GREEN, TAYLOR, NARVESON TAKE HOME C-USA POTW HONORS

DALLAS – Following an afternoon where he completed 17-22 passes for 205 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in a road win at UAB, Rice QB Wiley Green was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week. Rice S Gabe Taylor took home Defensive Player of the Week honors following a huge performance in that win over UAB, after he recorded a career-high 10 tackles, forced a fumble and recorded a pass break-up on UAB’s last-ditch effort to seal the win for the Owls. WKU K Brayden Narveson was named C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week after knocking through a pair of field goals and was a perfect 4-4 on extra points in the Hilltoppers’ win at FIU.

Green led Rice to a 30-24 win over defending C-USA champion UAB by throwing for 205 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, while completing a career-best 77% of his passes. Seven of his 17 completions converted either third or fourth downs for the Owls, three of them on a 13-play, 72-yard drive to a field goal that ate up over half of the fourth quarter and gave the Owls a two-score lead. The last of those completions was a 17-yarder to Cedric Patterson III on third and seven to place the ball at the UAB 12. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Rice vs. UAB overall and a three-game losing streak in Birmingham.

Taylor was credited with a career-best 10 tackles, forced a fumble and knocked down a game-ending Hail Mary pass in the Owls’ 30-24 win over defending conference champion UAB. Taylor set up the Owls second touchdown in the opening minutes of the game by forcing a fumble on the Blazers’ first play from scrimmage after the Owls had taken a 7-0 lead. Two of his 10 tackles forced Blazers punts at the end of the second and start of the third quarter with Rice holding a 20-14 lead. After the Owls had re-taken the lead with 3:22 left in half and the Blazers receiving the ball to open the second, Taylor’s stop on third-and-four stop at the UAB 34 forced the first Blazers punt of the day. On the opening series of the second half, Taylor made tackles on two of three plays, including stopping a third-and-three effort. Rice responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive to push the lead to 27-14. Taylor ended the game by knocking down Dylan Hopkins’ final pass attempt as the clock ran out.

Narveson scored 10 points for the Hilltoppers while not missing a kick in WKU’s 34-19 victory at FIU. Narveson made field goals of 23 and 26 yards, while going 4-of-4 on extra points. For the season, the Arizona native is 12-of-14 on field goal attempts and a perfect 31-of-31 on extra points. This marks the third time Narveson has earned C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week during his career (Oct. 3 and Dec. 6 of 2020 in wins over Middle Tennessee and Charlotte, respectively).

2021 WINNERS

Offensive Player of the Week – Aug. 30 – WR Jacob Cowing, UTEP, Sept. 6 – QB Chris Reynolds, Charlotte, Sept. 13 – QB Bailey Zappe, WKU and QB N’Kosi Perry, Florida Atlantic, Sept. 20 – TE Gerrit Prince, UAB, Sept. 27 – QB Chris Reynolds, Charlotte, Oct. 4 – QB Bailey Zappe, WKU, Oct. 11 – QB Frank Harris, UTSA, Oct 18 – WR Jerreth Sterns, WKU, Oct. 25 – QB Wiley Green, Rice

Defensive Player of the Week – Aug. 30 – S Dy’Vonne Inyang, UTEP, Sept. 6 – LB Eli Neal, Marshall, Sept. 13 – DB BeeJay Williamson, Louisiana Tech, Sept. 20 – DL Trumane Bell II, UTSA, Sept. 27 – LB Clarence Hicks, UTSA and S A.J. Brathwaite, Jr., WKU, Oct. 4 – S Reed Blankenship, Middle Tennessee, Oct. 11 – DE Alex Wright, UAB, Oct. 18 – DE Jadrian Taylor, UTEP, Oct. 25 – S Gabe Taylor, Rice

Special Teams Player of the Week – Aug. 30 – K Gavin Baechle, UTEP, Sept. 6 – K Hunter Duplessis, UTSA, Sept. 13 – PR Sheldon Jones, UTSA, Sept. 20 – P Kyle Greenwell, UAB, Sept. 27 – K Hunter Duplessis, UTSA, Oct. 4 – KR Camron Harrell, Southern Miss, Oct. 11 – KR Shadrick Byrd, Charlotte, Oct. 18 – S Grayson Cash, Oct. 25 – K Brayden Narveson, WKU

-ConferenceUSA.com-