DALLAS – After throwing five touchdown passes and rushing for another score in a 66-38 win over Houston Baptist, his first career start, Louisiana Tech graduate QB Luke Anthony earned the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award. The Defensive Player of the Week honor went to UTSA freshman LB Jamal Ligon, who broke UTSA’s single-game record for tackles with 19 in a conference-opening victory over Middle Tennessee. The Special Teams Player of the Week award was given to FIU sophomore KR Lexington Joseph, who opened the Panthers season with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Liberty. C-USA Football Players of the Week are voted on by a panel of the league’s media.
Sept 28 2020 FB POW Release.(pdf)
Anthony accounted for six touchdowns after posting five touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown in a 66-38 win over Houston Baptist, becoming the fifth player in program history to account for at least six TDs in a single game. It was only the third time in program history that a LA Tech quarterback has passed for five touchdowns and rushed for a touchdown in a single game. The Dallas native threw four TD passes in the first half to become the first Bulldog QB to do so since Ryan Higgins in 2016 and became the seventh LA Tech quarterback to throw for five touchdowns in a single game. Anthony threw three passing touchdowns of 40-plus yards against the Huskies with throws of 44, 43 and 41 yards. In his first career start for the Bulldogs, Anthony finished the day 17-of-30 for 314 yards. He has now passed for eight touchdowns in the first two games of the season which is the most by a Louisiana Tech QB in the Division I era of the program (since 1975). His eight passing touchdowns this season currently rank second in the nation. Anthony was also named to the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 list of eight outstanding FBS quarterbacks in week four.
Ligon broke UTSA’s single-game tackles record with 19 stops in the 37-35 win over Middle Tennessee in the Conference USA opener for both teams last Friday night at the Alamodome. The true freshman from Tyler, Texas, registered eight solo stops and 1.5 sacks as part of his record-setting tackles total to go along with a pair of quarterback hurries, as UTSA improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2017. Making his second straight start at linebacker, Ligon’s 19 tackles eclipsed the previous program standard of 16 set in 2011 by Cody Rogers and it marks the most tackles made by an FBS player in a game this season. Ligon was also named Athlon Sports’ National Defensive Freshman of the Week, as the publication announced on Sunday.
Lexington “Flex” Joseph opened FIU’s 2020 campaign with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, as the sophomore tied a school record in the process and put the Panthers up 7-0 at Liberty last Saturday. Overall, the Miami native finished the game with 255 yards in kickoff returns, earning a 42.5 average per return, which ranks fourth in the nation. The 100-yard return is tied for the longest in the nation this season, while Joseph’s 255 yards are the most in a single game so far in 2020.
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.
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.
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.
