NEW ORLEANS – After leading their respective teams to one-possession wins at home, Arkansas State’s Jaylen Raynor, Troy’s Devin Lafayette and App State’s Dominic De Freitas secured the Sun Belt football weekly awards.
Football Offensive Player of the Week
Jaylen Raynor, Arkansas State
(Jr., QB – Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Red Wolves junior quarterback Jaylen Raynor accounted for four touchdowns in Arkansas State’s 31-30 win over Texas State. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native completed 27-of-35 passes for 248 yards in the contest, including going 20-for-20 over the final 19:33 for 180 yards. Raynor’s 20-consecutive completions are the second-most in a single game in FBS history. Raynor rushed 19 times for 92 yards, capped by the game-winning four-yard touchdown scamper with seven seconds remaining to close a six-play, 75-yard, 53-second scoring drive.
Football Defensive Player of the Week
Devin Lafayette, Troy
(Sr., DB – Brunswick, Ga.)
Trojans senior defensive back Devin Lafayette registered a game-high 19 tackles in Troy’s 31-24 overtime victory over in-state rival South Alabama in the Battle for the Belt rivalry game. The Brunswick, Ga., product’s 19 tackles are the most by a Troy player not named Carlton Martial—the NCAA’s all-time tackle leader—since 2012. The single-game total is tied for the 16th-most in conference history. Lafayette helped the Trojan defensive unit hold South Alabama to just 104 passing yards in the rivalry matchup—the eighth-fewest in Jaguar program history.
Football Special Teams Player of the Week
Dominic De Freitas, App State
(Fr., K – Nappanee, Ind.)
Mountaineers freshman kicker Dominic De Freitas tallied nine points in App State’s 27-23 win over Oregon State. The Nappanee, Ind., native connected on field goals of 49 and 45 yards and converted 3-of-3 extra-point tries in the victory. His 49-yarder that opened the scoring was the longest field goal by a Mountaineer since 2023, while his 45-yarder in the third quarter capped the App State output. Through five collegiate games, De Freitas is tied for second among Sun Belt kickers, averaging 1.2 field goals made per outing.
2025 Sun Belt Football Offensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – AJ Swann, App State (RS Jr., QB – White, Ga.)
Week 2 – Trequan Jones, Old Dominion (Jr., RB – Bartow, Fla.)
Week 3 – Colton Joseph, Old Dominion (RS So., QB – Newport Beach, Calif.)
Week 4 – Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, Marshall (RS Jr., QB – Atlanta, Ga.)
Week 5 – Lunch Winfield, Louisiana (RS So., QB – Lutcher, La.)
Week 6 – Jaylen Raynor, Arkansas State (Jr., QB – Winston-Salem, N.C.)
2025 Sun Belt Football Defensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – D’Arco Perkins-McCallister, ULM (RS Sr., DB – Nashville, Tenn.)
Week 2 – Luke Hodge, Troy (So., LB – Oneonta, Ala.)
Week 3 – Ian Foster, Southern Miss (RS So., DB – Brundidge, Ala.)
Week 4 – Noah Arinze, Coastal Carolina (Sr., DL – St. Louis, Mo.)
Week 5 – Trent Hendrick, James Madison (Sr., LB – Richmond, Va.)
Week 6 – Devin Lafayette, Troy (Sr., DB – Brunswick, Ga.)
2025 Sun Belt Football Special Teams Players of the Week
Week 1 – Tony Sterner, Louisiana (RS Jr., K – Kingwood, Texas)
Week 2 – Tre’ Brown III, Old Dominion (RS So., WR – Savannah, Ga.)
Week 3 – Dalen Cobb, Georgia Southern (Sr., WR – Washington, Ga.)
Week 4 – Evan Crenshaw, Troy (Jr., P – Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.)
Week 5 – Curtis Harris-Lopez, James Madison (RS Sr., RS – Nashua, N.H.)
Week 6 – Dominic De Freitas, App State (Fr., K – Nappanee, Ind.)