College Football

Sam Houston's Briscoe claims Walter Payton Award for second time

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:51 p.m. ET

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AP

(STATS) - Jeremiah Briscoe's humility shined on a weekly basis this season. At every opportunity, the Sam Houston State quarterback credited his team's wide receivers and offensive linemen for his success.

Make no mistake, though, Briscoe's leadership and powerful right arm meant even more to the nationally ranked program out of the Southland Conference.

Briscoe claimed the 2017 STATS FCS Walter Payton Award as the national offensive player of the year Friday night at the national awards banquet in Frisco, Texas. He's just the second two-time recipient of the 31-year-old award, joining Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards in 2008 and '09.

South Dakota senior quarterback Chris Streveler finished second and UC Davis junior wide receiver Keelan Doss was third in the voting. There were 25 finalists for the award named after the legendary College and Pro Football Hall of Fame running back.

Briscoe, from Houston, helped lead Sam Houston State to a 12-2 record and a semifinal appearance in the FCS playoffs. The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder leads the FCS in passing yards (5,003), passing yards per game (357.4), touchdown passes (45) and points responsible for (288).

He threw for 9,605 yards and 102 touchdowns in his two Payton Award seasons.

"I have some of the best players in the country around me," he said. "And I think it just goes to show how well they make me look."

Said Sam Houston coach K.C. Keeler: "When your quarterback isn't a diva and your quarterback doesn't care about anything other than the Ws, it really makes your whole locker room in sync and worried about the same thing - about winning a ball game."

Streveler led South Dakota to the playoffs for the first time in the program's FCS history as part of an 8-5 season. Named the Missouri Valley Conference's offensive player of the year, he set the conference's single-season records in passing yards (4,134) and total offensive yards (4,854) while accounting for 43 touchdowns (32 passing, 11 rushing). He ranks first In the FCS in total offensive yards per game (373.4).

Doss, the Big Sky Conference offensive player of the year, was No. 1 in the FCS regular season in receptions (115), receiving yards (1,499), receptions per game (10.5) and receiving yards per game (136.3) He caught seven touchdowns and added a 42-yard score on his one carry.

A national panel of 151 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries voted on the Walter Payton Award. Past winners include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, John Friesz, Brian Finneran, Jimmy Garoppolo and Cooper Kupp.

The full voting results:

1. Jeremiah Briscoe, QB, Sam Houston State: 40-19-16-15-6-360

2. Chris Streveler, QB, South Dakota: 36-16-8-5-12-290

3. Keelan Doss, WR, UC Davis: 10-11-14-19-15-189

4. Devlin Hodges, QB, Samford: 5-16-20-11-8-179

5. Kyle Lauletta, QB, Richmond: 14-5-10-19-8-166

6. Taryn Christion, QB, South Dakota State: 6-12-7-10-7-126

7. Dominick Bragalone, RB, Lehigh: 3-9-9-8-13-116

8. Bryan Schor, QB, James Madison: 7-6-8-8-7-106

9. Hayden Hildebrand, QB, Central Arkansas: 8-6-4-6-5-93

10. Brandon Parker, OT, North Carolina A&T: 5-9-7-1-8-92

11. Josh Mack, RB, Maine: 0-7-8-6-8-72

12. Dallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota State: 3-5-4-3-4-57

13. Gage Gubrud, QB, Eastern Washington: 1-4-4-8-6-55

14. (Tie) Lamar Raynard, QB, North Carolina A&T: 5-2-2-2-3-46

14. (Tie) Roc Thomas, RB, Jacksonville State: 1-3-8-2-1-46

16. Anthony Lawrence, QB, San Diego: 0-5-3-3-10-45

17. Chad Kanoff, QB, Princeton: 0-3-2-9-7-43

18. Chandler Burks, QB, Kennesaw State: 2-2-3-3-6-39

19. Case Cookus, QB, Northern Arizona: 1-3-5-1-4-38

20. Justin Watson, WR, Penn: 2-1-0-5-3-27

21. DeVante Kincade, QB, Grambling State: 2-2-0-2-2-24

22. (Tie) Neil O'Connor, WR, New Hampshire: 0-2-2-1-2-18

22. (Tie) Troy Pelletier, WR, Lehigh: 0-2-1-2-3-18

24. Detrez Newsome, RB, Western Carolina: 0-1-2-2-2-16

25. Tommy Stuart, QB, Duquesne: 0-0-1-0-1-4

A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place vote three points, a fourth-place vote two points and a fifth-place vote one point.

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