DALLAS – After rushing for 173 yards and scoring two touchdowns to lead UTSA to a 23-20 victory at Southern Miss, Roadrunners sophomore RB Sincere McCormick has been voted the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. The Defensive Player of the Week honors went to North Texas senior DL Dion Novil, who had eight tackles, a career-high 5.0 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one sack to help the Mean Green defeat Rice, 27-17. The Special Teams Player of the Week award was given to WKU senior P John Haggerty, who recorded eight punts for a 53.3 yard average vs. FIU, booting six punts 50+ yards while also pinning four punts inside the 20. C-USA Football Players of the Week are voted on by a panel of the league’s media.
It was a record-setting day for McCormick in UTSA’s 23-20 victory at Southern Miss on Saturday, as the sophomore running back broke the school’s single-season rushing yardage record after piling up 173 yards on the ground. McCormick carried 32 times and scored a pair of touchdowns to help the Roadrunners beat the Golden Eagles for the first time in Hattiesburg and reach six wins for the fifth time in the program’s 10-year history. The Converse Judson High School product broke loose for a 69-yard TD dash on the opening drive of the third quarter that gave UTSA the lead and pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark this season and the 2,000-yard barrier for his career. Later in the third, McCormick eclipsed the previous school standard of 1,042 yards set by Jarveon Williams in 2015 and he also matched the single-season rushing TDs mark of nine with his second score of the afternoon on a 1-yard plunge. The 173-yard output marked his fifth 100-yard game of the season and his eighth in only 21 career games, already matching Williams’ school record. McCormick paces C-USA and ranks second nationally with 1,094 rushing yards.
Novil wreaked havoc all afternoon in the Mean Green’s 27-17 win over Rice on Saturday. The Abilene, Texas, native led North Texas with a season-high eight tackles (seven solo), a career-high 5.0 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a sack on Senior Day. His 5.0 tackles for loss put him in 11th place all-time in program history with 28.0 in his career and marked the second-most in a single-game for the Mean Green in program history. The Mean Green defense held the Owls to just 49 yards rushing, 132 below their season average through the season’s first two games (181.0).
Even though there was a kick return touchdown by the opposing team in the game, it was the Hilltoppers’ punter who made the greatest special teams impact. Haggerty recorded eight punts for 426 yards in the Hilltoppers’ 38-21 victory against FIU for a season-best gross average of 53.25 yards. The senior booted six punts of 50+ yards while also pinning four punts inside the 20, including a game-high 63-yarder that stopped by itself on the 1-yard line. Haggerty currently ranks 12th in the nation with a 45.96 gross average on the season.
2020 WINNERS:
Offensive Player of the Week – Sept. 7 – Grant Wells, QB, Marshall; Sept. 14 – Sincere McCormick, RB, UTSA; Sept. 21 – Frank Harris, QB, UTSA; Sept. 28 – Luke Anthony, QB, Louisiana Tech; Oct. 5 – Tyrrell Pigrome, QB, WKU; Oct. 12 – Aaron McAllister, RB, Charlotte; Oct. 19 – Jason Bean, QB, North Texas; Oct. 26 – Sincere McCormick, RB, UTSA; Nov. 2 – Aaron Allen, QB, Louisiana Tech; Nov. 9 – Grant Wells, QB, Marshall; Nov. 16 – Grant Wells, QB, Marshall; Nov. 23 – Sincere McCormick, RB, UTSA.
Defensive Player of the Week – Sept. 7 – KD Davis, LB, North Texas; Sept. 14 – Tyler Murray, LB, Charlotte; Sept. 21 – Tavante Beckett, LB, Marshall; Sept. 28 – Jamal Ligon, LB, UTSA; Oct. 5 – Leighton McCarthy, OLB, Florida Atlantic; Oct. 12 – Tavante Beckett, LB, Marshall; Oct. 19 – Eli Neal, LB, Marshall; Oct. 26 – Trey Baldwin, LB, Louisiana Tech and Antonio Parks, S, UTSA; Nov. 2 – Bee Jay Williamson, CB, Louisiana Tech; Nov. 9 – DeAngelo Malone, DE, WKU; Nov. 16 – Rashad Wisdom, S, UTSA; Nov. 23 – Dion Novil, DE, North Texas.
Special Teams Player of the Week – Sept. 7 – Matt Quinn, K, UAB; Sept. 14 – Hunter Duplessis, K, UTSA; Sept. 21 – Jacob Barnes, K, Louisiana Tech; Sept. 28 – Lexington Joseph, KR, FIU; Oct. 5 – Brayden Narveson, K, WKU; Oct. 12 – Duron Lowe, KR, UTEP; Oct. 19 – Nikia Eason, Jr., OLB, UAB; Oct. 26 – Jalen Jackson, CB, Middle Tennessee; Nov. 2 – Jacob Barnes, K, Louisiana Tech; Nov. 9 – Matt Hayball, P, Florida Atlantic; Nov. 16 – Robert LeFevre, P, Marshall. Nov. 23 – John Haggerty, P, WKU.
https://conferenceusa.com/news/2020/11/23/nov-23-football-players-of-the-week.aspx
