The “Payton Watch” and “Buchanan Battle” pages, which can be found at The Sports Network’s website, keep track of the quest for the 20th Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the top offensive player in I-AA football, and the 12th Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the top defensive player in I-AA.

The honors will be presented at the 20th annual I-AA College Football Awards Banquet on Dec. 14 in Chattanooga, Tenn., on the eve of the 2006 I-AA National Championship. The Eddie Robinson Award, honoring I-AA’s top coach, and the Sports Network Cup, bestowed upon the nation’s best I-AA mid-major program, will also be presented at the ceremony.

The official “Payton Watch” and “Buchanan Battle” lists will undergo two additional revisions prior to the distribution of ballots on Nov. 20. The next change will be made on Nov. 1 and the final changes will be made just prior to the distribution of ballots. The ballots will be mailed electronically to the media and I-AA sports information directors selected for the voting process on Nov. 20, and will be due Nov. 22.

The top three finalists (in terms of votes received) for the Walter Payton Award will be invited to attend the presentation in Chattanooga, Tenn., with the winner of that Award not announced until the event.

Last month, Nkang was named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week after racking up a game-high 13 stops – including a contest-best 2.5 tackles for loss – in the Phoenix’s 23-20 triumph at No. 25 Coastal Carolina.

This past summer, Nkang was tabbed to the I-AA.org Third Team Preseason All-America, The Sports Network First Team Preseason All-America, the Street & Smith's College Football 2006 Yearbook Preseason All-America squad, the Lindy's National College Football 2006 Preview First Team Preseason All-IAA and the Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette First Team Preseason All-America.

The 6-1, 218-pound Nkang was also named the top linebacker in all of NCAA-IAA football by The Sports Network and received First Team Preseason All-Southern Conference and Preseason Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors this summer. Last fall, he was crowned the 2005 Football Gazette NCAA-IAA Linebacker of the Year.

As a junior, Nkang finished fifth in The Sports Network's 2005 Buck Buchanan Award standings. He was also chosen to an All-America first team by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, The Sports Network, CollegeSportsReport.com and Football Gazette while receiving second team All-America accolades from The Associated Press last season.

Nkang was dubbed the Football Gazette Southeast Region Linebacker of the Year, the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year by the league's media and the Southern Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year by the league's coaches last year. He was also tabbed to the 2005 First Team All-SoCon by both the conference's coaches and the media and the First Team All-Southeast Region by Football Gazette.

For the 2005 campaign, Nkang led both the Southern Conference and the NCAA-IAA with 13.82 total tackles per contest. He paced the conference and finished third in the country with 6.64 solo tackles per game. Nkang concluded the season with 152 total tackles, including 73 solo stops and 18.5 tackles for loss.

The Sports Network and Football Gazette each honored Nkang as an NCAA-IAA Defensive Player of the Week a year ago. He also earned Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week status once and Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Month distinction for September, October and November in 2005.

In 2004, Nkang was declared the SoCon Defensive Player of the Month for November. That season, he also commandeered First Team All-SoCon honors by the league's media, Second Team All-SoCon accolades by the conference coaches and Second Team All-Southeast Region recognition by Football Gazette.

Recording 135 total tackles in 2004, Nkang led the Southern Conference and tied for fourth place in the NCAA-IAA with 12.27 stops per game. He was recognized as his team's outstanding linebacker for both the 2004 and 2005 campaigns, collecting Most Valuable Player honors last season.

As a fullback in 2003, Nkang was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Week following the Phoenix's season opener – marking the first SoCon regular-season accolade garnered by an Elon athlete.

Following are the 32 current members of both the “Payton Watch” and “Buchanan Battle” lists, with additional information on each player, as well as history and facts about each of the I-AA awards, available at www.sportsnetwork.com .

“Payton Watch” Candidates (Oct. 11)
David Ball, WR, New Hampshire
Alonzo Coleman, RB, Hampton
Clifton Dawson, RB, Harvard
Jerome Felton, FB, Furman
Jon Grant, QB, UC Davis
Clay Green, RB, Jacksonville State
Josh Johnson, QB, San Diego
Jason Murrietta, QB, Northern Arizona
James Noble, RB, Cal Poly
Justin Rascati, QB, James Madison
Kevin Richardson, RB, Appalachian State
Eric Sanders, QB, UNI
Ricky Santos, QB, New Hampshire
Tyler Thigpen, QB, Coastal Carolina
Steve Walker, QB, North Dakota State
Arkee Whitlock, RB, Southern Illinois

“Buchanan Watch” Candidates (Oct. 11)
Zak DeOssie, LB, Brown
Justin Durant, LB, Hampton
Adam Hayward, LB, Portland State
Keldrick Holman, S, Stephen F. Austin
James Ihedigbo, S, Massachusetts
Codera Jackson, CB, Youngstown State
Markeseo Jackson, LB, Tennessee-Martin
Tyler Knight, LB, Mississippi Valley State
Tony LeZotte, S, James Madison
John Mohring, LB, Georgia Southern
Marques Murrell, DE, Appalachian State
Chad Nkang, LB, Elon
Kyle Shotwell, LB, Cal Poly
Cameron Siskowic, LB, Illinois State
Bryan Smith, DE, McNeese State
Pago Togafau, LB, Idaho State