Oct. 3, 2012

Sports Network FCS Awards Page

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The top tackler in the nation is now a candidate for the most prestigious defensive award in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Georgetown senior linebacker Robert McCabe was added to the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List by The Sports Network on Wednesday, with the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year joining a group of 20 candidates hoping to be named the most outstanding defensive player in the FCS.

McCabe has been outstanding through the first five games for the Hoyas, leading the nation with 13.6 tackles per contest and ranking 20th in the FCS with 1.5 tackles for loss per game. He has 68 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks for the 3-2 Hoyas. McCabe has recorded double-digit tackles in each of Georgetown's first five games, and has 10 more total tackles than any player in the nation. He earned the first two Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week awards of the season following a 17-tackle outing in Georgetown's 35-14 win at Davidson on Sept. 1 and a 13-tackle performance with a sack when the Hoyas beat Wagner 13-10 on Sept. 8.

The success is nothing new for McCabe, who earned first-team All-Patriot League honors while making 134 tackles and recording four interceptions last season. He stands sixth among all active FCS players with 316 career tackles, and is closing in on the school record of 349 tackles held by Nick Parrish.

McCabe was added to the watch list along with Montana's Jordan Tripp and Richmond's Cooper Taylor on Wednesday. Other nominees on the Watch List are nose tackle Brent Russell of Georgia Southern; defensive ends Willie Jefferson of Stephen F. Austin, Joseph LeBeau of Jackson State and Ben Obaseki of Indiana State; linebackers Evans, Clarence Bumpas of Northern Colorado, Wes Dothard of Chattanooga, Jeremy Kimbrough of Appalachian State, Blake Peiffer of Southeast Missouri State, Keith Pough of Howard, Derek Rose of Northwestern State and Tyler Starr of South Dakota; cornerbacks Demetrius McCray of Appalachian State, B.W. Webb of William & Mary and Marcus Williams of FCS champion North Dakota State; and safeties Kejuan Riley of Alabama State and Darnell Taylor of Sam Houston State.

The Buchanan Award will be voted on by a national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries following the regular season on Nov. 19. No Patriot League player has ever won the award, but last season McCabe's former teammate, Andrew Schaetzke, placed fourth in the final voting.

The Sports Network also presents the Walter Payton, Jerry Rice and Eddie Robinson awards. The Payton Award honors the outstanding player in the FCS, the Rice Award goes to the FCS freshman of the year and the Robinson Award honors the FCS coach of the year. Lehigh senior wide receiver Ryan Spadola is a Payton Award candidate. All four awards will be presented on Dec. 17 at the FCS Awards Banquet and Presentation in Philadelphia.

For bios and more information on all of the candidates for the Walter Payton and Buck Buchanan Awards, go here