Barr, Moses, Presley invited to Payton announcement

[SmallCollegeFBFan]

Barr, Moses, Presley invited to Payton announcement
By Craig Haley, FCS Executive Director

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Three outstanding quarterbacks who hope to cap their seasons in the NCAA Division I Championship Game next month already know they will make the trip to Frisco, Texas, for the announcement of the Walter Payton Award.

Matt Barr of Western Illinois, Jeremy Moses of Stephen F. Austin and DeAndre Presley of Appalachian State have been invited to the 24th Annual Football Championship Subdivision Awards Presentation on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 6. The Sports Network presents and Fathead.com sponsors the Walter Payton Award that is bestowed on the outstanding player in the FCS.

Barr, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior, is the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He has helped Western Illinois overcome a 1-10 season a year ago with an 8-4 turnaround this season. He has completed 216- of-358 pass attempts (60.3 percent) for 3,312 yards and 26 touchdowns against only seven interceptions, and ranks second in the FCS in passing efficiency rating (158.10), fifth in total offense (313.7 yards per game) and sixth in passing (276 yards per game). He has rushed for 452 yards and seven touchdowns.

"It's been a lot of fun and I'm really proud of the team and the great turnaround that we've had," Barr said. "Offensively, what we've been able to do is pretty special and I'm really proud of everybody

"This is a huge honor, an honor that I'm very proud of. I could not have done it without my talents, my coaches and the whole football department. I just can't wait to get down there and see who wins."

Moses, a 6-0, 195-pound senior, is the Southland Conference Player of the Year for a second straight season, leading Stephen F. Austin to the conference title and a 9-2 record. He ranks first in the FCS in completions (303), attempts (499), touchdown passes (34) and passing yards (3,658). He has thrown only four interceptions while racking up 325.6 yards of total offense per game, which ranks third nationally. His passing efficiency rating of 143.18 ranks 17th.

"It's a huge team effort. In this offense, you have to have 11 guys on the same page," Moses said.

"It's an honor. I couldn't be happier not only for myself, but to represent the university. This whole year has been about we want to make history for the university. We won back-to-back conference championships, and it's never been done here before. We want to establish a tradition of winning. And this kind of goes along with it."

Presley, a 5-11, 170-pound junior, has taken over for Armanti Edwards, the Payton Award winner in 2008 and '09, and helped Appalachian State to a 9-2 record, a share of a sixth straight Southern Conference title and the No. 1 seed in the FCS playoffs. Presley, the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year, is a dual-threat quarterback who ranks ninth nationally in passing efficiency rating (148.26) and 13th in total offense (270.55 ypg). He has completed 177- of-280 pass attempts (63.2 percent) for 2,223 yards and 18 touchdowns against only four interceptions, and rushed for 753 yards and 11 touchdowns.

"I believe the one thing that I've done is disregard everything else and just focused on controlling the things that I can control," Presley said. "I can't control how people are going to react to me being a quarterback, I can�t control the decision-making that our coaches make. The only thing I can control is the way I prepare for every game and every practice and step into this role that I have stepped into.

"I really didn't expect to be on the Walter Payton list."

Barr and Presley will cross paths on Saturday when their teams face each other in the second round of the playoffs. The winner of that game could possibly meet Moses and his SFA squad in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Dec. 11. All three quarterbacks aspire to lead their team to the national championship game, to be played Friday, Jan. 7 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco.

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[Appaholic]

I thought the guy from EWU already won the Payton since he got the trophy the night before EWU won the NC?..I don't understand...BF, what happened???

[Appaholic]

On a serious note, congratulations to all three deserving candidates.

[EWURanger]

I thought the guy from EWU already won the Payton since he got the trophy the night before EWU won the NC?..I don't understand...BF, what happened???

He got hurt and missed a bunch of PT. Still had some great games and stats, although it would have probably been a stretch to put him in the finals with the time that he missed.

Don't worry, he should be one of the front-runners this year!

On another note, we've still got a front-runner for the Buchanan, so maybe we'll have better luck with that one.

[western-101]

congrats to the 3 finalists.

Is football meant to be played on red?

[SpeedkingATL]

All 3 are playing in our quarter of the playoffs with 2 of them playing at The Rock this Saturday. I hope I get to see all 3 play at The Rock over the next 2 weekends.

[Pwns]

Presley isn't going to get it. Moses and Barr have better numbers and don't have one of the best group of FCS receivers ever. It'll be close, but I give a slight edge to Barr.

[AppStateAlumQC]

Moses and Barr have better numbers and Presley does have a deep corp to throw too, but he also has 750+ yards rushing with 11 td's. If he has big game against WIU and can outshine Moses and or put on a show against defending champion Villanova he has a legit case for the Payton.

[Sly Fox]

Numbers really don't have much of an impact based on how the voting went to arrive at this final 3. And I watched Barr in last Saturday's game and he wasn't very impressive.

[AppMan]

Wonder how many people would change their ballots after yesterday? It is easy to run up big numbers on weak opponents. I want to see what you've got in big games. Pressley was the cream which clearly rose to the top Saturday.

[CatMom]

Wonder how many people would change their ballots after yesterday? It is easy to run up big numbers on weak opponents. I want to see what you've got in big games. Pressley was the cream which clearly rose to the top Saturday.

