Football Sun Belt Conference

Watson, Rice and Hanson Earn Football Weekly Honors

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Gunnar Watson, Troy
Gunnar Watson gashed Texas State for 338 yards, four touchdown and a 71.7 completion percentage despite playing in the remnants of Hurricane Delta -- all his numbers were career highs.  He completed passes to 10 different receivers in the game, and completed 23-of-30 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns in the first half .  Watson led an offensive unit that did not turn the ball over all game despite the soggy condition. 

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Justin Rice, Arkansas State        
Senior linebacker Justin Rice posted a season-high 12 tackles while also finishing Arkansas State’s 50-27 victory over Central Arkansas with career-best totals for both tackles for loss (4.0) and sacks (3.0). Not only were Rice’s 3.0 sacks the most by a Sun Belt Conference player this season, they tied the seventh most in A-State history for a single game. His 3.0 tackles for loss were also the most by a Sun Belt player this year. The Modesto, Calif, native has now posted at least 2.5 tackles for loss in each of A-State’s last three games and his 9.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage for the entire year lead the Sun Belt. With his 3.0 sacks against the Bears, he also ran his season total to a Sun Belt-high 4.0 on the year.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Hanson, Arkansas State
Redshirt freshman punter Ryan Hanson set new season-best numbers for punts (5), yards (260), average (52.0), punts inside the opponent’s 20 yard line (3) and longest punt (69 yards) during Arkansas State’s 50-27 victory over Central Arkansas. His 52.0 average per attempt was the best by a Sun Belt Conference player this season and ranked as the fifth best in Arkansas State history for a single game. He had two punts travel at least 50 yards, including one covering 69 yards that was the longest to date by a Sun Belt player. The Taylor, Texas, native put A-State in position for its first points of the game with a 64-yard punt that pinned UCA on its own two-yard line, setting up an A-State safety. His other two punts inside the 20-yard line were downed on the UCA 2 and 9 yard lines.