• Complete 2025 OVC-Big South Football Award Winners (PDF)
The 2025 OVC-Big South Football Association All-Conference and Annual Award winners have been announced following the conclusion of the regular season. The awards were voted on by head coaches and communications directors.
Tennessee Tech redshirt senior quarterback
Kekoa Visperas was voted the Offensive Player of the Year while his coach
Bobby Wilder earned OVC-Big South Coach of the Year honors. UT Martin junior outside linebacker
Keyshawn Johnson was named Defensive Player of the Year, Eastern Illinois graduate student punter
Mason Miller was named Special Teams Player of the Year, Western Illinois quarterback
Cason Carswell was tabbed Offensive Freshman of the Year and Charleston Southern defensive back
Anthony Paulk earned Defensive Freshman of the Year honors.
The Association also announced the OVC-Big South first and second teams and for the first time an Honorable Mention squad. Overall, 109 players were honored across the three teams. League champion Tennessee Tech led the way with 19 total selections (nine first-team, eight second-team and two honorable mention). Gardner-Webb had 18 selections and were followed by Lindenwood (14) and UT Martin (13).
Visperas set a new Tennessee Tech single-season record for touchdown passes (25 – a mark that ranked eighth nationally) in helping the Golden Eagles finish 11-1 overall and 8-0 in the OVC-Big South as they won their second-straight Association title and first outright Conference Championship since 1975. The transfer from Eastern Washington led the Association in total offense (247.5 yards/game) and total offensive touchdowns (28). In 12 regular season games he completed 212-of-323 passes (65.6%) for 2,486 yards and also rushed for 484 yards (third on the TTU team) and three additional scores. He ranked 19th nationally in points responsible for (168), 20th in passing efficiency (152.7), 23rd in total offense and 28th in completion percentage. A finalist for the Walter Payton Award, Visperas was named OVC-Big South Offensive Player of the Week three times and passed for a season-best 358 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 73 yards in a victory over Western Illinois on October 4.
In his second season at Tennessee Tech, Wilder, a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, guided the Golden Eagles to its first-ever 11-win season, its second-straight OVC-Big South Football Association Championship (with a perfect 8-0 league mark) and its first outright Conference Title in 50 years. TTU started the season 10-0 for the first time in program history and suffered only one loss, at FBS foe Kentucky. The Golden Eagles have won 15-straight games against FCS competition dating back to last season and earned the No. 13 seed for the 2025 FCS Playoffs, only the second FCS playoff berth in program history. The team also earned its highest Top 25 ranking in school history (No. 5). During the regular season Tennessee Tech ranked first nationally in defensive touchdowns (5), second in rushing defense (76.1 yards/game), team sacks (3.75/game) and team tackles for loss (8.6/game), fifth in scoring offense (40.2 points/game), seventh in total defense (292.6 yards/game) and 11th in scoring defense (17.7 points/game).
Johnson capped the regular season by ranking third nationally in sacks (1.13/game) and tackles for loss (1.67/game). Overall, he established a new UT Martin single-season sacks record (13.5), including five over his last three games and eight over his final five contests of the season. He tallied 20.0 total tackles for loss, including 3.5 in the season finale against nationally ranked Tennessee Tech. In that contest he added a career-high 10 tackles to earn OVC-Big South Defensive Player of the Week honors. He finished the season with 53 total tackles (30 solo), two forced fumbles and 10 quarterback hurries. Johnson had multiple sacks in four different games and multiple tackles for loss in seven contests, including 2.0 each against a pair of FBS foes in Oklahoma State and Missouri State.
In his first season with Eastern Illinois, Miller led the OVC-Big South and ranked fourth nationally in punting, averaging 47.4 yards per punt. The graduate student punted 53 times with only one touchback, which came in the second game of the season. He had a long punt of 65 yards (coming against nationally ranked Illinois State) and 19 of his punts traveled more than 50 yards. He was consistently able to flip the field for the Panthers, landing 19 of his punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
After starting the season as the backup, the true freshman Carswell saw his first major action in the third game of the season, entering the contest against Eastern Illinois and completing 16-of-22 passes and throwing two touchdowns. He earned his first career start the following week against nationally ranked Tennessee Tech, completed 34-of-48 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns and earning OVC-Big South Freshman of the Week honors. He repeated the honor a week later, passing for 327 yards against UT Martin. He would throw for a season-high 375 yards against Charleston Southern on October 18. Seven times during the year he tossed two touchdowns in a game, including the season finale when he threw for two and ran for another in a road win over Gardner-Webb. In 10 games he passed for 2,054 yards and 16 touchdowns with only three interceptions. He ranked 20th nationally (and fourth among freshmen) in completions/game (18.7) and 43rd nationally in passing touchdowns.
