Big South Announces 2022 Football Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Gardner-Webb quarterback
Bailey Fisher has been voted the 2022 Big South Football Offensive Player of the Year, while teammate defensive lineman
Ty French has been voted the Defensive Player of the Year by the conference’s head coaches and media panel, it was announced today. In addition, Charleston Southern wide receiver
Seth Anderson is the Offensive Freshman of the Year, while GWU linebacker
Ty Anderson is the Defensive Freshman of the Year honoree. Bryant kickoff returner
Anthony Frederick was voted Special Teams Player of the Year and Gardner-Webb head coach
Tre Lamb was selected Coach of the Year. Gardner-Webb linebacker
William McRainey was voted the Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league’s sports information directors.
Fisher (Clayton, Ga.) was a four-time Big South Offensive Player of the Week honoree during the season, and is a finalist for the Stats Perform FCS Walter Payton Offensive Player of the Year Award. He finished the regular-season 220-of-339 passing for a league-best 64.9 completion percentage, with 2,755 passing yards (250.45 per game) and 18 touchdowns, and rushed for another eight scores. Fisher averaged 263.7 yards of offense, and had two 400-yard offensive games -- including 403 against current No. 23 FBS Coastal Carolina. Fisher tied a Big South record with three consecutive games with 350+ yards of offense, tied a Big South single-game record with six touchdowns responsible for against Bryant (five passing, one rushing), as well as a then-record for most passing yards in a conference game with 408 at Charleston Southern. He directed an offense that averaged 40.8 points and 520.0 yards per game in the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ 5-0 Big South Championship run, and posted a league-best 17 total touchdowns against conference foes (13 passing, four rushing), along with a Big South-best 179.19 efficiency rating in the league season. He was a College Football Performance Award weekly Honorable Mention twice this season, had five games with a passing touchdown and rushing score, and had the third-most rushing TDs in the conference in 2022. Fisher is Gardner-Webb’s first Offensive Player of the Year honoree since 2016, and he collected seven first-place votes and 24 points in the voting, ahead of North Carolina A&T running back
Bhayshul Tuten (one first-place vote and 19 points) and Bryant quarterback
Zevi Eckhaus (one first-place vote and 13 points).
French (Moultrie, Ga.) is a finalist for the Stats Perform FCS Buck Buchanan National Defensive Player of the Year Award, and finished the regular-season as the Big South leader in quarterback sacks with 11.0 -- tying the league single-season record. He tallied 61 total tackles, 13.5 tackles-for-loss, 15 quarterback pressures, one interception and one forced fumble. French is fifth nationally in sacks per game (1.00) and 37th in TFL per contest (1.2). The first Runnin’ Bulldog to be voted Big South Defensive Player of the Year since 2008, French had 4.5 sacks in three games vs. FBS opponents this season, in addition to a streak of three-straight games with 2.0 sacks. During the five-game Big South season, French was tops with 5.5 sacks, ranked sixth with 6.5 TFL, and amassed 23 total tackles. He posted a tackle-for-loss in nine of 11 appearances, as well as a sack in eight different outings. French received seven first-place votes and 27 points in the voting, ahead of Bryant linebacker
Joe Andreessen (three first-place votes and 21 points) and North Carolina A&T linebacker
Jacob Roberts (one first-place vote and 19 points).
Seth Anderson (Suwanee, Ga.) is a finalist for the Stats Perform FCS Jerry Rice National Freshman of the Year Award, and led the Buccaneers with 612 receiving yards to rank first among all Big South freshmen and seventh overall in the league, in addition to tying for the top spot with seven TD receptions. He was fifth in the Big South with 42 receptions, scored a touchdown in six of his 10 games played, and opened his career with eight receptions, 131 yards and two scores against Western Carolina. Anderson recorded receptions of 40+ yards in four different games, with a season-long of 48 in the Bucs’ victory over Robert Morris. A two-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree this season, Anderson is the first Charleston Southern player honored with the Offensive Freshman of the Year award since its inception in 2018. He received four first-place votes and 24 points in the voting, ahead of Gardner-Webb running back
Jayden Brown (three first-place votes and 22 points) and Campbell rusher
NaQuari Rogers (three first-place votes and 20 points).
Ty Anderson (Thomasville, Ga.) is the third Gardner-Webb player to be voted as Big South’s Defensive Freshman of the Year in the award’s five-year history. He played all 11 games and was GWU’s top tackler among freshman with 33 stops. Anderson had 4.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks, two quarterback pressures and recorded a 45-yard pick-six interception return at Marshall. He was the Big South Freshman of the Week and honorable mention National Freshman of the Week on Oct. 3. Anderson earned 23 points and six first-place votes in the balloting, ahead of North Carolina A&T’s
Caleb Jones (17 points and two first-place votes) and Campbell’s
Myles Rowser (16 points and one first-place vote).
Frederick (Hollywood, Fla.) was the Big South’s leader in kickoff returns with a 30.03 average -- just the fourth time a Big South player averaged 30.0 in a season. He is the national leader with 901 combined kick return yards, while his return average is third-best in FCS. Frederick earned Big South and National Special Teams Player of the Week honors after posting 197 return yards at Brown in Week 3 -- which featured a Big South record-tying 100-yard kickoff return touchdown. He had a kickoff return of 30+ yards in nine of 11 games. Frederick received 18 points and four first-place votes from the panel, ahead of Charleston Southern punter
David Gelb (15 points and two first-place votes) and Campbell kicker
Caleb Dowden (15 points and one first-place vote).
