Finalist O’Connell in Texas for awards night

Saturday morning brings the Big Game, but Friday is a big night for a pair of Montanan linebackers in line for the Buck Buchanan Award.

Montana’s Patrick O’Connell and Montana State’s Troy Andersen were both invited, along with Florida A&M’s Isaiah Land, to Friday’s STATS Perform awards banquet in Frisco, Texas. They were the top three vote-getters for the Buchanan Award, given annually to the top defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision.

O’Connell, out of Glacier High, and Andersen, out of Dillon, put up gaudy numbers in 2021; Andersen will have two extra games by Saturday, when his 12-2 Bobcats battle North Dakota State for the FCS title on ESPN2.

Andersen, 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, would appear to be the favorite. He’s the Big Sky Conference defensive player of the year for 2021; on Wednesday he was named National defensive player of the year by the Football Championship Subdivision Athletic Directors Association (FCSADA).

O’Connell, 6-2 and 225, has a chance in that three previous Buchanan Award winners did not land player of the year honors for the Big Sky, including MSU’s Caleb Shreibeis in 2012 and Montana’s Tyrone Holmes in 2015.

O’Connell finished the season as the second-leading tackler for Montana with 105 stops, including 21.5 for losses totaling 150 yards. He had 14 sacks, the highest total in the Big Sky; he forced four fumbles and recovered two, taking one for a touchdown.

Only Robby Hauck, with 128, had more tackles for the 10-3 Griz, who finished in the top five in the FCS in rushing defense, sacks and tackles for loss, were top 10 in scoring defense and scored an FCS-best six defensive touchdowns.

“There were a lot of guys that completely bought into our defense this year and completely bought into the way that we play football,” O’Connell said in a UM release. “You saw the way we bonded out on the field, but you especially saw it in practices, the weight room, and in the film room. I mean, guys were spending countless hours getting better each week, and you saw that every Saturday.”

Going into Saturday’s game Andersen is MSU’s leading tackler with 137 in 14 games, 14 for losses and two sacks. He has two interceptions, taking one back for a touchdown, and a fumble recovery.

Both players were first-team all-Big Sky and first-team picks on several All-America teams. While Andersen was highly-regarded coming out of high school, O’Connell spent a year playing DII football at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. He intended to play baseball as well for the Marauders, then gave up his two-sport dream for another: Playing for the Grizzlies.

He showed up for winter conditioning (“In street clothes and everything,”), took a redshirt season in 2018 and was among UM’s most productive defensive players in 2019 with a team-high 6.5 sacks.

“I said, ‘You know what? I’ve worked hard my whole life, and I’m going to keep working hard until I get what I want,’ “ O’Connell said. “And I guess the rest is history. It worked out pretty well.”

Friday’s banquet could see another Big Sky player honored as well in Eastern Washington quarterback Eric Barriere, a finalist for the Walter Payton Award for top offensive player in the FCS.

The Bobcats have had two Buchanan winners: Schreibeis in 2012 and Brad Daly in 2013. Montana has had three: Dante Olson in 2019, Holmes and Kroy Biermann in 2007.

“It’s really special and really humbling to know that all the hard work I put in is being recognized by other people. Being top three in the nation in anything is pretty special,” O’Connell said. “IIt’s really hard to explain, but it’s just something that you dream about. I mean, there’s not many words that can describe the feeling, but it just makes you want to keep pushing yourself harder and harder.”