Paulk stuffed the stat sheet during the season, recording 33 tackles (22 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, an interception, six pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and two blocked kicks in 12 games. His two blocked punts, coming in victories over Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State, ranked him tied for sixth nationally. Paulk had six tackles against both South Carolina State and Eastern Illinois while he had an interception and a forced fumble against nationally ranked Tennessee Tech.
2025 OVC-BIG SOUTH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION TEAMS AND AWARD WINNERS
Offensive Player of the Year: Kekoa Visperas (QB, R-Sr.), Tennessee Tech
Defensive Player of the Year: Keyshawn Johnson (OLB, Jr.), UT Martin
Special Teams Player of the Year: Mason Miller (P, Grad.), Eastern Illinois
Offensive Freshman of the Year: Cason Carswell (QB, Fr.), Western Illinois
Defensive Freshman of the Year: Anthony Paulk (DB, R-Fr.), Charleston Southern
Coach of the Year: Bobby Wilder, Tennessee Tech
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE
QB – Kekoa Visperas, R-Sr., Tennessee Tech
RB – Carson Gresock, R-Jr., Gardner-Webb
RB – Markell Holman, Jr., Western Illinois
RB – Quasean Holmes, Grad., Gardner-Webb
WR – Rico Bond, R-Fr., Lindenwood
WR – Chris Lofton, R-So., Gardner-Webb
WR – Cam Pedro, Jr., Southeast Missouri
WR – Rashawn Cunningham, R-Fr., Charleston Southern
TE – Brian Courtney, Sr., Tennessee Tech
OL – Logan Weedman, Sr., Tennessee Tech
OL – Drew Wilder, Sr., Tennessee Tech
OL – Josiah Tingley, Grad., UT Martin
OL – Andrew Threatt, Jr., Charleston Southern
OL – Elijah Bowser, R-Sr., UT Martin
OL – Gavin Hulet, R-Sr., Lindenwood
DEFENSE
DL – Keyshawn Johnson, Jr., UT Martin
DL – Robert Holtz, Sr., Gardner-Webb
DL – James Stewart, R-Sr., Tennessee State
DL – Malik McKinzie, Sr., Charleston Southern
DL – Antonio O’Berry, Grad., Gardner-Webb
LB – Theron Gaines, Sr., Tennessee Tech
LB – Steve Zayachkowsky, Jr., Charleston Southern
LB – Aaron Swafford, Sr., Tennessee Tech
LB – Christian Pierce, Sr., Western Illinois
LB – Tylan Foster, R-Sr., Eastern Illinois
DB – Tim Coutras, Grad., Tennessee Tech
DB - Andrew Smith, Grad., Tennessee Tech
DB – JaMichael McGoy Jr., R-Sr., UT Martin
DB – Jacob Stevenson, R-Sr., UT Martin
DB – Landon Sylvie, So., Southeast Missouri
SPECIALISTS
PK – Cade Hechter, Jr., UT Martin
P – Mason Miller, Grad., Eastern Illinois
LS – Hayden King, R-So., UT Martin
KR – Anthony Lowe, Grad., Gardner-Webb
PR – Tre’ Holloway, Sr., Tennessee Tech
AP – Anthony Lowe, Grad., Gardner-Webb
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE
QB – Nate Glantz, R-Sr., Lindenwood
QB – Jase Bauer, R-Sr., UT Martin
RB – Quintell Quinn, R-Sr., Tennessee Tech
RB – Q’Daryius Jennings, R-Sr., Tennessee Tech
RB – Steve Hall, R-So., Lindenwood
WR – Anthony Lowe, Grad., Gardner-Webb
