Olson finishes third in Buchanan Award voting

FRISCO, Texas - Record-breaking Montana linebacker Dante Olson finished third in the voting for the FCS Buck Buchanan Award, STATS announced at a gala event Friday in Frisco, Texas.

Southeast Missouri linebacker Zach Hall claimed the prize for the nation's defensive player of the year while Sam Houston State's Derick Roberson came in second.

Olson tallied a national-best 151 tackles during the regular season, shattering the previous Montana school record 130 and posting a season-high of 24 against Cal Poly. He also recorded 11 tackles for loss, six sacks, two interceptions, five pass deflections, and three forced fumbles in his breakout junior season.

A national panel of 150 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries selected STATS FCS awards between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.

Since that time, Olson has been named to six different All-America teams, the most single-season All-America honors by one player in Grizzly football history.

So far this season he has been named a: Phil Steele First-Team All-American, STATS FCS First-Team All-American, Walter Camp Foundation All-American, Associated Press First-Team All-American, American Football Coaches Association First-Team All-American, and a HERO Sports First-Team All-American.

His other postseason accolades include a place on the First-Team All-Big Sky squad, the Steve Carlson Grizzly football team MVP award, the Grizzly defensive MVP award, the GoGriz.com Person of the Year, the FCS ADA Academic All-Star team, and a place on the University of Montana's President's List for his 4.0 GPA in the fall semester.

Trumaine Johnson is the only other Grizzly to be named a finalist for the Buchanan Award as a junior. Kroy Biermann (2007) and Tyrone Holmes (2015) are the only two other Griz to win the award. Dave Dickenson won the Walter Payton Award for the top offensive player in the nation during UM's national championship run in 1995.

Olson returns to the 2019 Grizzly squad for his senior season after becoming the most decorated junior in program history on Jan. 10 when UM students return for the spring semester.

2018 STATS FCS Award Winners
Walter Payton Award (FCS Offensive Player of the Year) – Delvin Hodges, Samford
Buck Buchanan Award (FCS Defensive Player of the Year) – Zach Hall, Southeast Missouri
Jerry Rice Award (FCS Freshman Player of the Year) – Josh Davis, Weber State
Eddie Robinson Award (FCS Coach of the Year) – Dan Hawkins, UC Davis
Doris Robinson FCS Scholar-Athlete Award – Chris Infantino, Stony Brook

2018 STATS FCS BUCK BUCHANAN AWARD VOTING

1. Zach Hall, LB, Southeast Missouri: 28-31-19-13-7–354
2. Derick Roberson, LB, Sam Houston State: 23-11-16-13-8–241
3. Dante Olson, LB, Montana: 21-10-13-13-15–225
4. Jabril Cox, LB, North Dakota State: 22-13-10-9-12–222
5. Isiah Swann, CB, Dartmouth: 5-22-17-10-18–202
6. Jimmy Moreland, CB, James Madison: 13-16-11-14-10–200
7. B.J. Blunt, LB, McNeese: 12-4-15-13-17–164
8. Nick Wheeler, LB, Colgate: 9-5-11-8-12–126
9. Robbie Grimsley, S, North Dakota State: 7-8-5-10-11–113
10. Anthony Gore Jr., LB, Kennesaw State: 2-5-5-6-4–61
11. Darryl Johnson Jr., DE, North Carolina A&T: 1-4-4-6-4–49
12. Mason Moe, LB, UC Davis: 2-4-0-8-2–44
13. (Tie) Khalen Saunders, DT, Western Illinois: 1-5-3-3-2–42
13. (Tie) Sterling Sheffield, LB, Maine: 1-1-6-5-5–42
15. Troy Reeder, LB, Delaware: 1-3-3-4-2–36
16. Cam Gill, LB, Wagner: 1-1-5-3-3–33
17. Isaiah Mack, DT, Chattanooga: 2-1-1-6-3–32
18. Will Warner, S, Drake: 1-0-2-3-5–22
19. Thomas Costigan, LB, Bryant: 1-2-1-0-3–19
20. (Tie) Nasir Adderley, S, Delaware: 0-1-2-1-3–15
20. (Tie) Darin Greenfield, DE, South Dakota: 0-2-1-2-0–15
22. Ahmad Gooden, DE, Samford: 0-1-2-0-4–14
23. De'Arius Christmas, LB, Grambling State: 0-1-1-2-1–12
24. (Tie) Nick Miller, LB, Penn: 0-1-0-0-2–6
25. (Tie) Nasir Player, DL, ETSU: 0-1-0-1-0–6
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.

