Hall Named Buck Buchanan Award Finalist
11/30/2016 12:30:00 PM | Football
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Sam Houston State Bearkat defensive end P.J. Hall has been named one of three finalists for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award, per an announcement from STATS on Wednesday.
The award will be given out at the STATS FCS Awards Banquet on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas, the night before the FCS Championship Game. Hall will be joined by Northern Iowa's Karter Schult and Missouri State's Dylan Cole.
A national panel of over 150 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries voted on the Buchanan Award.
Hall was named the Southland Conference's Defensive Player of the Year award at the end of the regular season, joining Darnell Taylor (2011 and 2012) and Keith Davis (2000). He is the first Bearkat to be invited to the awards ceremony as a top-3 finalist.
The dominant Bearkat junior defensive end leads the Southland with 21 tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries this season and his 9.5 sacks ranks second. Hall has been named the league's defensive player of the week twice and earned national player of the week honors after his efforts in a win at Lamar.
Hall has picked up at least one tackle behind the line of scrimmage in eight games in 2016, including three games with at least 4.5. He tied the Sam Houston school record in the Kats' win over McNeese, picking up four sacks and forcing a fumble against the Cowboys. His four sacks against McNeese is currently tied for the most sacks in a single game in the FCS this season.
He currently ranks fourth among active FCS player in TFLs per game and his 29.5 career sacks rank him fourth among all players in the FCS.