Lamb directed Gardner-Webb to its first FCS Playoff berth in program history, as well as the squad’s first Big South championship since 2003 with an undefeated conference season (5-0) for the school’s third outright Big South title. The second-youngest head coach in Division I football (33), Lamb navigated a challenging early schedule that featured three FBS games, two nationally-ranked FCS programs and a four-game road swing in October. After a 1-4 start with several narrow defeats -- two of which were FBS setbacks by a combined five points (four at Coastal Carolina, one at Liberty), he rallied the Runnin' Bulldogs to wins in five of their last six games -- and four in a row -- to sweep through the Big South Conference. Gardner-Webb averaged 40.8 points and 520.0 yards per game offensively against league foes, while the GWU defense limited conference members to just 111.4 yards per game on the ground and just 20 third down conversions in five games (20-of-66, 30.3 percent success rate). The Runnin’ Bulldogs were +5 in turnover margin during the league season, and ranked second in passing defense and total defense. In addition, the squad’s overall third down defense of 29.3 percent is third-best in the country, its 3.27 quarterback sacks per game rank sixth, and the team’s 23 turnovers gained are eighth nationally. Lamb is a finalist for the Stats Perform FCS Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award, and he received nine first-place votes and 32 points in the Big South Coach of the Year voting, ahead of North Carolina A&T’s
Sam Washington (one first-place vote and 18 points).
McRainey (Shallotte, N.C.) is a 3.59 student majoring in economics/finance, and has been a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree twice in his career (2021 and 2022). He was also voted First-Team All-Conference for this season after recording 92 tackles, 9.0 tackles-for-loss and 5.5 sacks.
The Big South also announced its All-Conference first and second teams on Tuesday. The squads are comprised of 12 offensive and defensive players and five special teams players, plus any ties. The list of 2022 All-Conference members and award winners, as well as the All-Academic Team, appears below.
2022 BIG SOUTH FOOTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS AND ANNUAL AWARD WINNERS
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE
QB - Bailey Fisher, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
RB - Bhayshul Tuten, Soph., North Carolina A&T
RB - Narii Gaither, Jr., Gardner-Webb
WR - TJ Luther, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
WR - Cutrell Haywood, Gr., Gardner-Webb
WR - Landon Ruggieri, Soph., Bryant
TE - Julian Hill, Sr., Campbell
OL - Gabe Thompson, R-Jr., Gardner-Webb
OL - Clayton Frady, Jr., Gardner-Webb
OL - Tairiq Stewart, Sr., North Carolina A&T
OL - Dacquari Wilson, Gr., North Carolina A&T
OL - Mike Edwards, R-Sr., Campbell
DEFENSE
DL - Ty French, Jr., Gardner-Webb
DL - Kenny Dyson, Sr., Bryant
DL - Devin Harrell, Gr., North Carolina A&T
DL - Jermaine McDaniel Jr., R-Sr., North Carolina A&T
LB - Joe Andreessen, Sr., Bryant
LB - Garrett Sayegh, Gr., Charleston Southern
LB - William McRainey, Jr., Gardner-Webb
LB - Tyquan King, Soph., North Carolina A&T
DB - Karon Prunty, R-Soph., North Carolina A&T
DB - Raequan Ousley, R-Soph., Gardner-Webb
DB - Jamari Brown, Sr., Gardner-Webb
DB - Kamron Smith, Soph., Charleston Southern
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Ethan Gettman, Soph., Bryant
P - David Gelb, Gr., Charleston Southern
LS - Jackson Hayes, Gr., Campbell
KR - Anthony Frederick, Sr., Bryant
PR - Josh McNeely, R-Sr., Campbell
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE
QB - Zevi Eckhaus, Soph., Bryant
RB - JD Moore, R-Soph., Charleston Southern
RB - Bryant Barr, Gr., Campbell
WR - Zach Leslie, Gr., North Carolina A&T
WR - Seth Anderson, Fr., Charleston Southern
WR - Vinson Davis III, Fr., Charleston Southern
TE - Jihad Edmond, Sr., Bryant
OL - Ricky Lee III, Gr., North Carolina A&T
OL - Isaiah Burch, Gr., Campbell
OL - Jamichael Watts, Sr., Bryant
OL - Korion Sharpe, Soph., North Carolina A&T
OL - Cesar Minarro, R-Soph., North Carolina A&T
DEFENSE
DL - Brevin Allen, R-Sr., Campbell
DL - Anton Williams, Gr., Charleston Southern
DL - Janathian Turner, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
DL - Josh Johnson, R-Sr., Campbell
LB - Jacob Roberts, Jr., North Carolina A&T
LB - Ryan Saddler, Sr., Bryant
LB - CJ Tillman, Soph., Campbell
LB - Joe Casale, R-Jr., Robert Morris
DB - Hombre Kennedy, Gr., Charleston Southern
DB - Jamel Johnson, Fr., Charleston Southern
DB - Sydney Audiger, Gr., Robert Morris
DB - AJ Thomas, Sr., Gardner-Webb
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Caleb Dowden, Gr., Campbell
P - Corey Petersen, Gr., Campbell
LS - Jamie Wilson, R-Fr., Gardner-Webb
KR - Taymon Cooke, R-Jr., North Carolina A&T
ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Ryan Saddler, LB, Sr., Bryant
Keshawn Thompson, LB, Gr., Campbell
Hombre Kennedy, DB, Gr., Charleston Southern
William McRainey, LB, Jr., Gardner-Webb
Nathaniel Spindle, DB, Soph., North Carolina A&T
Hayden Baron, OL, Jr., Robert Morris
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bailey Fisher, QB, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ty French, DL, Jr., Gardner-Webb
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Anthony Frederick, KR, Sr., Bryant
OFFENSIVE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Seth Anderson, WR, Fr., Charleston Southern
DEFENSIVE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Ty Anderson, LB, Fr., Gardner-Webb
COACH OF THE YEAR
Tre Lamb, Gardner-Webb
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
William McRainey, LB, Jr., Gardner-Webb