WACO, Texas – The Augustana football team had a nation's best three student-athletes named to the 2023 AFCA Division II Coaches' All-America Teams announced Thursday. Blake Larson was named to the first team while Peyton Buckley and Avery Book earned second team honors.
 
The trio brings the Vikings' AFCA All-America total to 12 individuals since 1994 and brings the all-associations All-America total to 72 honorees over the 101 years of AU Football. Two of the All-America honorees, Larson and Buckley, were team captains for the 2023 NSIC Champions which tied a school record for wins in a season with 11.  
 
Larson, a senior hailing from Brandon, South Dakota, concluded a career of 46 games played at Augustana by protecting a rushing attack that saw a running back eclipse 1,000 yards on the ground. He also held strong on the line that protected a quarterback that led the NSIC and ranked 16^th in the nation with passing efficiency. He started all 13 games at right tackle and has found himself on many draft boards of NFL programs.
 
Buckley, a junior from Rice Lake, Wisconsin, led Augustana with 78 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss. He recorded three interceptions, tallying 91 yards of return, and was credited with nine pass breakups giving him nearly a pass defended per game. He totaled a season-high 11 tackles in the win at Concordia-St. Paul, the same contest he forced a fumble. Of his 78 tackles, 57 were marked solo for the safety.
 
Book, a junior from Ironton, Ohio, reset the Augustana single-season punting records in 2023 with an average of 44.8 yards per punt. That concludes the season for Book ranking third in the country. He totaled 19 punts of 50-plus yards while pinning 14 inside the 20-yard line. He also recorded just seven touchbacks on 48 punts, showing superior accuracy when pinning the opposing offense inside the 20-yard line 14 times. He earned an NSIC Player of the Week honor on Oct. 23 after punting six times for an average of 45.2 yards per punt. He also recorded a season-long punt of 69 yards at Southwest Minnesota State on Oct. 7.
 
Augustana AFCA All-America honorees
1994 – Bryan Schwartz, 1^st Team
2000 – Matt Holmlund, 1^st Team
2001 – Matt Holmlund, 1^st Team
2016 – Trey Heid, 1^st Team
2017 – Sam Lee, 2^nd Team
2019 – Jake Lacina, 1^st Team
2021 – Logan Swanson, 2^nd Team
2022 – Grayson Diepenbrock, 2^nd Team
2022 – Eli Weber, 2^nd Team
2023 – Blake Larson, 1^st Team
2023 – Peyton Buckley, 2^nd Team
2023 – Avery Book, 2^nd Team
 
Selection Process: The AFCA's Division II All-America Selection Committee is made up of three head coaches from each of the AFCA's seven districts, one of whom serves as a district chairman, along with another head coach who serves as the chairman of the selection committee. The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts prior to a conference call between the district chairmen and the committee chairman on which the teams are chosen.