VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota senior linebacker Brock Mogensen placed 11^th in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award given annually to the national defensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football.
 
Mogensen's finish is the second-highest by a Coyote. Linebacker Tyler Starr finished ninth in the voting following the 2012 season. Defensive end Darin Greenfield was 20^th in the voting following the 2018 campaign.
 
Mogensen is a three-time all-MVFC honoree and is the MVFC Defensive Player of the Year. He is the fourth-leading tackler in South Dakota history with 395 career stops, which ranks third among active FCS players. Mogensen leads a defense that has held seven of 11 FCS opposing offenses to seven points or fewer. Included in his numbers are one sack, one interception and 3.5 tackles-for-loss.
 
South Dakota (10-2), the No. 3 national seed in the FCS playoffs, hosts North Dakota State (10-3) in a quarterfinal matchup at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Vermillion.
 
2023 Buck Buchanan Award Voting Results
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. The final number is the combined point total.
 
1, 2, 3. TBA on Jan. 6, between DE Terrell Allen (Tennessee State) and LBs Dylan Kelly (UAlbany) and Billy Shaeffer (Lafayette)
4. Ty French, DE, Gardner-Webb: 2-7-6-1-6-64
5. Anton Juncaj, DE, UAlbany: 1-8-2-4-5-56
6. PJ Jules, S, Southern Illinois: 0-5-4-5-5-47
7. Micah Davey, LB, McNeese: 2-3-3-5-5-46
8. Jacob Dobbs, LB, Holy Cross: 1-5-4-3-1-44
9. Amir Abdullah, LB, Illinois State: 0-6-1-3-2-35
10. Finn Claypool, DE, Drake: 0-3-1-5-2-27
11. Brock Mogensen, LB, South Dakota: 3-1-1-0-1-23
12. Jay Person, DE, Chattanooga: 2-1-0-2-0-18
13.(tie) Braxton Hill, LB, Montana: 0-1-2-2-0-14
13.(tie) Kenny Gallop Jr., S, Howard: 1-1-1-0-2-14
15. Logan Blake, LB, Eastern Kentucky: 0-1-1-2-0-11
16.(tie) Brody Grebe, DE, Montana State: 1-0-1-0-1-9
16.(tie) Daylan Dotson, DE, UT Martin: 0-0-1-2-2-9
16.(tie) Isaiah Major, LB, Florida A&M: 0-0-2-0-3-9
16.(tie) Jalyx Hunt, LB, Houston Christian: 1-1-0-0-0-9
20.(tie) Colton Adams, LB, Alabama State: 0-0-1-2-1-8
20.(tie) Lance Wise Jr., S, Mercer: 0-0-1-1-3-8
22.(tie) Erick Hunter, LB, Morgan State: 0-0-2-0-0-6
22.(tie) Logan Kopp, LB, North Dakota State: 0-0-1-1-1-6
22.(tie) Winston Reid, LB, Weber State: 0-0-1-0-3-6
25.(tie) David Walker, DE, Central Arkansas: 0-0-0-2-1-5
25.(tie) Thor Griffith, DT, Harvard: 0-0-0-2-1-5
27. Eric O'Neill, DE, LIU: 0-0-0-0-3-3
28. Tristan Wheeler, LB, Richmond: 0-0-0-1-0-2
29. Steven Parker, DE, UIW: 0-0-0-0-1-1
30. Nate Lynn, DE, William & Mary: 0-0-0-0-0-0