Tennessee Tech swept the college football honors from the Tennessee Sportswriters Association with wide receiver Tim Benford from Red Bank High School earning the TSWA College Football Player of the Year, while Tennessee Tech head football coach Watson Brown was voted the TSWA Coach of the Year.
The awards were based upon votes by TSWA members.
Brown, the OVC Coach of the Year, had his most successful season since taking over as Tennessee Tech’s coach.
Tennessee Tech finished the regular season 7-3 and 6-2 in the OVC, earning a share of the conference title. It was Tennessee Tech’s first conference championship since 1975.
The Eagles made their first FCS playoff appearance losing to Central Arkansas in the opening round.
For Brown, it was the first conference title in his 27 years as a head coach. Brown was one of 20 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award, presented to the FCS Coach of the Year by the Sports Network and sponsored by Fathead.com. He finished ninth in the balloting.
In a tight race for Player of the Year, Benford received one more vote than Vanderbilt running back Zac Stacy.
Benford played a pivotal role in Tennessee Tech’s offense, which ranked near the top in nearly all OVC offensive categories.
Benford finished with 65 catches for 923 yards and five touchdowns and was named the OVC Player of the Year. He earned a spot on a pair of All-American teams, including the Phil Steele Football Championship Subdivision third-team.
Benford was selected to play in the East-West Shrine Game, played this past Saturday at Tropicana Field.
Benford finished his career with 217 receptions and 3,104 receiving yards, both rank second in OVC history.
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)