Tuesday, November 12, 2013
by Courtesy The Sports Network

San Diego quarterback Mason Mills was one of three quarterbacks named to The Sports Network's Payton Award Watch List, Tuesday.

The Sports Network added Southeastern Louisiana's Bryan Bennett, Princeton's Quinn Epperly and San Diego's Mason Mills to its 20-man list, Tuesday. The 27th annual award, presented by The Sports Network, honors the outstanding player in the FCS. This year's winner will stand alongside a list of Payton Award greats such as Steve McNair, John Friesz, Brian Westbrook, Tony Romo, Brian Finneran and Armanti Edwards.

Mills, a 6-foot, 195-pound redshirt senior, hopes to lead San Diego to the Pioneer Football League's first automatic bid to the FCS playoffs - something that would happen with a Toreros win on Saturday. The Toreros' all-time passing leader ranks seventh nationally with 317.6 passing yards per game, having thrown for 3,176 yards and 32 touchdowns and only five interceptions with 66.6 percent accuracy (227-of-341). A fourth-year starter, Mills has passed for 10,817 yards and 92 touchdowns in his career.

Other nominees on the Watch List are quarterbacks Vernon Adams of Eastern Washington, Jimmy Garoppolo of Eastern Illinois, Brock Jensen of North Dakota State, Jeff Mathews of Cornell, Michael Nebrich of Fordham and John Robertson of Villanova; running backs Zach Bauman of Northern Arizona, Isaiah Crowell of Alabama State, Timothy Flanders of Sam Houston State, Kyle Harbridge of Saint Francis (Pa.), Lorenzo Taliaferro of Coastal Carolina, Fabian Truss of Samford, Terrance West of Towson and Zach Zenner of South Dakota State; and wide receivers Lee Kurfis of Lehigh, Erik Lora of Eastern Illinois and Walter Powell of Murray State.