DALLAS – After accounting for 389 yards of offense and three touchdowns in a 41-38 overtime win at Army West Point, UTSA QB Frank Harris was voted C-USA Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in as many weeks. Middle Tennessee DL Quindarius Dunnigan took home Defensive Player of the Week honors following a huge performance in a road non-conference win over Colorado State, wreaking havoc in the backfield all day. UTEP K Gavin Baechle was named C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week after connecting on a pair of field goals for the Miners on Saturday night in a rivalry win over New Mexico State. The 2022 C-USA Players of the Week awards are presented by Blenders Eyewear and are voted on by a panel of the league’s media.
Harris posted his second consecutive 300-yard passing day to help UTSA rally for a 41-38 overtime win at Army on Saturday in West Point. The senior quarterback completed 32-45 passes for 359 yards — just eight yards shy of the school record — and three touchdowns and added 30 yards on the ground, as the Roadrunners churned out 512 yards of offense against the Black Knights. Harris completed passes to six different players, including a pair that topped the century mark for the second straight games in Zakhari Franklin (122) and Joshua Cephus (112). Harris led UTSA back from a 14-point second-half deficit with three touchdown drives in a row to eventually take a 35-28 lead late in the contest. In overtime, he found De’Corian Clark open in the left corner of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown pass. The national leader in total offense at 394.5 yards per game, Harris currently paces C-USA and ranks sixth nationally with 348.0 passing yards per game, and his six passing TDs stand 10th among FBS players.
Making his first career start, Dunnigan led a Blue Raider defense that recorded a school record tying nine sacks, forced four turnovers and held Colorado State to just 246 total yards of total offense. Dunnigan turned in a career-best 2.5 quarterback sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss to go with a pass breakup and seven total tackles in the win for Middle Tennessee, the first of the season for the Blue Raiders.
Baechle converted two field goals (29, 46) and made a pair of extra points on his way to eight points in UTEP’s 20-13 win over rival New Mexico State in the 99th Battle of I-10 on Saturday night in El Paso. Baechle put the first points of the game on the board, courtesy of a 29-yard field goal in the first quarter. He added a 46-yarder in the third quarter that extended the lead to 20-6 at the end of the period.
2022 WINNERS
Offensive Player of the Week
A29 – QB Austin Aune, North Texas
S5 – QB Frank Harris, UTSA
S12 – QB Frank Harris, UTSA
Defensive Player of the Week
A29 – DB Justin McKithen, Florida Atlantic
S5 – DB Kaleb Oliver, WKU
S12 – DL Quindarius Dunnigan, Middle Tennessee
Special Teams Player of the Week
A29 – K Morgan Suarez, Florida Atlantic
S5 – K Jared Sackett, UTSA
S12 – K Gavin Baechle, UTEP
-ConferenceUSA.com-
