Yale senior linebacker Bobby Abare finished 11th in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the premier defensive player in Football Championship Subdivision.

Abare had one first-place vote, three votes for second, third and fourth and eight fifth-place tallies to finish with 40 points. defensive end Greg Haywood of Eastern Washington had 39 first-place votes to easily outdistance Maine's Jovan Belcher to win the award. Current NFL starters Jared Allen and Rashean Mathis are among the former winners of the award.

Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards won the Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player in FCS while James Madison's Mickey Matthews earned the Eddie Robinson Award as the coach of the year.