GRAMBLING, La.—Senior quarterback Tyson Kooima has been selected as the 2020 NAIA Football National Player of the Year after leading the top passing attack in the country this season and leading Northwestern College to the national championship game for the first time since 1984.

The senior from Hull, Iowa completed 65% of his passes and totaled an NAIA-best 3,882 yards with 31 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions in 12 games this season. Kooima’s average of 323.5 passing yards per game was third-best this season.

“Tyson is one of those kids that believes they can win every single game when they step on the field and make every play,” said Northwestern Head Coach Matt McCarty. “He is kind of like Brett Favre where he will make some plays where you scratch your head and don’t know how he does some things.”

This was on display in the Red Raiders’ 41-38 semifinal win when Kooima engineered an eight-play game winning drive that culminated in a 23-yard touchdown pass to Michael Storey with 16 seconds left on 3rd-and-10.

It wasn’t just through the air as Kooima led the NAIA with 4,424 total yards of offense this year, rushing for an additional 542 yards and nine scores.

In 46 games with the Red Raiders, Kooima has passed for 12,661 yards and 103 touchdowns and has accumulated 14,736 total yards with another 38 rushing touchdowns.

Kooima had six games with three or more touchdown passes this season and had four games with 400 or more passing yards which included going 21-of-31 for a school-record 490 yards with three touchdowns in the national semifinal win over Morningside.

The two-time All-American and two-time GPAC Offensive Player of the Year is Northwestern’s all-time leader in career passing, passing touchdowns, and single season passing yards, completions, completion percentage, and efficiency.

Sixth-ranked Northwestern will take on No. 3 Lindsey Wilson Monday at 6 p.m.at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium in the NAIA National Championship.