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Stan Becton | krikya18.com | January 6, 2024

Tennessee State's Terrell Allen wins the 2023 Buck Buchanan Award

Montana vs. North Dakota State: 2023 FCS semifinal highlights

Tennessee State defensive end Terrell Allen won the 2023 Buck Buchanan Award as the best defensive player in FCS football, beating out fellow top-three finalists Dylan Kelly (UAlbany) and Billy Shaeffer (Lafayette). Allen is the first Tennessee State player to win the award in its 29-year history and the sixth HBCU player to win the award.

BUCHANAN AWARD: Complete history of the top FCS defensive honor

Allen received the Payton Award at a ceremony in Frisco, Texas, one day before the 2023-24 FCS Championship game. In 11 regular season games, the Tiger edge-defender led the FCS with 28 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks, adding on 65 tackles (44 solo), 10 quarterback hurries, five force fumbles and one fumble recovery.

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Allen is the 13th defensive end to win the Buchanan Award โ€” the second-most of any position โ€” since the award debuted in 1995. Allen is the third HBCU edge-rusher in four seasons to take home the premier defensive award in the FCS.

As the 2023 Buck Buchanan Award winner, Allen joins an elite fraternity of FCS greats like Dexter Coakley (Appalachian State, 1995-96), Rashean Mathis (Bethune-Cookman, 2002), Jared Allen (Idaho State, 2003) and more.

MORE AWARDS: Walter Payton Award history | Jerry Rice Award history

Top moments

See some more of Allen's top moments from 2023 below.

๐ŸˆFCS FOOTBALL HISTORY๐Ÿˆ

๐Ÿ† Championships: Championship history | Winningest teams | Schools with the most titles
๐Ÿฅ‡ Awards: Walter Payton | Buck Buchanan | Jerry Rice
๐Ÿคฏ FCS-over-FBS upsets: All-time history | Upset blueprint
โœŠ HBCU: Championship history | Greatest individual players
๐Ÿ Careers in review: Kupp | Wentz | Lance | Garappolo | Heinicke | Leonard | Watson
๐Ÿ‘€ Top-5 all-time players: North Dakota State | Montana | Eastern Washington | Harvard | Yale | Villanova | Delaware
โš”๏ธ Rivalries: The Game | The Rivalry | Brawl of the Wild | Dakota Marker | Florida Classic | Bayou Classic | Oldest rivalries
๐ŸŸ STADIUMS: The 25 biggest FCS stadiums | The 10 oldest stadiums
๐Ÿ˜ฑ RECORDS: 7 unbreakable FCS records | The longest CFB field goal

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