LAKE CHARLES – McNeese sophomore linebacker Micah Davey finished seventh in the voting for the 2023 Buck Buchanan Award, which honors the national defensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football and is presented by FedEx Ground.
 
Davey, a native of Baton Rouge, collected 46 total points while recorded two votes for first place, three for second and three for third.
 
Recently selected to the 2023 All-Southland Conference First Team, Davey led the FCS in three different statistical categories – total tackles (153), tackles per game (15.3) and solo tackles per game (8.3). His 15.3 per game average set a new McNeese record while his 153 total stops rank as the sixth-most in school history in a single season.
 
He recorded double-digits in tackles in all 10 games on the season and became the first player in school history to collect 20 or more tackles in back-to-back games (20 vs. HCU; 21 at Lamar). The 21 tackles at Lamar were the second-most in a game in school history and ninth-most in Southland history.
 
Davey is the third Cowboy selection in the last four seasons to finish in the top seven in voting for the national award. Consensus All-American edge rusher Isaiah Chambers placed seventh in the fall 2021 voting and was fourth in the 2021 spring season voting. Also, in 2018, linebacker B.J. Blunt finished seventh in the voting, giving McNeese four top seven finishers in the last six seasons.
 
The three finalists, defensive end Terrell Allen of Tennessee State and linebackers Dylan Kelly of UAlbany and Billy Shaeffer of Lafayette, were among 30 finalists for the 29th annual Buchanan, whose namesake, legendary defensive lineman Junious "Buck" Buchanan, starred at Grambling State as part of his Hall of Fame career. The winner, selected by a national voting panel after the regular season, will be announced at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Banquet on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas – the eve of the national championship game.
 
The Buck Buchanan Award, first presented in 1995, has a distinguished history of recipients, including two-time winner Dexter Coakley, Rashean Mathis, Jared Allen and Arthur Moats.
 
Like the Buchanan Award, the winners of the Walter Payton Award (FCS offensive player of the year), Jerry Rice Award (FCS freshman player of the year), Eddie Robinson Award (FCS coach of the year) and FedEx Ground Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award will be honored at the national awards banquet.
 
2023 Buck Buchanan Award Voting Results
A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place vote three points, a fourth-place vote two points and a fifth-place vote one point. The final number is the combined point total.
1, 2, 3. TBA on Jan. 6, between DE Terrell Allen (Tennessee State) and LBs Dylan Kelly (UAlbany) and Billy Shaeffer (Lafayette)
4. Ty French, DE, Gardner-Webb: 2-7-6-1-6-64
5. Anton Juncaj, DE, UAlbany: 1-8-2-4-5-56
6. PJ Jules, S, Southern Illinois: 0-5-4-5-5-47
7. Micah Davey, LB, McNeese: 2-3-3-5-5-46
8. Jacob Dobbs, LB, Holy Cross: 1-5-4-3-1-44
9. Amir Abdullah, LB, Illinois State: 0-6-1-3-2-35
10. Finn Claypool, DE, Drake: 0-3-1-5-2-27
11. Brock Mogensen, LB, South Dakota: 3-1-1-0-1-23
12. Jay Person, DE, Chattanooga: 2-1-0-2-0-18
13.(tie) Braxton Hill, LB, Montana: 0-1-2-2-0-14
13.(tie) Kenny Gallop Jr., S, Howard: 1-1-1-0-2-14
15. Logan Blake, LB, Eastern Kentucky: 0-1-1-2-0-11
16.(tie) Brody Grebe, DE, Montana State: 1-0-1-0-1-9
16.(tie) Daylan Dotson, DE, UT Martin: 0-0-1-2-2-9
16.(tie) Isaiah Major, LB, Florida A&M: 0-0-2-0-3-9
16.(tie) Jalyx Hunt, LB, Houston Christian: 1-1-0-0-0-9
20.(tie) Colton Adams, LB, Alabama State: 0-0-1-2-1-8
20.(tie) Lance Wise Jr., S, Mercer: 0-0-1-1-3-8
22.(tie) Erick Hunter, LB, Morgan State: 0-0-2-0-0-6
22.(tie) Logan Kopp, LB, North Dakota State: 0-0-1-1-1-6
22.(tie) Winston Reid, LB, Weber State: 0-0-1-0-3-6
25.(tie) David Walker, DE, Central Arkansas: 0-0-0-2-1-5
25.(tie) Thor Griffith, DT, Harvard: 0-0-0-2-1-5
27. Eric O'Neill, DE, LIU: 0-0-0-0-3-3
28. Tristan Wheeler, LB, Richmond: 0-0-0-1-0-2
29. Steven Parker, DE, UIW: 0-0-0-0-1-1
30. Nate Lynn, DE, William & Mary: 0-0-0-0-0-0