Eachus named to 2010 Walter Payton Award Watch Lis

Eachus named to 2010 Walter Payton Jersey Award Watch List
Former Hazleton Area High School standout athlete Nate Eachus can now count himself among the elite football players in the nation.
On Monday, the Colgate University junior tailback saw his name added to the 2010 Walter Payton JerseyAward Watch List following his standout effort against Georgetown Saturday afternoon. He was also named the Sports Network/Fathead.com Football Championship Subdivision National Offensive Player of the Week.
Eachus ran the ball 44 times for 214 yards and four touchdowns, and also caught four passes for 54 yards in leading the Raiders to a 34-3 stomping of the Hoyas. He had 268 of his team's 408 total yards in the Patriot League contest, and moved to the top of the FCS leaderboard in the process.
Through four games, Eachus has rushed for 640 yards on 137 carries, and has run for at least 134 yards in each game this season. He now leads the FCS with 160 yards per game, and has seven touchdowns.
"He's a horse," Colgate head coach Dick Biddle said following Saturday's game. "He's a good running back. I think he's a Division I level running back."
With 2,491 yards, Eachus already ranks in the top 10 on Colgate's all-time rushing list. He has 33 career touchdowns and four 200-yard games. The Sports Network established the Walter Payton Jersey
Player of the Year Award in 1987, and it is presented annually to the most outstanding college football player on the FCS level. The winner is chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports information directors from the division.
The Walter Payton Jersey Award Watch List will undergo a second revision on Oct. 25. Ballots will be sent to a panel of nearly 200 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries after the regular season on Nov. 22. A stellar 20-player list will be pared to one winner of the FCS's top individual honor, and will be presented at the national awards banquet on Thursday, Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas, the night before the national championship game.
Past winners of the award include current Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (2002, Eastern Illinois),Deion Sanders, former Philadelphia Eagles and current San Francisco 49ers running back Brian Westbrook (2001, Villanova) and the late Steve McNair (1999, Alcorn State), an NFL quarterback with the Tennessee Titans.