Thompson Named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week
After leading his team to an exciting come-from-behind victory over Ball State with 346 yards of total offense, North Texas senior QB Derek Thompson has been named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week. The Defensive Player of the Week honor went to Florida Atlantic sophomore CB D’Joun Smith, who scored a touchdown on an interception and set up another with a forced fumble in the Owls win at South Florida. The Special Teams Player of the Week award went to Rice senior K Chris Boswell, who had a 56-yard field goal as part of an 11-point evening in the Owls’ victory over Kansas. C-USA Football Players of the Week are voted on by a panel of the league’s media.
Thompson accounted for 346 yards of total offense and two touchdowns, leading North Texas from an 18-point deficit to a 34-27 win over Ball State. Thompson tied a career high with 47 pass attempts, completing 31 of those for 274 yards with no interceptions. He also ran for 72 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put North Texas in the lead for good. That game-winning TD run was also the longest rush of his career.
Smith provided a great defensive effort in Florida Atlantic’s 28-10 victory at South Florida, the Owls first win against a BCS AQ school since defeating Minnesota in 2007. Smith tallied four tackles (all solo) and one for a loss of four yards, while adding a pass breakup and
two forced fumbles. He forced a fumble that FAU’s Cory Henry returned 10 yards for the game’s first score and had an interception on the FAU 25 which he returned for a touchdown. Smith’s 75-yard interception return was the third-longest in the program’s history. His pass breakup stalled a USF drive on third and six at the FAU 32, forcing a field goal. Smith was also credited with a forced fumble on the USF 41 that FAU’s Martin Wright recovered.
Boswell contributed 11 of Rice’s 23 points in the win over Kansas with three field goals and two PATs. His 56-yard field goal with 8:05 left in the game put Rice back in front 16-14 and was his 12th career kick of 50 yards or more, triple the number of the next active kicker in the FBS division (Cairo Santos of Tulane has four). It was Boswell’s third career kick of 56 yards or better and raised his career mark from 50 or longer to 12/17. Boswell now has 55 career field goals to move into eighth place on the C-USA career list. The Lou Groza Award named Boswell as one of its three national “Stars of the Week” Monday. This is the fourth career Player of the Week honor for Boswell, covering the last three seasons.
