There was the closest race in Walter Payton Award history, and then there was Brown running back Nick Hartigan.

The 2005 Payton Award, which is given to the best player in all of I-AA, went to Eastern Washington quarterback Erik Meyer. Meyer edged out New Hampshire sophomore quarterback Ricky Santos by five points to take home the award.

Hartigan, the other member of the final three, came in 123 points behind Santos and just eight points ahead of Grambling quarterback Bruce Eugene, who finished fourth in the voting. The third-place finish was the best-ever for an Ivy player, and the first time since Bears wideout Chas Gessner and Harvard wideout Carl Morris roamed the league’s stadiums that the Ivies have had a significant chance of taking home the hardware.

The Payton Award, which was established in 1987, boasts several future NFL players as recipients including Steve McNair, Brian Westbrook, Brian Finneran, Jamie Martin, John Friesz, and Dave Meggett.

Cal Poly defensive end Chris Gocong claimed the Buck Buchanan Award as I-AA’s best defensive player, after a season in which he recorded 19 sacks and 79 tackles. Princeton defensive back Jay McCareins finished sixth in the voting, and Brown linebacker Zak DeOssie, who missed part of the stretch run with an injury, came in 16th.

The last Ivy player to receive votes in the Buchanan Award chase was Harvard linebacker Dante Balestracci, who made the 16-player finalist group in both his junior and senior seasons.

New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell took home the Eddie Robinson Award, which is awarded to the I-AA coach of the year. McDonnell led the Wildcats to a 10-1 regular season mark and a No. 1 ranking in the final poll before the postseason. New Hampshire suffered a 24-21 home loss in the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs to one of tonight’s title game participants, Northern Iowa.

Brown coach Phil Estes finished fifth in the voting, a year after Harvard coach Tim Murphy finished second in balloting for the award. Estes received six first-place votes.

No Ivy coach has ever won the Eddie Robinson Award, though three Patriot League coaches have garnered the distinction (Pete Lembo, Lehigh, 2002; Bill Russo, Lafayette, 1988; Mark Duffner, Holy Cross, 1987). Jim Tressel won the award in 1994 with Youngstown State and rose to the I-AA ranks where he took home a national title at Ohio State.

The I-AA postseason festivities will conclude with tonight’s title game between Appalachian State and Northern Iowa at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

—MICHAEL R. JAMES