JMU'S ARTHUR MOATS WINS BUCHANAN AWARD AS TOP FCS DEFENDER
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (December 17, 2009) -- James Madison senior defensive end Arthur Moats (Portsmouth, Va./Churchland) received the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision Thursday.
The presentation to the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Moats was made at The Sports Network's annual FCS banquet that is held in conjunction with the FCS title game. Also presented during Thursday's banquet were the Walter Payton Award to Appalachian State's Armanti Edwards as the leading FCS offensive player and the Eddie Robinson Award to Prairie View's Henry Frazier III as the FCS's top coach for the 2009 season.
"I can't believe it, this is so overwhelming," said Moats. "I wasn't expecting anything like this."
Moats is the second JMU player to win the Buchanan Award, and his recognition is the fourth national FCS honor the JMU program has received from The Sports Network. Former JMU linebacker Derrick Lloyd (1999-2001) won the 2001 Buchanan Award, and JMU coach Mickey Matthews won the Robinson Award in 1999 and 2008. Former JMU linebacker Akeem Jordan (2003-06) finished second in the 2006 Buchanan Award voting, and former Dukes quarterback Rodney Landers (2005-08) was second in last season's voting for the Payton Award.
"We've never had anyone draw the attention that Arthur Moats has drawn this season," said JMU coach Mickey Matthews. "We've had some great defensive players here, but Arthur is as good as anyone we've had."
Moats won by the largest margin in Buchanan Award history, earning 37 first-place votes and 342 points to finish 110 points ahead of runner-up J.C. Sherritt, a linebacker from Eastern Washington. South Dakota State defensive end Danny Batten was third with 183 points.
The largest previous margin was last year, when Eastern Washington defensive end Greg Peach beat runner-up Jovan Belcher, a defensive end from Maine, by 107 points.
The Buchanan Award was established in 1995 by The Sports Network and is named for the legendary Grambling State and Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle.
Past winners of the honor include current NFL standouts such as Jared Allen (2003, Idaho State) of the Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Rashean Mathis (2002, Bethune-Cookman), along with former Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl linebacker Dexter Coakley (1995-96, Appalachian State).
Moats, a fourth-year JMU player and a team captain, earlier was named to first All-America teams by Associated Press, the American Football Coaches Association and the Walter Camp Foundation. He was the defensive player of the year in the Colonial Athletic Association and a first-team All-CAA and All-Eastern College Athletic Conference honoree.
During the 2009 season, Moats led JMU in tackles with 90, had a team-season record 23.5 tackles for loss, and compiled 11 quarterback sacks. He was the FCS national leader in tackles for loss, and he was the national leader in overall tackles among defensive linemen.