Tag: Player of the Week

Opposing defenders keep winning Player of the Week awards after beating the Saints

For the third time this season and in back-to-back weeks, an opposing defender has won Player of the Week recognition after defeating the Saints:

So that’s discouraging. For the third time this season — and now in back-to-back weeks — an opposing defender has won Player of the Week recognition after defeating the New Orleans Saints. This time it’s Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith, who was instrumental in their 20-10 win over New Orleans. Highsmith was credited with 2 sacks and 1 quarterback hit, 5 tackles (3 solo, 1 tackle for loss), and 1 forced fumble. That effort won him the AFC Defensive Player of the Week award for Week 10.

It’s the same award that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Justin Houston won in Week 9, after demolishing the Saints with 2.5 sacks and 3 quarterback hits, 3 tackles (2 solo, 2 tackles for loss), 1 pass defensed, and 1 interception which set up the win-sealing Ravens touchdown. Earlier this season, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Marco Wilson was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 7 after returning an interception 38 yards for a defensive touchdown, also bagging 2 passes defensed and 3 tackles (2 solo).

So, hey, good for them, I guess. The Saints haven’t played great football in any phase, but their offense keeps coming up small in big moments. And opponents seem to be giving them their best shot each week, which is resulting in these weekly individual awards. Hopefully they can turn things around and start to win games with some standout performances of their own.

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Celtics’ Jayson Tatum earns East NBA’s Player of the Week honors

Per the team, he is the first Celtic in franchise history to record over 100 points in the team’s first three games of the season and is currently leading the NBA in scoring average and total points scored.

Boston Celtics superstar forward Jayson Tatum has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after leading the Celtics to an impressive 3-0 record to start the 2022-23 NBA season. Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard earned the Week 1 nod for the Western Conference. Tatum has been sensational to begin the year, averaging 34.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. This is the ninth time the All-Star has won a player of the week award.

Tatum’s especially strong play is perhaps punctuated by a 40-point, 8-rebound performance this past Saturday night against the Orlando Magic. He appears to be picking up right where he left off, and Tatum’s possible MVP candidacy has already begun to bubble in NBA circles.

Per a press release circulated by the team, the St. Louis native is the first Celtic in franchise history to record over 100 points in the team’s first three contests of 2022-23 and is leading the NBA in both scoring average and total points scored.

Boston next faces the Chicago Bulls on Monday night as their final tilt on the road before returning home Friday to host the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden.

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Jahmyr Gibbs named SEC Offensive POTW

Jahmyr Gibbs receives POTW honors after massive game against Arkansas

Of all of the transfers landed this offseason, none was more enticing than the former Georgia Tech running back [autotag]Jahmyr Gibbs[/autotag]. Gibbs is beginning to find his role in the offense and even earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his game against Arkansas last week.

The Tide traveled to Fayetteville and walked out with a massive 49-26 victory. Bryce Young suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter, and that is when the Tide rushing attack took over. Gibbs was monumental in this game as he had 18 carries for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdown runs were in excess of 70 yards as well.

As well as being the feature back, Gibbs also leads the team with 19 receptions on the year. Those 19 catches have gone for 207 yards and three scores. With the timeline of Young’s return in question, expect the Tide to lean heavy on Gibbs in both the rushing and passing attack this week against the Texas A&M Aggies.

 

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Broncos punter Corliss Waitman named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Corliss Waitman played a key role in the Broncos’ win over the 49ers in Week 3.

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Denver Broncos punter Corliss Waitman was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week on Wednesday, the NFL announced.

Waitman, 27, punted 10 times for 476 yards in an 11-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football in Week 3. In a game in which field position was crucial, Waitman had a franchise-record six punts downed inside the 20-yard line and two punts downed inside the five-yard line. He also had no touchbacks.

After one of Waitman’s punts pinned the 49ers deep in their own territory, Denver’s defense forced a safety that gave the Broncos two points. That safety ultimately decided the game as Denver went on to win by one point.

So while punting isn’t a flashy job, one could make an argument that Waitman’s leg won the game for the Broncos in Week 3. At the very least, he was a key part of the victory, and the NFL has now recognized that by naming him one of the conference players of the week.

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Auburn player wins defensive lineman SEC Player of the Week award

Auburn’s rough win still had some bright spots.

It was a rough win for Auburn against Missouri, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything to be proud of.

The Tigers were able to boast a particularly great performance from defensive end [autotag]Derick Hall[/autotag] on Saturday, and the team isn’t the only one who noticed it. Hall was named the SEC’s defensive lineman Player of the Week on Monday for his efforts on defense in the victory.

Hall was everywhere on Saturday. Against Missouri, Hall had six total tackles — three of which went for a loss — and two sacks. He also picked off a tipped ball from Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook that gave Auburn its first turnover of the year. Hall made up the majority of the team’s four sacks and seven tackles for loss in the victory at home.

The stellar performance was a much-needed burst of energy for an Auburn defense that got bullied against Penn State, but the Tigers will need something similar when it plays the No. 1 team in the nation, the Georgia Bulldogs, at Jordan-Hare on Saturday.

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Iowa Hawkeyes’ Lukas Van Ness named B1G Special Teams Player of the Week

Iowa defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness has been named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week following his efforts on Saturday.

The Iowa Hawkeyes find themselves with the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week today after the effort from their defensive lineman, Lukas Van Ness, on Saturday against the Iowa State Cyclones.

Van Ness made huge momentum-changing plays in the punt game as he got his hands on two separate Cyclones’ punts causing them to be blocked. The effort was good enough to tie the Hawkeyes’ individual record for most punts blocked in a single game.