MORE ON OLSON

2018: Finalist for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award ... Phil Steele 2018 FCS Defensive Player of the Year ... Phil Steele Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year ... Phil Steele First-Team All-American ... AFCA First-Team All-American ... STATS FCS First-Team All-American ... Walter Camp Foundation All-American ... Associated Press First-Team All-American … American Football Coaches Association First-Team All-American ... HERO Sports First-Team All-American ... Led Division I football in total tackles (FBS and FCS) in the regular season with 151 ... Broke Kendrick Van Ackeren's school record for single-season tackles (130) … Selected as First-Team All-Big Sky Conference by the league's coaches ... Awarded Montana Football's Steve Carlson MVP Award … Awarded Montana Football's Defensive MVP Award ... 2018 GoGriz.com Person of the Year ... FCS ADA Academic All-Star ... 2018 University of Montana President's List (4.0 GPA) ... Named ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the week on 9/3 ... Named College Sports Madness Big Sky Defensive Player of the week on 9/3 ... Repeated as ROOT Sports Big Sky Player of the Week on 9/8 ... Was named STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week on 9/8 as well .... Repeated as College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week on 9/8 ... Named ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week for a third time on 10/1 after posting 24 tackles against Cal Poly ... Against UNI (9/1), Olson led the Grizzly defense with 13 total tackles ... Also recorded an interception which he returned 26 yards, a sack for a loss of 9 yards, one PBU and one QB hurry ... Was named the ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week after the UNI game ... Against Drake (9/8), Olson recorded 16 tackles, 2 sacks (career high), 3.5 TFL's (career high), one forced fumble and one PBU ... Olson recorded 11 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, half a sack, one QB hit, and an interception that he returned 25 yards in a well-rounded performance vs. Western Illinois (9/15) ... Against Sacramento State (9/22) recorded 15 tackles, 1 sack, 1 PBU, and a QB hit ... Against Cal Poly (9/29) Olson earned Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for the 3rd time in 5 weeks putting up 24 total tackles (career high and 2nd best single-game tackling performance in UM history) ... Against Portland State (10/6) put up 19 tackles, half a sack, 2 TFL's and 2 forced fumbles ... Olson put up 8 tackles and one half of a TFL in a matchup against North Dakota (10/13) ... Olson added to his impressive season totals with a 13 tackle and one sack performance vs. #6 UC Davis (10/27) ... Leading his team in tackling, Olson contributed to his team's road victory over Idaho (11/10) with 10 tackles and a QB hit on the day ... Olson completed his break-out season with an 18 tackle performance against rival Montana State (11/17)

2017: Second Team All-Big Sky on Special Teams… Academic All-Big Sky … Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year … Recorded 38 tackles, 16 of them solo … Had 2 TFLs and one sack against Idaho State for a loss of seven yards … Blocked a kick against Northern Colorado … Logged QB hurries against Savannah State and Eastern Washington … Played in all 11 games for UM … Once again awarded the William (Robi) Robertson Memorial Athletic Scholarship at the annual Lindsay Awards Banquet

2016: Academic All-Big Sky... Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year … Olson played in 11 games as a redshirt freshman at linebacker … Recorded 29 tackles, seven of them solo … Had two tackles for loss for six yards, also recorded a sack … Had back to back games with seven tackles against Miss. Valley State and Sacramento State … Recorded both tackles for loss and also his only sack in the Miss. Valley State game... Awarded the William (Robi) Robertson Memorial Athletic Scholarship at the annual Lindsay Awards Banquet.

2015: Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year … Was a redshirt freshman

HIGH SCHOOL: Olson was a four-year letterman in football at Cascade Christian HS, where his team won four conference championships (10-3 in 2011; 13-1 in 2012; 12-2 in 2013, and 8-3 in 2014) in a row... Three-year team captain and defensive player of the year.... Also led his team in tackles for three seasons...Voted defensive MVP of his conference and the state two times... His senior year he had 135 tackles, 5 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles; rushed for 583 yards and 8 TDs... named to the state's All-Star Football Game... A three-time all-state selection at linebacker and tight end (as a senior) ... His prep coach was Jon Gettman.... Also lettered in basketball and tennis.

PERSONAL: Olson carries a 3.87 GPA .... A Management major … His parents are Linda and Jeff Olson of Medford … His dad Jeff was the former head football coach at Southern Oregon University … Serves as a pen-pal mentor to a class of underprivileged kids in Northern California

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