WR – Tre’ Holloway, Sr., Tennessee Tech
WR – Demari Davis, Sr., Western Illinois
WR – Jalen Smith, R-So., Lindenwood
TE – Alex Williams, Sr., Western Illinois
OL – Andrew Threatt, R-Jr., Gardner-Webb
OL – Christian Thomas, Sr., Tennessee Tech
OL – Aaron McIver, R-Jr., Gardner-Webb
OL – Nic DiSanto, Jr., Eastern Illinois
OL – Rahfeeq Katumbusi, R-Fr., Eastern Illinois
OL – Jai’Lun Hampton, Grad., UT Martin
DEFENSE
DL – Maurice LaPierre, Sr., Tennessee Tech
DL - Chima Iwuagwu, Grad., Tennessee Tech
DL – Tajay Passmore, R-Sr., Lindenwood
DL – Toby Camp, R-Sr., UT Martin
DL – David Portu, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
LB – Justin Waters, Sr., Charleston Southern
LB – Tah Mac Bright Banda, Grad., UT Martin
LB – Ja’Wuan Nickson, Jr., Eastern Illinois
LB – Jeremy Walton, Sr., Southeast Missouri
LB – Jacob Waller, R-Jr., Lindenwood
DB – Josiah Harris, Jr., Gardner-Webb
DB – Gavin Bryson, Sr., Tennessee Tech
DB – Champ Brantley, Jr., Charleston Southern
DB – Knai Cook, So., Charleston Southern
DB – Jayden Patrick, R-Sr., Lindenwood
SPECIALISTS
PK – Justin Keller, Sr., Southeast Missouri
P – Ryan Kingston, Sr., Southeast Missouri
LS – Judd Cunningham, Sr., Southeast Missouri
KR – Cole Ruble, Jr., Southeast Missouri
PR – Cooper Willman, Grad., Eastern Illinois
AP – Tre’ Holloway, Sr., Tennessee Tech
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE
QB – Zolten Osborne, R-So., Charleston Southern
RB – Ke’Marion Baldwin, R-So., Charleston Southern
RB – Jared Rhodes, R-Jr., Lindenwood
RB – Brandon Epton Jr., Sr., Southeast Missouri
WR – Maury Sullivan, Jr.., Tennessee Tech
WR – Noah Robinson, Sr., Tennessee Tech
WR – Kalvin Gilbert, So., Southeast Missouri
WR – Bryce Bailey, R-Sr., UT Martin
TE – Darrin Fugitt, R-Jr., Lindenwood
OL – Colin Sorensen, So., Charleston Southern
OL – CJ Dawson, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
OL – Veguer Jean-Jumeau, R-Fr., Tennessee State
OL – Sam Reynolds, So., Southeast Missouri
OL – Luke Rector, R-So., Gardner-Webb
OL – Dagen Miller, Sr., Western Illinois
DEFENSE
DL – Kobe McClendon, R-Sr., Lindenwood
DL – Steven Lewis, Sr., Southeast Missouri
DL – Trevon Piggee, R-So., Eastern Illinois
DL – Alton Jefferson, R-Sr., Eastern Illinois
DL – Samuel Robles, Jr., Eastern Illinois
LB – Slade Dollar, Sr., Southeast Missouri
LB – Cahari Haynes, R-So., Gardner-Webb
LB – Sanjay Strickland, R-Sr., Lindenwood
LB – Justin Buckner, Fr., Western Illinois
LB – Shamari Weir, Grad., UT Martin
DB – Anthony Paulk, R-Fr., Charleston Southern
DB – Eric Gant, R-Sr., Lindenwood
DB – Moses Alexander, R-Sr., Eastern Illinois
DB – Isaiah Houi, So., Eastern Illinois
DB – Que Billingsley, R-So., Gardner-Webb
SPECIALISTS
PK – Charlie Viorel, Jr., Gardner-Webb
P – Brady Braun, Sr., Gardner-Webb
LS – Brett Galletti, Grad., Eastern Illinois
KR – CJ Bennett, Fr., Lindenwood
PR – Anthony Lowe, Grad., Gardner-Webb
AP – Kendric Rhymes, Grad., Tennessee State