Cullowhee, N.C. – The nation continued to unwrap its annual NCAA Football Championship Subdivision postseason awards on Tuesday as The Associated Press (AP) unveiled its 2025 NCAA FCS All-America teams. Catamount quarterback and one of the division's most efficient and top passers, Taron Dickens, received honorable mention as a first and second-team, as well as a host of others receiving consideration, were unveiled.
 
Dickens was the third QB listed by the AP, joined by fellow Walter Payton Award finalists in Beau Brungard of Youngstown State, who received first-team plaudits, and North Dakota State quarterback Cole Payton, who landed on the second team. Dickens was flanked among the honorable mention QBs by national semifinalist Keali'l Ah Yat of Montana.
 
On Monday, Dickens was named second-team All-America by the FCS Football Central, a partnership between The Bluebloods and Sports Illustrated. The Stats Perform FCS and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) are also expected to unveil their national honorary teams this week.
 
Dickens closed the historic 2025 regular season with a program-record 3,508 passing yards and a Southern Conference record – and NCAA FCS-leading – 38 touchdown passes, doing so in just nine games, at least two fewer than many of the other top candidates and without the benefit of postseason play. Dickens eclipsed the previous SoCon record of 36 held by former Samford QBs Michael Hiers (2022) and Devlin "Duck" Hodges (2016) – and WCU's previous benchmark held by Cole Gonzales with 28 TD passes in 2023.
 
For reference, Hiers finished fourth nationally in the 2022 Payton Award voting, and Hodges was ninth in 2016 before winning the award in 2018. Invited to the Walter Payton Award ceremony, Dickens has already locked in WCU's best-ever finish for the NCAA FCS top offensive player award.
 
Dickens compiled a 74.2% completion percentage that led the country, completing 271-of-365 attempts with just two interceptions – one coming on an end-of-half, Hail Mary heave to the endzone. Along the way, he established perhaps an insurmountable NCAA record by completing his first 46-of-46 pass attempts in a road win at Wofford against a Terrier defense that boasts a pair of All-America recipients, DL Brandon Mania and DB Maximus Pulley.
 
All told, Dickens led the country with an average of 389.78 passing yards per game and averaged an eye-popping 425.4 yards of total offense per contest over his nine starts. Dickens had four of the Top 13 individual passing games in the NCAA FCS this season (582 yds, vs. Samford; 551 yds, vs. #10 Mercer; 427 yds, at Campbell; 426 yds, vs. ETSU).
 
For his seasonal efforts, Dickens was awarded the 2025 Roy M. "Legs" Hawley Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year title and a first-team All-SoCon nod at quarterback.
 
Over the parts of three seasons in Cullowhee, Dickens threw for 5,063 yards on 402-of-543 (74.0%) passing with 51 touchdowns in 18 games – an average of 2.8 TD passes per game and ranks tied for second in WCU history for passing scores. He is just one of 10 Catamount QBs all time to eclipse the 5,000-yard passing mark, doing so in fewer games. All told, Dickens averaged 301.89 yards of total offense per game for the Catamounts with 5,404 total yards on 704 plays.


WCU had five football players honored by the AP before the Catamounts moved to NCAA Division I in 1977: Art Byrd (1949), Steve Williams (1971), Steve Yates (1972, 1974), Jerry Gaines (1974), and Darrell Lipford (1976). A total of 17 Catamounts have earned AP All-America plaudits dating back to 1977, including Tiger Greene (2nd team, 1983; 1st team, 1984), Eric Rasheed (2nd team, 1983), Louis Cooper (1st team, 1984), Steve Kornegay (1st team, 1984), Kirk Roach (1st team, 1984, 1986, and 1987), Clyde Simmons (1st team, 1985), Todd Harkins (3rd team, 1992), Kerry Hayes (3rd team, 1992; 1st team, 1993), Ken Hinsley (3rd team, 1998), Eric Johnson (1st team, 1998), Josh Jones (3rd team, 1999), Eddie Cohen (2nd team, 2007), Detrez Newsome (1st team, 2016; 3rd team, 2017), Ian Berryman (2nd team, 2017), Owen Cosenke (3rd team, 2018), Richard McCollum (3rd team, 2022), and Jordy Lowery (3rd team, 2024).
 
The Southern Conference was well represented as two-thirds of the finalists for the top defensive player of the year, the Buck Buchanan Award, received first-team recognition in Mercer's Andrew Zock and Joshua Stoneking from Furman. Wofford defensive back Maximus Pulley was additionally placed on the first team.
 
Offensive linemen Mike Bartilucci and Luke Petit from Furman, as well as kicker Reice Griffith from Mercer, joined Dickens on the offensive honorable mentions. Wofford defensive lineman Brandon Maina, Mercer linebacker Julian Fox, and punters Ben Shrewsbury of VMI and The Citadel's James Platte, each were named to the defensive honorable mention squad.
 
Dickens, Brungard, and Payton each turn their attention to the Jan. 3 national awards ceremony in Nashville, Tenn., for the announcement of the Walter Payton Award. SoCon counterparts Zock and Stoneking will also be on hand at the historic Woolworth Theatre for the unveiling of the Buchanan Award winner, as well as recognizing the previously announced recipients of the Jerry Rice Award (freshman of the year), Eddie Robinson Award (FCS coach of the year), the HBCU National Player of the Year, and the Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
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