I've been trying to tell people this for, oh, at least 2 years (maybe more) but did anyone listen to me? I kept saying how to shut him down. You can pass up and down the field all day long but if you have 340 yp and no passing TDs, well......
You need to have something complementary and they didn't. SFA got away with this in the SLC but no running game will come back to haunt you, at times. He was great in the system that they used, built around his skill set...which is pass, pass and pass. 80/20
Even as crappy as TXST's D has been...in 4 yrs Moses threw for 1473 yds against TXST and never won. The resulting record the past 2 seasons, though, kinda says alot about the SLC's defenses, doesn't it?

record 2007-2010
23-26

I won't take away from the records Moses has set, for the SLC. They're impressive. And he improved the TD/INT ratio this year, immensely, but for something like the Peyton, you have to look at the whole package (body of work), which I don't think voters do, at times.
That said...does he deserve the top 3 finish in this, probably. Should he win, no.

(waiting for SFA and other SLC fans to bash this post)

[SmallCollegeFBFan]

Wonder how many people would change their ballots after yesterday? It is easy to run up big numbers on weak opponents. I want to see what you've got in big games. Pressley was the cream which clearly rose to the top Saturday.

I've been trying to tell people this for, oh, at least 2 years (maybe more) but did anyone listen to me? I kept saying how to shut him down. You can pass up and down the field all day long but if you have 340 yp and no passing TDs, well......
You need to have something complementary and they didn't. SFA got away with this in the SLC but no running game will come back to haunt you, at times. He was great in the system that they used, built around his skill set...which is pass, pass and pass. 80/20
Even as crappy as TXST's D has been...in 4 yrs Moses threw for 1473 yds against TXST and never won. The resulting record the past 2 seasons, though, kinda says alot about the SLC's defenses, doesn't it?

record 2007-2010
23-26

I won't take away from the records Moses has set, for the SLC. They're impressive. And he improved the TD/INT ratio this year, immensely, but for something like the Peyton, you have to look at the whole package (body of work), which I don't think voters do, at times.
That said...does he deserve the top 3 finish in this, probably. Should he win, no.

(waiting for SFA and other SLC fans to bash this post)

I never argued with you! I could see Scott Riddle getting a tryout but he won't make it in the NFL but Jeremy Moses is one player I don't even see getting a chance. He was not in the top five on my ballot.

Presley, Devlin, and a few others are vastly superior. The problem is that most folks only see numbers so they don't know how good a player truly is. Moses blows Devlin away in terms of numbers but Devlin is clearly better. I would probably rank Moses as the 5th or 6th best QB in the nation.

[siuham]

Wonder how many people would change their ballots after yesterday? It is easy to run up big numbers on weak opponents. I want to see what you've got in big games. Pressley was the cream which clearly rose to the top Saturday.

Voting is done before the playoffs.

[CatMom]

I never argued with you! I could see Scott Riddle getting a tryout but he won't make it in the NFL but Jeremy Moses is one player I don't even see getting a chance. He was not in the top five on my ballot.

Presley, Devlin, and a few others are vastly superior. The problem is that most folks only see numbers so they don't know how good a player truly is. Moses blows Devlin away in terms of numbers but Devlin is clearly better. I would probably rank Moses as the 5th or 6th best QB in the nation.

No, SCFF, you haven't and I didn't point to you as one that has. Most times when I've put something out there or asked questions, you've come back with logical and clear reasonings.
I've just taken a lot of grief over Moses for a couple years. I used to say George was comparable, in a way. He didn't have the passing stats of Moses (close) but we had a more balanced attack, therefore, we had more rushing TDs. Well, George had to orchestrate those, didn't he? I still think George could have made someone's roster, if not for his age. You say JM won't. So it's a wash....IMHO. Both were good but BG didn't get the recognition because he wasn't terribly mobile, he was older and he didn't have the passing stats of a Moses. (Plus our D sucked) However, I wish we still had him now.

[SmallCollegeFBFan]

I never argued with you! I could see Scott Riddle getting a tryout but he won't make it in the NFL but Jeremy Moses is one player I don't even see getting a chance. He was not in the top five on my ballot.

Presley, Devlin, and a few others are vastly superior. The problem is that most folks only see numbers so they don't know how good a player truly is. Moses blows Devlin away in terms of numbers but Devlin is clearly better. I would probably rank Moses as the 5th or 6th best QB in the nation.

No, SCFF, you haven't and I didn't point to you as one that has. Most times when I've put something out there or asked questions, you've come back with logical and clear reasonings.
I've just taken a lot of grief over Moses for a couple years. I used to say George was comparable, in a way. He didn't have the passing stats of Moses (close) but we had a more balanced attack, therefore, we had more rushing TDs. Well, George had to orchestrate those, didn't he? I still think George could have made someone's roster, if not for his age. You say JM won't. So it's a wash....IMHO. Both were good but BG didn't get the recognition because he wasn't terribly mobile, he was older and he didn't have the passing stats of a Moses. (Plus our D sucked) However, I wish we still had him now.

No question George was a better prospect than Moses. People look at stats and think that tells the whole story but it doesn't.

[AppMan]

Wonder how many people would change their ballots after yesterday? It is easy to run up big numbers on weak opponents. I want to see what you've got in big games. Pressley was the cream which clearly rose to the top Saturday.

Voting is done before the playoffs.

Did it even occur to you that may have been the reason I posed the question? Good Grief! Perhaps if you got your mind off jiggles you might be able to figure some of these things out. God help us if this is any indication to the intelligence level of who is going to be leading this nation in a few years!