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After one of the finest statistical seasons in the history of the FCS, Southeastern Louisiana University senior quarterback Cole Kelley finished second in the voting for the 2021 Stats Perform FCS Walter Payton Award, which was announced at the FCS National Awards banquet Friday night at the Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco Hotel Convention Center and Spa.

Kelley, who won the 2020 honor after the season played this past spring, was vying to become the third student-athlete to win the honor in consecutive seasons. Kelley was looking to join former Sam Houston quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe (2016, 2017) and Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards (2008, 2009) as two-time winners of the award.

Eastern Washington senior quarterback Eric Barriere, who was the runner-up to Kelley for the 2020 award, claimed the FCS version of the Heisman on Friday. Barriere finished with 201 points, while Kelley was second with 163. ETSU running back Quay Holmes, who joined Barriere and Kelley at Friday’s banquet, finished third with 93 points.

A season after becoming the third Southland Conference student-athlete to claim the prestigious honor, Kelley was even better in his final campaign in the green and gold. In his third season in Hammond, he threw for 5,124 yards and 44 touchdowns on 406-for-552 passing (73.6 completion percentage), while also rushing for a team-high 491 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Kelley leads the FCS in passing yards, total offense, completion percentage and points responsible for, as his 60 total touchdowns (44 passing, 16 rushing) were one off the single-season FCS record set by Willie Totten in 1984.  Kelley’s single-season totals for passing yards (2^nd), total offense (5,615 yards, 3^rd) and passing touchdowns (10^th) were all among the best performances in the history of FCS football.

Kelley’s 72.1 career completion percentage (685-for-950) during his time at Southeastern is a new FCS standard (minimum 750 pass attempts). In 33 games for the Lions, Kelley set new program career records with 8,602 passing yards, 9,339 yards of total offense, 70 passing touchdowns, 33 rushing touchdowns and 105 touchdowns responsible for (70 passing, 33 rushing, two receiving).

2021 marked the 35th year of the prestigious Walter Payton Award. Notable past Walter Payton Award recipients include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cooper Kupp and Trey Lance.

At the national banquet, Stats Perform also presented the Buck Buchanan Award (FCS defensive player of the year) to Florida A&M defensive end Isaiah Land, the Jerry Rice Award (FCS freshman of the year) to Jackson State quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the Eddie Robinson Award (FCS coach of the year) to Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders and Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year to Southern Illinois offensive lineman Zeveyon Furcron.

All-Time Walter Payton Award Winners

2021: Eric Barriere, QB, Eastern Washington
2020: Cole Kelley, QB, Southeastern

2019: Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State

2018: Devlin Hodges, QB, Samford

2017: Jeremiah Briscoe, QB, Sam Houston State

2016: Jeremiah Briscoe, QB, Sam Houston State

2015: Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington

2014: John Robertson, QB, Villanova

2013: Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, Eastern Illinois

2012: Taylor Heineke, QB, Old Dominion

2011: Bo Levi Mitchell, QB, Eastern Washington

2010: Jeremy Moses, QB, Stephen F. Austin

2009: Armanti Edwards, QB, Appalachian State

2008: Armanti Edwards, QB, Appalachian State

2007: Jayson Foster, QB, Georgia Southern

2006: Ricky Santos, QB, New Hampshire

2005: Erik Meyer, QB, Eastern Washington

2004: Lang Campbell, QB, William & Mary

2003: Jamaal Branch, RB, Colgate

2002: Tony Romo, QB, Eastern Illinois

2001: Brian Westbrook, RB, Villanova

2000: Louis Ivory, RB, Furman

1999: Adrian Peterson, RB, Georgia Southern

1998: Jerry Azumah, RB, New Hampshire

1997: Brian Finneran, WR, Villanova

1996: Archie Amerson, RB, Northern Arizona

1995: Dave Dickenson, QB, Montana

1994: Steve McNair, QB, Alcorn State

1993: Doug Nussmeir, QB, Idaho State

1992: Michael Payton, QB, Marshall

1991: Jamie Martin, QB, Weber State

1990: Walter Dean, RB, Grambling

1989: John Friesz, QB, Idaho

1988: Dave Meggett, RB, Towson State

1987: Kenny Gamble, RB, Colgate

2021 Walter Payton Award Voting Results
A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place three points, a fourth-place vote two points and a fifth-place vote one point.

1. Eric Barriere, QB, Eastern Washington: 24-18-1-3-0=201

2. Cole Kelley, QB, Southeastern: 16-11-7-8-2=163

3. Quay Holmes, RB, ETSU: 4-2-13-11-4=93

4. Cole Johnson, QB, James Madison: 4-6-9-5-5=86
5. Pierre Strong Jr., RB, South Dakota State: 1-3-7-4-8=54

6. Cameron Ward, QB, UIW: 0-2-3-4-2=28

7 (tie). Xavier Gipson, WR, Stephen F. Austin: 0-1-2-3-5=21

7 (tie). Isaiah Ifanse, RB, Montana State: 0-3-0-3-3=21

9. Aqeel Glass, QB, Alabama State: 1-2-0-0-2=15

10 (tie). Trevor Penning, LT, Northern Iowa: 0-1-1-1-1=10

10 (tie). Jason Shelley, QB, Missouri State: 0-0-2-0-4=10

12 (tie). Keon Howard, QB, UT Martin: 0-0-1-1-3=8

12 (tie). Eric Schmid, QB, Sam Houston: 0-0-1-1-3=8

14 (tie). BJ Byrd, WR, Morehead State: 0-1-0-1-1=7

14 (tie). Xavier Shepherd, QB, Kennesaw State: 0-0-0-2-3=7

14 (tie). Liam Welch, QB, Samford: 0-0-1-2-0=7

17 (tie). Juwan Carter, QB, Norfolk State: 0-0-0-1-1=3

17 (tie). Tim DeMorat, QB, Fordham: 0-0-1-0-0=3

19. Jake Chisholm, RB, Dayton: 0-0-0-1-0=2

20 (tie). Dai’Jean Dixon, WR, Nicholls: 0-0-0-0-1=1

20 (tie). Malik Grant, RB, Sacred Heart: 0-0-0-0-1=1

20 (tie). E.J. Perry, QB, Brown: 0-0-0-0-1=1

23 (tie). Davis Cheek, QB, Elon: 0-0-0-0-0=0

23 (tie). Geno Hess, RB, Southeast Missouri: 0-0-0-0-0=0

23 (tie). Tyler Hudson, WR, Central Arkansas: 0-0-0-0-0=0

TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2021-22 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.

TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB

Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.

All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.

CLEAR BAG POLICY

Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.

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