North Dakota State defensive end Kyle Emanuel turned a remarkable season into an award-winning one on Monday, December 15th, when he was named the FCS Buck Buchanan Award winner.

The FCS hands out the Buck Buchanan Award to its top defensive player, which is voted on by a national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries, according to GoBison.com.

Emanuel received 70 of the 160 first-place votes and 495 points to earn the honor.

Through the course of the season, Emanuel led the FCS in tackles for loss (28.5) and was second in sacks (17.0). He was also one of only two FCS players to be named The Sports Network's national defensive player of the week twice, according to GoBison.com.

Emanuel was also named the Missouri Valley Football Conference's Defensive Player of the Year.

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