CLEVELAND — The Division I Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association (FCS ADA), in coordination with the 15 FCS conference offices, has selected Illinois State linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh as the 2022 FCS Defensive Player of the Year.
The full FCS ADA All-America team was announced Dec. 19, and included student-athletes from 11 different institutions, representing seven different conferences. Voting was conducted by a national panel, consisting of media and sports information directors. Incarnate Word quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. was the other big winner, as he was named FCS Offensive Player of the Year. Both Vandenburgh and Scott head to Frisco, Texas, this weekend as finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award and Walter Payton Award, respectively, hoping to hear their names called at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards banquet.
Vandenburgh was a consensus All-American selection, as he earned honors from HERO Sports FCS, The Associated Press, the FCS ADA, Stats Perform, the AFCA and Athlon Sports. The elite pass rusher recently landed in the Top 3 in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the FCS National Defensive Player of the Year and was named a First-Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators (CSC).
The 2022 Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Vandenburgh saved some of his best football for last as he posted a career-high 17 tackles, 3.5 sacks and tied a career-best with 4.0 tackles-for-loss in the Redbirds' season finale against Western Illinois. It gave him 100 tackles (51 solos) in a 10-game stat line that also included 21 tackles-for-loss (120 yards) and an FCS-leading 14 sacks.
A four-time MVFC Defensive Player of the Week honoree, Vandenburgh was also credited with one interception, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and four quarterback hurries in 2022. The Freeport, Illinois, native finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the FCS in sacks per game (1.40) and tackles-for-loss per game (2.1).
With his numbers in the season finale, Vandenburgh finished tied for second all-time on the single-season list in sacks with Ray Robinson (2003) and 5th in program history on the single-season list in tackles-for-loss. He also cracked the Top 3 in career sacks with 24.0 (3rd all-time passing Tony Jones) and tackles-for-loss with 43.5 (3rd all-time passing College Football Hall of Famer Boomer Grigsby).
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