Steve Campbell, UCA dominate Southland postseason awards.

The University of Central Arkansas football team grabbed some individual honors Tuesday to go along with its Southland Conference championship and FCS playoff berth.

UCA players were named for five of the seven Southland individual awards given and had a league-high 20 players named to the All-Southland Conference teams, including 10 first-team selections.

Senior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand was named the conference’s player of the year, and senior linebacker/safety George Odum was the defensive player of the year. Junior Austin Cook was tabbed as the offensive lineman of the year, while redshirt freshman running back Kierre Crossley was the freshman of the year.

Fourth-year Coach Steve Campbell was named the Southland Coach of the Year after leading the Bears to a 10-1 record, including 9-0 in Southland play, and a No. 3 ranking in both national Football Championship Subdivision polls. The Bears earned the No. 4 overall seed in the FCS playoffs and will face either Central Connecticut State or New Hampshire in a second-round game Dec. 2 at Estes Stadium in Conway.

Hildebrand finished the regular season as the most efficient passer in the nation with a 181.3 rating and was 15th in the nation in passing yards (2,768). Hildebrand, who threw 27 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions this season, is now second in career passing yards at UCA, as well as pass completions (560), pass attempts (887) and total offense (7,988 yards).

Odum, the Bears’ leading tackler in each of the past two seasons, has moved into fourth place in career tackles (338) at UCA, including 30 tackles for loss and 6 1/2 sacks. Odum’s 106 tackles this season were the second most in the conference.

Crossley led the Bears in rushing with 770 yards on 146 carries with 4 touchdowns, while also catching 11 passes for 128 yards. Cook, a pre-med major and All-Southland academic selection, helped the Bears’ offense average 37.6 points and 468.2 yards per game this season — both second in the conference.

The Bears’ first-team all-Southland selections included Hildebrand, Cook, Odum, senior wide receiver Brandon Cox, senior offensive linemen Gilberto Garcia and Cade Camp, senior defensive ends Chris Chambers and Chris Terrell, senior defensive tackle Eric Jackson, and senior cornerback Tremon Smith.

Sophomore running back Carlos Blackman and sophomore safety Juan Jackson were both second-team selections, and another eight UCA players were honorable mentions.