The Ben L. Cavil Sr “Big Ben” Award was established to recognizeand reconstruct the historical resistance of HBCUsby analyzing the cultural climate of HBCU athleticprogram by highlighting the sports career of BenL. Cavil Sr.
Cavil was an All-American fullback at Wiley College in the mid 1920s. Honorees of this prestigious award must embody the characteristics that defined Ben L. Cavil Sr – determination, diligence, teamwork, integrity, performance, fraternal and communal engagement.
Here are this year’s nominees for the “Big Ben” award.
Andrew Body | Alabama State | Corpus Christi, TX
Body helped the Honets to their first 10-win season since 2004. The redshirt junior completed 113 of 160 passes for 1,771 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 1 interception.
In addition to being named 2025 SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, Body also received a plethora of honours including 2025 Stats Perform HBCU National Player of the Year, 2025 First-Team All-American (BOXTOROW), 2025 BOXTOROW National Offensive Player of the Year and 2025 First-Team All-SWAC.
Cameron Smith | Alabama State | Garland TX
The Clark Atlanta transfer has appeared in 24 games for the Hornets. Smith, a 2025 Phil Steele Preseason All-SWAC (2nd Team)
2025 First-Team Preseason All SWAC member, helped set the table for an Alabama State offense that paced the SWAC in scoring (42.4 ppg), total offense (462.0 ypg), passing offense (248.8 ypg), and offensive efficiency (194.1).
Jyzaiah Rockwell | Prairie View A&M | McKinney, TX
The All-SWAC performer hauled in 72 passes for 1,132 yards and 7 touchdowns, averaging 15.7 yards per reception, which was the 10th best in the SWAC. Rockwell averaged 82.9 yards per game, which was second in the conference and topped 100 yards thrice in 2025, with a season best being an 8 catch, 183 yards, and 3 touchdown performance in a 48-5 beat down of Alabama A&M on November 8.
Quincy Ivory | Jackson State | Alief, TX
Ivory, who started his collegiate career as a quarterback at Mississippi Valley State, switched to the other side of the ball following his freshman campaign and it proved to be a fruitful decision. The MVSU and Florida transfer was an impact player on a Jackson State defense that was the No. 2 in the SWAC in both scoring and total defense, allowing 18.8 points and 326.5 yards per game respectively. Ivory was second on the team in tackles with 71 (33 solo, 38 assisted) and he led the team with 6.0 sacks as well as tackles for loss with 14, which also was third in the SWAC. Amongst the myriad of honors that were bestowed on Ivory include FCS Third Team All-American, Associated Press Second Team All-American, Stats Perform Second Team All-American, and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Second Team All-American.
Warren Robinson | Grambling State | Houston, TX
The 2025 All-SWAC First Team performer finished the season with 39 total tackles ( 21 solo, 18 assisted), 11.0 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble,2 fumble recoveries, and a pass breakup. The East Texas A&M transfer posted a team-leading 8.5 sacks on the season. Robinson recorded at least 0.5 sacks in all but three games this season and the .71 sacks per game ranked second in the SWAC, only trailing the .79 posted by Southern’s CKelby Givens.
Chase Bingmon| Prairie View A&M | Terrell, TX
Bingham led the SWAC’s third most prolific rushing attack with 873 yards and 8 touchdowns. The All-SWAC performer topped the 100-yard mark three times on the season, with a high-water mark of 180 yards against Northwestern State on September 7.
Isaiah Bogerty | Texas Southern | Stafford, TX
Bogarty paced Texas Southern with 82 total tackles (33 solo, 49 assisted), and was one of three Tigers who ranked in the top ten of the SWAC’s most prolific tacklers. He recorded a season high 11 stops in the Tigers’ 35-30 win at Southern. The All-SWAC Second Team performer paced the conference in tackles per game with 8.2 stops
Chris Mosely N.C. Central Fort Worth, Texas
Mosley did an outstanding job filling in the Jamari Taylor-sized hole in the North Carolina Central backfield. The redshirt senior led the Eagles with 1,017 yards and 8 touchdowns, averaging 92.7 yards per game, all of which were second in the MEAC amongst running backs and ranked 12th in FCS in all-purpose yards. Mosley was one of 17 Eagles to receive MEAC postseason honors and was among 7 NCCU players on the All-MEAC Second Team.
Lance Carson, Allen University, Frisco, Texas
The junior defensive lineman recorded 34 total tackles (19 solo, 15 assisted), with a season high of 5 coming against Livingstone on September 6. Carson also totalled 6.0 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and 8 quarterback hurries.
Cameron Peters Prairie View A&M, Missouri City Texas
In 2025, under first-year coach Tremaine Jackson, Prairie View A&M reached the Celebration Bowl and Cameron Peters was one of the driving forces behind making that happen. Against defending SWAC champions Jackson State in the conference title game, Peters came up big for the Panthers. The senior signal caller completed 17 of 28 passes for 294 yards and a touchdown; he also hurt JSU with his legs running for 100 yards and another score. Peters was also able to secure several crucial first downs that kept critical drives alive. His exploits earned him the contest’s MVP. Although it came in a losing effort, Peters had his best statistical game of the season in the Celebration Bowl, completing 24 of 36 passes for 412 yards and 4 touchdowns while adding 35 yards and another touchdown on 9 rushes. In the season the Missouri City,
TX native threw for 23 touchdowns and averaged 215.2 yards per game, numbers that were bested only by Andrew Body’s 24 scoring tosses and per-game average of 264 yards per contest. He also threw for 2,798 yards overall, which was the highest cumulative total in the SWAC.
