Updated

Montana State teammates DeNarius McGhee and Jody Owens captured the Big Sky Conference's offensive and defensive MVP awards, respectively, on Tuesday.

McGhee is a junior quarterback and three-time Walter Payton Award finalist who also was co-winner of the offensive MVP as a redshirt freshman in 2010. Owens, a senior, is the third straight linebacker to win the award, following Eastern Washington's J.C. Sherritt in 2010 and Montana's Caleb McSurdy in 2011.

Southern Utah freshman linebacker Zak Browning earned the newcomer of the year award, while Cal Poly's Tim Walsh and Eastern Washington's Beau Baldwin were named co-coaches of the year.

Montana State led the All-Big Sky first team with six selections. Owens and Eastern Washington wide receiver Brandon Kaufman were the only unanimous selections.

ALL-BIG SKY FIRST TEAM

OFFENSE

Wide Receivers - Brandon Kaufman, Jr., Eastern Washington; Rodrick Rumble, Sr., Idaho State; Greg Hardin, Jr., North Dakota

Tackles - Danny Kistler Jr., Montana; Will Post, Sr., Eastern Washington

Guards - Sean Davies, Sr., UC Davis; Gavin Farr, Jr., Southern Utah

Center - Shaun Sampson, Sr., Montana State

Tight End - Greg Hardy, Sr., Montana

Quarterback - DeNarius McGhee, Jr., Montana State

Running Backs - Deonte Williams, Sr., Cal Poly; Zach Bauman, Jr., Northern Arizona

Fullback - Jake Hess, Sr., Northern Arizona

Place-kicker - Jimmy Pavel, Sr., Eastern Washington

Return Specialist - Dominic Gunn, Sr., Northern Colorado

DEFENSE

Tackles - Zach Minter, Sr., Montana State; Cody Larsen, Sr., Southern Utah

Ends - Caleb Schreibeis, Sr., Montana State; Zach Wagenmann, So., Montana

Outside Linebackers - Jordan Tripp, Jr., Montana; Jody Owens, Sr., Montana State

Inside Linebackers - Kennith Jackson, Sr., Cal Poly; Ronnie Hamlin, Jr., Eastern Washington

Cornerbacks - T.J. Lee III, Sr., Eastern Washington; Anders Battle, Jr., Northern Arizona

Safeties - Lucky Dozier, Jr., Northern Arizona; Joel Fuller, Sr., Montana State

Punter - Colton Schmidt, Sr., UC Davis

SPECIAL TEAMS

Dominic Gunn, Sr., Northern Colorado