Whitfield Named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week
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Players from each of the three winning teams from Saturday’s action have been honored as the Conference USA Football Players of the Week. East Carolina junior Justin Hardy became the first wide receiver to be named Offensive Player of the Week this season after catching 10 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown (all in the first half) of the Pirates win over Southern Miss. The Defensive award went to North Texas sophomore CB Zac Whitfield, who had two interceptions, including one that he returned for a touchdown in the Mean Green’s win at Louisiana Tech. The Special Teams Player of the Week award went to Rice senior K Chris Boswell for the second time this season after he booted his 13th career field goal of 50 yards or longer in a win at New Mexico State. C-USA Football Players of the Week are voted on by a panel of the league’s media.
Hardy caught 10 passes for 126 yards (all in the first half), his third double-digit and third 100-yard receiving game this season, to lead East Carolina to a 55-14 win over Southern Miss. His 10-catch, 126-yard effort, which followed a 17-reception, 230-yard performance in a losing cause last week at Tulane, also marked the seventh double-digit and eighth 100-yard receiving contests of his career. Six of Hardy’s
catches were for 10-plus yards and seven of the 10 grabs resulted in ECU first downs. He caught his 21st career TD pass in the first quarter to match Larry Shannon (1994-97) for second on ECU’s all-time career scoring reception list and is now just one away from matching the school standard (22 by Lance Lewis/2010-11). He has caught at least three passes in all 30 career games (had three for 28 yards in the first quarter vs. the Golden Eagles). Hardy also amassed a game-high 231 all-purpose yards (105 on 4 punt returns with a long of 66).
Whitfield had two interceptions, including a pick-six in the second quarter which gave North Texas a 14-10 lead which it would never relinquish. With Louisiana Tech driving and holding a 10-7 lead, Whitfield intercepted Louisiana Tech quarterback Ryan Higgins and raced 56 yards for the North Texas score. In the fourth quarter, Whitfield intercepted Higgins again with 2:29 to play in the game to secure the victory. It was a career-high in interceptions for Whitfield and he was the first North Texas player to have multiple interceptions in a game since 2010.
Boswell scored nine points and extended his lead as the NCAA’s active career leader in field goals from 50 yards or longer in the 45-19 win over New Mexico State. Boswell’s 50-yarder early in the 4th quarter was the 13th from 50 or longer, eight more than his closest rival. It was also his 61st career field goal, which ranks him sixth in C-USA history, one behind Jonathan Ruffin of Cincinnati (1998-02), and his 10th of the season. Boswell became the first Rice kicker to kick at least 10 field goals in four seasons. Additionally, all eight of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. This is the fifth career Player of the Week honor for Boswell, covering the last three seasons.
