Dec. 17, 2005

Cal Poly senior defensive end Chris Gocong is the winner of the 2005 Buck Buchanan Award presented by The Sports Network to the nation's defensive player of the year in Division I-AA.

Gocong received the award at the 19th Annual Division I-AA College Football Awards held Thursday in The Sheraton Read House Hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Winner of the Walter Payton Award, presented by The Sports Network to the Division I-AA Player of the Year, also was announced Thursday as well as the recipient of the Eddie Robinson Award for Division I-AA Coach of the Year.

Gocong is the second Cal Poly player in as many years to win the award. Linebacker Jordan Beck, a third-round draft choice of the Atlanta Falcons last April, won the 2004 Buck Buchanan Award. Gocong finished second in the balloting for the 2004 award.

Balloting was conducted in late November by more than 100 media members and media relations professionals covering Division I-AA and was based on regular season performance only.

"I don¹t know what to say about winning the award twice in a row," said Cal Poly head coach Rich Ellerson, who has guided the Mustangs to three consecutive winning seasons and 26 wins in their last 36 games. "Both Gocong and Beck came in together, and Chris, Jordan and their classmates oversaw this renaissance of Cal Poly football. Winning back-to-back Buchanan Awards is an exclamation point on what this entire class could do."

It has been a busy week of awards for Gocong. The 6-3, 265-pound Carpinteria High School graduate was named to the prestigious AFCA Division I-AA Coaches' All-America Team and the Associated Press Division I-AA All-America Team on Wednesday, the Sports Network¹s All-America first team on Monday and the Walter Camp Football Foundation Division I-AA All-America Team last Thursday.

"For him to perform that consistently over the last couple years is a reflection of effort, the effort he produces from snap to whistle, the effort in the classroom, in the weight room, year in and year out, manifesting itself on the football field," said Ellerson. "He's getting a degree in biomedical engineering from one of most respected programs in the country in that field. All of his success is more due to his consistency and effort in all that he does."

Gocong, scheduled to play in the 2006 Las Vegas All-American Classic on Saturday, Jan. 14, in Sam Boyd Stadium, was named Great West Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year two weeks ago and has 42.0 career sacks, 1.5 sacks shy of the career mark set by Tom Carey (1985-88).

This season, Gocong finished first in the nation in sacks per game (1.81), second in tackles for lost yardage (2.35 per game) and 23rd in forced fumbles (.31). He recorded 98 total tackles (46 solo), including a school-record 23.5 sacks and 31.0 tackles for lost yardage, leading the Mustangs to a 9-4 record, a second straight Great West Football Conference championship and the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

He recovered a Montana State fumble in the end zone on Sept. 17 for his first career Mustang touchdown.

Gocong finished the 2004 regular season as the nation's sacks leader in Division I-AA with 17.5 (1.59 sacks per contest) and was No. 2 in tackles for lost yardage with 21.5 (1.95 a game). Gocong recorded 71 total tackles as a junior and also notched one interception (Humboldt State), one punt block (North Dakota State) and two forced fumbles.

Cal Poly is the first school to win back-to-back Buck Buchanan Awards since 1995-96 when linebacker Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State earned the award in consecutive seasons.

Gocong captured 44 of 113 first-place votes and 359 total points to claim the Buchanan trophy. Brent Hawkins of Illinois State finished second with 19 first-place votes and 266 points, while Hampton linebacker Justin Durant was third with 13 first-place votes and 171 points.

The award is named for Junious "Buck" Buchanan, the NAIA All-American and Pro Football Hall of Fame, defensive lineman who played for Grambling State University from 1959 through 1962.

New Hampshire head coach Sean McDonnell was named the 19th winner of the Eddie Robinson Award. New Hampshire¹s 10-1 regular season mark was its best since 1994, and the Wildcats also claimed a share of the Atlantic 10 title for the first time since that season. The Wildcats held the No. 1 ranking for five weeks during the season..

San Diego, which went 11-1 and claimed the Pioneer Football League title, accepted The Sports Network Cup, emblematic of the top I-AA mid-major program. The Toreros, who garnered all 26 first-place votes and 260 total points in the final balloting conducted among Mid-Major sports information directors and selected media members, become the first PFL representative to take home The Sports Network Cup since Dayton won the hardware in 2002.

The three finalists for the Walter Payton Award were Eastern Washington quarterback Erik Meyer, New Hampshire quarterback Ricky Santos and Brown running back Nick Hartigan.

2005 BUCK BUCHANAN AWARD VOTING NAME (SCHOOL) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total Chris Gocong (Cal Poly) 44 21 11 6 10 359 Brent Hawkins (Illinois State) 19 22 19 10 6 266 Justin Durant (Hampton) 13 11 11 8 13 171 Reed Doughty (Northern Colorado) 5 8 9 13 8 118 Chad Nkang (Elon) 7 3 5 13 9 97 Jay McCareins (Princeton) 3 7 6 9 11 90 William Freeman (Furman) 6 4 8 2 11 85 Maurice Bennett (Lafayette) 0 5 10 11 11 83 Marques Murrell (Appalachian State) 2 4 8 5 9 69 Brian Hulea (Villanova) 2 5 6 8 5 69 Shannon James (Massachusetts) 4 3 5 6 4 63 Brady Fosmark (Weber State) 5 5 2 1 1 54 Cameron Siskowic (Illinois State) 0 4 5 8 5 52 Jeff Charleston (Idaho State) 2 4 5 2 3 48 Antoine Bullock (Duquesne) 1 3 2 9 5 46 Zak DeOssie (Brown) 0 4 1 2 1 24 *Alex Arinsmier (Davidson) 0 0 0 0 1 1 * = write-in vote