Northwest Notes Dec. 8, 2021

EWU's Barriere is one of three up for the Walter Payton Award

Eastern Washington senior quarterback Eric Barriere has been invited to the announcement of the 2021 Stats Perform Walter Payton Award, presented to the national offensive player of the year in Division I FCS, in Frisco, Texas, on Friday, Jan. 7.

Along with Barriere, Southeastern Louisiana quarterback Cole Kelley and ETSU running back Quay Holmes are also invited. The trio was among 25 finalists for the award, named for the legendary running back and celebrating its 35th anniversary season. The winner, selected by a 50-member, national media panel after the regular season, will be announced at the FCS National Awards Banquet in Frisco, Texas, with a broadcast of the festivities to begin airing the next day, Jan. 8, on Bally Sports Regional Networks.

Kelley received the Payton Award following the 2020 season, edging Barriere, the runner-up, in the voting. Holmes also was a finalist, finishing 13th.

Former Eagle Cooper Kupp was EWU's latest recipient in 2015, with other former Eagles honored including Erik Meyer (2005) and Bo Levi Mitchell (2011).

Barriere ended his tenure at EWU third all-time in the FCS in total offense (15,394), third in passing yards (13,809) and tied for fourth in passing touchdowns (121), all of which are also Eastern Washington and Big Sky Conference career records.

Cougars place 14 on All-Pac-12 team; de Laura Named Offensive Freshman of the Year

SAN FRANCISCO — Quarterback Jayden de Laura was named the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year as the conference announced its all-conference teams Tuesday.

Right tackle Abraham Lucas, kicker Dean Janikowski and EDGE Ron Stone Jr. were named to the first team, giving WSU three first-team selections for the first time since 2015.

Wide receivers Travell Harris and Calvin Jackson Jr. were both named to the second team, the first set of Cougar wideouts to earn all-conference first or second team since Michael Bumpus (1st) and Jason Hill (2nd) in 2004 and both are the first WSU wide receivers to earn first or second-team honors since Gabe Marks was a first-team selection in 2015 and 2016.

Nine players were named All-Pac-12 honorable mention; running back Max Borghi, quarterback Jayden de Laura, defensive back Daniel Isom, EDGE Brennan Jackson, defensive back Armani Marsh, wideout De’Zhaun Stribling, Lincoln Victor as an all-purpose player, defensive back Jaylen Watson, linebacker Jahad Woods.

WSU’s 14 all-conference selections are the most since the 2003 team earned 17 selections.

De Laura, playing his first full season, was named the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and All-Pac-12 honorable mention after leading the Pac-12 with 2,742 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, 249.3 passing yards per game. The Honolulu, Hawaii, native threw three-plus touchdowns five times this season and led the Cougars to seven wins, including a 40-13 Apple Cup win where he completed 27 of 32 passes for an 84.3 completion percentage, the best completion percentage by a Cougar quarterback in an Apple Cup.

Lucas earns his fourth-straight All-Pac-12 accolade and first first-team honor after being named to the second team the previous three seasons. Lucas started all 12 games at right tackle and was rated the Pac-12’s best pass-blocking offensive lineman and third-best pass-blocking offensive tackle in the country after not allowing a sack in 477 pass blocking snaps.

Janikowski connected on 14 of 17 field goal attempts, the best field goal percentage in the Pac-12 and tied for the second-most makes in the conference. The redshirt sophomore from Fallbrook, Calif. also finished the regular season third in the conference among kickers with 81 points and capped the regular season tying a WSU Apple Cup record with four made field goals in the win over Washington.

Stone earned his first career All-Pac-12 honor after making 11.5 tackles-for-loss, good for fifth in the conference, and five sacks, good for eighth-most in the league. The redshirt junior from San Jose, Calif., tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with 38 total pressures and was also the league’s fourth-best run-defender according to PFF College.