PHILADELPHIA – North Dakota State defensive end
Kyle Emanuel was named the 2014 Buck Buchanan Award winner as the top defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision. He will accept the award Monday, Dec. 15, at The Sports Network's FCS awards banquet.
Emanuel received 70 of the 160 first-place votes and 495 points from a national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries. Villanova junior linebacker Don Cherry had 13 first-place votes and finished second with 253 points, and Montana defensive end Zack Wagenmann was third among 25 finalists.
Emanuel was one of only two players in the FCS to be named The Sports Network's national defensive player of the week twice, and he went on to collect the Missouri Valley Football Conference's defensive player of the year award. He is NDSU's first Buchanan winner and the second from the MVFC.
Emanuel leads the FCS in tackles for loss (28.5) and is second in sacks (17.0). In eight games against Top 25 opponents, he has 47 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, 10.0 sacks and nine quarterback hurries. He ranks ninth in FCS history and fourth in Valley Football history with 33.0 career sacks, and is three sacks from tying the NDSU career record established in 1974 and 1990.
| 2014 Buck Buchanan Award Voting | | | | | | |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Total |
| 1. Kyle Emanuel, North Dakota State | 70 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 495 |
| 2. Don Cherry, Villanova | 13 | 23 | 17 | 17 | 11 | 253 |
| 3. Zack Wagenmann, Montana | 12 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 13 | 203 |
| 4. Quinn Backus, Coastal Carolina | 9 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 182 |
| 5. Donald Payne, Stetson | 11 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 177 |
| 6. Nick Dzubnar, Cal Poly | 10 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 16 | 171 |
| 7. Jacob Hagen, Liberty | 2 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 142 |
| 8. Javon Hargrave, South Carolina State | 8 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 114 |
| 9. Connor Underwood, Indiana State | 1 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 7 | 97 |
| 10. James Cowser, Southern Utah | 2 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 93 |
| 11. Alec May, Georgetown | 3 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 90 |
| 12. Davis Tull, Chattanooga | 3 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 84 |
| 13. Xavier Williams, Northern Iowa | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 47 |
| 14. Jonathan Woodard, Central Arkansas | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 37 |
| 15. Caleb Schaffitzel, Missouri State | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 34 |
| 16. Tony Bell, UT Martin | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 33 |
| 17. Lynden Trail, Norfolk State | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 29 |
| 18. Zack Hodges, Harvard | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 22 |
| 19T. Jeff Covitz, Bryant | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| 19T. Christian Ricard, Stony Brook | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 18 |
| 21. Ryan Delaire, Towson | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| 22. Isiah Corbett, SE Louisiana | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| 23. Jaquiski Tartt, Samford | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| 24T. O.J. Mau, Gardner-Webb | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 24T. Colten Heagle, North Dakota State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
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.
