Ogden, UT – 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