#UACFOOTBALL -- It is said, "The cream always rises to the top," and the United Athletic Conference (UAC) Football Player of the Week selections definitely reflect that idiom. Three of the four choices in Week 12, as announced Monday by the league office, were repeat winners for the season and all were key contributors to victorious efforts on Saturday. Southern Utah's Joshua Dye (Offensive) collected his fourth honor and second in-a-row, while the Austin Peay duo of Carson Smith (Specialist) and Montreze Smith Jr. (Freshman) both claimed their second awards. Rounding out the list of honorees was first-time winner Abilene Christian's Kaghen Roach, who earned the Wildcats third consecutive Defensive Player of the Week accolade.
Dye, a redshirt-sophomore running back, earned a second consecutive honor after racking up 181 yards on 39 carries in a important home game victory over UCA. He scored three touchdowns in the game to set a new Southern Utah single season program record for rushing touchdowns (25) and points scored (150). Dye still leads all of Division I (FCS & FBS) in rushing touchdowns and is now only nine yards behind from being the nation's leading rusher. He needs just under 200 yards to surpass the program record for rushing yards in a single season, set by Targhee Lambson a year ago.
A redshirt-senior defensive end, Roach recorded 2.5 of ACU's 6.0 sacks against EKU. For Roach, it marked his second multi-sack game of the season, and paced the Wildcats to their most sacks in a single game since 2012. With ACU down 10-9 and only 6:00 left in the 4th quarter, Roach recovered a fumble and returned it nine yards setting up ACU's offense for the game-winning touchdown two minutes later.
Smith, the back-to-back Specialist of the Week honoree, went 3-of-4 on field goal attempts and 3-of-3 on PATs, accounting for 12 points scored in Austin Peay’s 30-16 win against Samford. He also kicked off six times with a 64.0-yard average including three touchbacks. Smith connected on a season-long 50-yard field goal as time expired in the first half of the game. The 50-yard field goal was the third-longest of his career and is tied for the ninth-longest field goal in APSU history.
A redshirt-freshman linebacker for the Govs, Smith Jr., led the squad with 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and a pick-six in a 30-16 win against Samford. Smith Jr., also ranked second on the team with five stops. His 35-yard pick-six in the first quarter gave Austin Peay a 14-0 lead in the contest, and marked Smith Jr.’s team-leading third interception of the season.
| DATE |
OFFENSIVE |
DEFENSIVE |
SPECIALIST |
FRESHMAN |
| Sept. 1 |
Joshua Dye
(Southern Utah) |
Kasyus Kurns
(Tarleton State) |
Brad Larson
(Tarleton State) |
Tre Page III
(Tarleton State) |
| Sept. 8 |
Luther Richesson
(Central Arkansas) |
Sebastian Adamski
(Southern Utah) |
Simon Zeidan
(West Georgia) |
TJ Lester
(West Georgia) |
| Sept. 15 |
Latrelle Murrell
(West Georgia) |
Yasir Holmes
(Tarleton State) |
Ian Vachon
(North Alabama) |
Ran Sawyer
(Southern Utah) |
| Sept 22 |
Stone Earle
(Abilene Christian) |
Rashon Myles Jr.
(Abilene Christian) |
Corbin Poston
(Tarleton State) |
Asa Chatman
(Utah Tech) |
| Sept. 29 |
Chris Parson
(Austin Peay) |
Kaden Smith
(EKU) |
Tommy Holden
(West Georgia) |
Kamari Maxwell
(Austin Peay) |
| Oct. 6 |
Chris Parson
(Austin Peay) |
Will Middleton
(Austin Peay) |
Caleb Jones
(Central Arkansas) |
Tre Page III
(Tarleton State) |
| Oct. 13 |
Stone Earle (ACU)
Landen Chambers (UCA) |
Cam Junior
(EKU) |
TJ Mitchell
(EKU) |
Isaiah Groves
(Austin Peay) |
| Oct. 20 |
Jayvian Allen
(North Alabama) |
Mason Stromstad
(Southern Utah) |
Courtland Stephens
(Tarleton State) |
Noah Gregg
(North Alabama) |
| Oct. 27 |
Chris Parson (APSU)
Joshua Dye (SUU) |
David Hoage
(West Georgia) |
Tommy Holden
(West Georgia) |
Montreze Smith, Jr.
(Austin Peay) |
| Nov. 3 |
Marcus Calwise Jr.
(EKU) |
Rashon Myles Jr.
(Abilene Christian) |
Danny King
(Southern Utah) |
Asa Chatman
(Utah Tech) |
| Nov. 10 |
Chris Parson (APSU)
Joshua Dye (SUU) |
Dorian Plumley
(Abilene Christian) |
Carson Smith
(Austin Peay) |
Azariah Fletcher
(North Alabama) |
| Nov. 17 |
Joshua Dye
(Southern Utah) |
Kaghen Roach
(Abilene Christian) |
Carson Smith
(Austin Peay) |
Montreze Smith Jr.
(Austin Peay) |
Other Nominees
Offensive:
Chris Parson (APSU); Victor Gabalis (TSU); Latrelle Murrell (UWG)
Defensive:
Montreze Smith, Jr. (APSU); Jeremiah Bailey (EKU); Baron Taylor (SUU); Yasir Holmes (TSU); David Hoage (UWG)
Specialist:
Brandon Perez (ACU); Caleb Lewis (TSU); Tommy Holden (UWG)
Freshman:
Roddrick Roberts (TSU)