Opta Analyst’s FCS football coverage includes weekly national player and team honors throughout the regular season and will lead toward the annual season-ending Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show on Jan. 3, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Youngstown State’s Beau Brungard, Rhode Island’s A.J. Pena, Lamar’s Ben Woodard and Samford’s Brady Stober were selected on Monday as the Stats Perform FCS National Players of the Week for Week 8 college football games this past weekend.
In addition, the UT Martin Skyhawks were named the Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week.
The weekly honors lead up to the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show on Jan. 3 in Nashville, Tennessee. The season-ending awards are in their 39th year.
The five honorees plus honorable mention selections for the FCS National Awards:
FCS National Offensive Player of the Week
Beau Brungard, Youngstown State, QB, Jr., 6-0, 215
The season’s first two-time national award recipient racked up a YSU-record 528 yards of total offense and produced three of his five total touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a 40-35 win at 10th-ranked Illinois State. Brungard added career marks of 328 passing yards and 30 carries, finishing 23 of 34 with two TDs and one interception through the air, and with 200 yards and three scores on the ground.
Honorable Mention: Keali’I Ah Yat, QB, Montana; Carver Cheeks, Northern Colorado, WR; Joshua Dye, RB, Southern Utah; Devin Farrell, QB, Rhode Island; Camden Orth, QB, Chattanooga; Reed Swanson, WR, Colgate
FCS National Defensive Player of the Week
A.J. Pena, Rhode Island, LB, Sr., 6-2, 243
The first-team All-American racked up an FCS season-high four sacks while becoming URI’s all-time leader, helping the Rams to a 58-17 win at UAlbany in CAA Football. His sacks went for 21 yards in losses and pushed his career total to 34.5 sacks, or 1.5 more than the school’s previous record. He also forced a fumble and had a QB hurry.
Honorable Mention: Kyree Anderson, LB, East Texas A&M; Kahmari Brown, DE, Elon; Kao Hansen, DB, Weber State; Jalen Lee, S, South Dakota State; Avery Morris, LB, Duquesne; Jouvenson Romulus, DB, Wagner; Dillon Schobourgh, LB, Morehead State; Keith Williams, LB, Cornell; Steve Zayachkowsky, LB, Charleston Southern
FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week
Ben Woodard, Lamar, PK, Sr., 6-0, 180
Woodard capped a banner performance by drilling a school-record 57-yard field goal with 1:03 left, lifting Lamar past UTRGV 23-21 in the Southland Conference. He kicked a 53-yard field goal to end the first half, also connected from 30 yards out and added two PATs for 11 points. Woodard, who is 17 of 19 on field goals over the last two seasons, averaged 63.8 yards on five kickoffs with three touchbacks.
Honorable Mention: Jayce Freeman, KR/WR, Stony Brook; Grant Meadors, PK, Sacramento State; Bugs Mortimer, PR/WR, Stephen F. Austin; Max Pelham, P, South Dakota State
FCS National Freshman Player of the Week
Brady Stober, Samford, QB, Fr., 6-0, 185
In his first start, the true freshman completed 34 of 43 (79.1%) passes for 285 yards and three first-half touchdowns, helping Samford to its first win, 23-21 at VMI in the Southern Conference. He had 33 rushing yards and completed four passes on a 14-play, fourth-quarter drive that resulted in a game-winning field goal. Strober finished with a 153.1 pass efficiency rating.
Honorable Mention: Cason Carswell, QB, Western Illinois; Jaiden Haygood, LB, UTRGV; Nick Herman, RB, Drake; Justin Krueger, DL, William & Mary; Owen Sweeney, WR, VMI; Johnny Weber, QB, Southeast Missouri
FCS National Team of the Week
UT Martin (37-7 win at Gardner-Webb)
The Skyhawks had a dominating road performance while putting themselves in OVC-Big South title contention and handing Gardner-Webb its first conference loss. The defense forced four turnovers and quarterback Jase Bauer was 15 for 16 (93.8%) for 164 yards, finishing with two total touchdowns. Also for coach Jason Simpson’s 3-5 (3-1 OVC-Big South) squad, JaMichael McGoy Jr. intercepted a pass and broke up two more to raise his career totals to 43 passes defended and a school-record 37 PBUs.
Honorable Mention: East Texas A&M (52-45 win at UIW); North Dakota (38-19 win at Southern Illinois); Southern Utah (31-24 win over Abilene Christian); Wofford (31-13 win over Furman)
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UT Martin, Brungard, Pena, Woodard, Stober Claim FCS Football Awards (Week 8) Opta Analyst.
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