Each of the blocks by Van Ness gift wrapped the ball to the Hawkeyes’ offense deep in Iowa State territory. The first block set the Hawkeyes up for their sole touchdown of the day.

This recognition comes on the heels of Iowa punter Tory Taylor being named the same award winner after his performance punting the ball against South Dakota State.

Iowa special teams coach Levar Woods is helping the Hawkeyes dominate the third phase of the game and doing everything in their power to completely shift the field position battle. Whether it is Taylor pinning opponents deep in their own territory with his punting or Van Ness doing his best to give the offense a short field, Woods has been able to dial up the special teams unit to look like one of the best in the entire nation.

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Drew Sanders named national Defensive Player of the Week

Arka

For a quarter, Drew Sanders was, almost literally, everywhere you looked on the football field.

The Alabama transfer had six tackles, two for-loss, and a sack before any other Arkansas player even had two tackles in Saturday’s win over South Carolina. He was, to use the old phrase, a sideline-to-sideline force against the Gamecocks.

Sanders ultimately finished with 11 tackles, three for-loss and two sacks. The numbers were enough to earn him the Walter Camp national Defensive Player of the Week Award.

Through two games, Sanders is second on the team with 16 tackles, first with four TFL, first with three sacks, first with two forced fumbles and he has another quarterback plus a pass break-up.

The Razorbacks are 2-0 and are preparing to host Missouri State on Saturday.

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Iowa Hawkeyes’ Tory Taylor named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week

Iowa’s Tory Taylor was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after 10 punts, seven of which were downed inside the 20-yard line.

After bombing away on a career-high 10 punts, Iowa Hawkeyes punter Tory Taylor was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.

Taylor’s 10 punts went for 479 yards or an average of 47.9 yards per punt. The Aussie was a pivotal figure in the Hawkeyes securing their 7-3 season-opening win over South Dakota State as he pinned the Jackrabbits deep in their own territory with regularity.

In total, Taylor saw seven punts downed inside the 20-yard line and five inside the 10-yard line. It’s the second Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honor of Taylor’s career, adding to his co-Special Teams Player of the Week honors versus Iowa State last season.

The Iowa fan base took note of Taylor’s impact on the game, too, chanting “MVP” inside Kinnick Stadium to celebrate the Australia native’s performance.

“Yeah, I don’t know about that. I think it’s just a few Hawkeye fans taking things a bit too seriously, but it’s pretty cool. And I know I’ve probably got up here and said this a few times, it really does help me. I know it helps my family just knowing that there’s that sort of stuff that goes on. Not necessarily the MVP chant, but just the love from the fans in general. It helps me. It gives me even a greater deal of confidence,” Taylor said.

Taylor has helped popularize the phrase “punting is winning” in Iowa City. He was asked by reporters following his Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week performance if he believes in the moniker.

“Wow, that’s a great question. I’m going to say yes. Yeah, I do. Not even necessarily like me or anything like here, but I think probably last year you kind of saw there was a lot of punters, especially from the Big Ten. You look at guys like Jordan Stout and things like that. He’s doing great things in the league now, but I think it really does. It’s more so probably just the field position, so, to answer your question, I think so, yeah,” Taylor said.

Punting certainly meant winning this past Saturday as Taylor helped the Hawkeyes with field positioning and set up a pair of second-half safeties that proved to be the difference. In one of the stranger college football stats, according to Matt Benson, Iowa improved to 6-1 when punting eight-plus times since 2020. The rest of the FBS is a combined 45-170.

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Two Arkansas defenders earn SEC Player of the Week honors

Linebacker Bumper Pool and defensive Jordan Domineck had games to remember in Arkansas’ opener.

Bumper Pool picked up Saturday right where he left off last season. Jordan Domineck’s first game at Arkansas was a boon, too.

Each of their efforts were enough to earn them SEC Player of the Week honors from the league after Week 1.

Pool, who led the SEC in tackles last year and was tied for 10th in FBS, had 13 stops, including one for-loss in Arkansas’ 31-24 win over Cincinnati on Saturday. It was his 18th career double-digit-tackle game in 27 starts.

Domineck, a transfer from Georgia Tech, didn’t start for the Razorbacks. But in a sign of the Hogs’ new depth up front, he played plenty of snaps. None were bigger than his strip-sack of quarterback Ben Bryant that he recovered on the 37. Arkansas scored two plays later for a two-touchdown lead.

Arkansas hosts South Carolina on Saturday at 11 a.m. to open SEC play.

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Danielle Gibson Grabs SEC Softball Player of the Week Honor

Did anyone else have a better week than Danielle Gibson? We didn’t think so.

No one had a better week at the plate than Arkansas’ Danielle Gibson, and it was not even close.

Because of that, the Razorbacks’ senior first baseman was named the overall SEC player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.

In the conference-opening series with Tennessee, Gibson went 7-for-10 at the plate with eight RBI and three home runs. In Saturday’s series-clinching win over the Lady Vols, Gibson led off the game with a two-run blast to put the Razorbacks ahead, 2-0 in the 1st inning. She came through in the clutch again in the top of the 7th inning. As the Lady Vols chipped away the Arkansas lead to 5-4, Gibson crushed a grand slam home run over the right field wall to give the Razorbacks much needed insurance, pushing their lead to 9-4.

Despite having one of the best weekends of her career, Gibson proved that she still had more in the tank in Monday’s 8-1 win over Western Kentucky. Gibson followed up her seven-hit weekend by collecting two more hits, both being home runs, and four RBI.

Gibson currently leads the team with a .548 average and 34 RBI, and is tied for the team lead with Hannah Gammill with 11 home runs.

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