Efton Chism III (EWU), Willie Patterson (MSU), Freddie Roberson (EWU)
TE: Josh Cuevas (CP)
OL: Ethan Atagi (WSU), Logan Floyd (UI), AJ Forbes (UM), PJ Poutasi (NAU), JT Reed (MSU), Brady Odom (UNC)
DT: EJ Ane (PSU), Chubba Ma'ae (UCD)
DE: Killian Rosko (SAC), Eloi Kwete (NAU)
OLB: David Meyer (CP)
ILB: Teddye Buchanan (UCD), Charles Ike (ISU)
DB: Tommy McCormick (UI), Marlon Jones Jr. (EWU), Xavier Bell (PSU), Jehiel Budgett (UCD), Jordan Knapke (UNC)
K: Isaiah Gomez (UCD)
P: Cal McGough (SAC)
KR: Marqui Johnson (MSU)
PR: Marcus Fulcher (SAC)
ST: Sean McCormick (UI)
AP: Junior Bergen (UM)
Honorable Mention
QB: Gunner Talkington (EWU), Dylan McCaffrey (UNC)
RB: Damon Bankston (WSU)
WR: Chris Coleman (CP), Mitch Roberts (UM), Hendrix Johnson (NAU), Mataio Talalemotu (PSU)
TE: Cole Grossman (UM), Justin Malone (WSU), Anthony Rodriguez (PSU)
OL: Wyatt Hansen (EWU), Justus Perkins (MSU), Beau St. John (UI), Ayden Knapik (UI)
DE: Joshua Jerome (EWU), Elijah Ponder (CP), Leo Tamba (UI), VJ Malo (PSU), Mitchell Johnson (EWU)
ILB: Levi Janacaro (UM), Marcus Welnel (UM), Nolan Askelson (MSU)
DB: Kamden Garrett (WSU)
K: Blake Glessner (MSU)
P: Devin Bale (UNC)
KR: Lan Larison (UCD), Elijah Dotson (UNC)
PR: Elijah Dotson (UNC)
ST: Kurt Gallup (UNC)
AP: Elijah Dotson (UNC), Draycen Hall (NAU), Emmanuel Daigbe (PSU)