Tag: Team of the Week

Key Lawrence named to Pro Football Focus’ Team of the Week

After a stellar performance against Cincinnati, Key Lawrence was named to Pro Football Focus’ Team of the Week.

It was another strong performance for the Oklahoma Sooners defense in their win over Cincinnati. They allowed just six points and kept a really good rushing attack under wraps, holding them to under four yards per carry.

Danny Stutsman has been the focal point of the improvement of the defense, but a number of players have had their hand to see the Sooners in the top 10 early in the 2023 season.

One of those players is safety Key Lawrence. Lawrence, who is in his third year with the Sooners after transferring from Tennessee in the 2021 offseason, is in the midst of a breakout season.

On Saturday, Lawrence had a touchdown saving interception to turn back a Cincinnati scoring drive. He also had three tackles in the win. In the effort, he was the highest graded safety in the nation, according to Pro Football Focus.

Lawrence was also named to Pro Football Focus’ team of the week.

In a safety group that has a lot of talent, Key Lawrence has established himself as a bonafide playmaker in the Sooners’ secondary.

He’s forced turnovers in three straight games, including interceptions in the last two. Lawrence is a key piece to the Sooners’ scoring defense which is tied for second in the nation.

The Oklahoma Sooners are hoping to return to Big 12 title contention. Key Lawrence is one of the players that will have to play a significant role for Oklahoma to keep up their early-season success.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Notre Dame football earns national award after beating Clemson

Congratulations @NDfootball

When a football team enters a year they probably have a few goals.  Beating a rival, winning a certain amount of games, and going to a bowl game is probably among those.  Depending on the program there may be more.

Although I would be shocked if it was true I’d like to imagine a world where a college football coach stands before his team at the start of the year and tells them of their goal to one day be named the Cheez-It Bowl national team of the week.

Gentlemen:  I love and every one of you.  In 2022 we’re going to embark an an epic journey and are going to accomplish many things.  We’re going beat those jerks we don’t like down the street.  We’re going to go to a bowl game in Miami.  And we’re going to be named the Cheez-It Bowl national team of the week!”

I don’t imagine [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] gave a speech like that before the season started but either way, Notre Dame was named the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week for their efforts in manhandling Clemson.

Check out the best photos from Notre Dame’s drubbing of Clemson

Instant takeaways from Notre Dame’s massive win over Clemson

Congratulations to them and I can’t state how much I love that the photo chosen includes legendary Irish linebacker [autotag]Jaylon Smith[/autotag] and his finest fur.  Hopefully, the team gets crates full of the Cheddarjack Cheez-It’s as a reward.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Nick Shepkowski on Twitter @NickShepkowski

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College Performers of the Week powered by Rapsodo: Oregon women’s golf

Oregon, the No. 2 team in the country, won its second consecutive title on March 15 at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.

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Only Oregon finished the 54-hole Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge under par at Palos Verdes Golf Club on March 15, and that netted the Ducks a seven-shot victory over Wake Forest. Oregon, ranked No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, has now won two team titles (following the Florida State Match Up title on the East Coast) in a row and three this season, which is the most for the program in a season since 1999-2000.

The Ducks’ depth showed in the Palos Verdes field, which featured four other top-10 teams, as every player finished inside the top 12. Hsin-Yu Lu and Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen led that effort with T-4 finishes and Briana Chacon was T-6.

As a team, Oregon hasn’t finished outside the top 5 in seven season starts.

“This is a great win for our program,” head coach Derek Radley said in a release. “The Northrop Grumman Challenge is one of the most prestigious regular-season tournaments in all of college golf, and that’s a really, really good field we just went up against. It had an NCAA Tournament feel out there. I’m so proud of the focus and toughness our team showed all week, and especially today when we needed a strong finish. They are playing with a lot of confidence right now and truly believe they are one of the elite teams in the country. We’re excited to get back to work and keep this thing rolling.”

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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College Performers of the Week presented by Rapsodo: Oklahoma State men’s golf

Oklahoma State lapped the field at the N.I.T., winning the team title by 21 shots.

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Oklahoma State defended its title on March 19 at the N.I.T. at OMNI Tucson National’s Catalina Course in Tucson, Arizona. Far from just squeaking by the keep the top spot, the Cowboys blew away the field, going a remarkable 53 under for 54 holes and finishing 21 shots ahead of runner-up Texas.

The win was the second of the spring and the third this season for Oklahoma State.

A familiar name finished at the top of the leaderboard for the Cowboys as Eugenio Chacarra again led the team to victory. The senior helped his team pull away in the final round with a closing 64 and his 20-under total was good for medalist honors for the second time this spring.

Teammate Aman Gupta was third and two other Cowboys finished in the top 16.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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College Performers of the Week powered by Rapsodo: San Jose State women’s golf

For the second time this spring, San Jose State topped Stanford, the top-ranked team in the nation.

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With five victories in seven starts this season and the top spot in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, Stanford may be the clear favorite in women’s golf. Nonetheless, San Jose State has the Cardinal’s number, having now defeated the top team in women’s golf twice this spring. The Spartans earned their second victory over Stanford at the Juli Inkster Collegiate on March 8, earning the nod for team of the week.

San Jose State took a 14-shot lead into the final day at Meadow Club in Fairfax, California, and managed to hold off a Cardinal run. Stanford turned in a final-round 11-under 277 and came within one shot of catching San Jose State.

Last month, San Jose State also knocked off Stanford in the Lamkin Invitational.

“It was a great win for our team,” head coach Dana Dormann said of the Juli Inkster title. “We knew Stanford would make a charge at us but we were able to make a few key putts down the stretch to hold them off.

“We have so much respect for them – they shot 50-under in their last tournament to set an NCAA record. They’re an amazing team. So it makes it all that much more special to have beaten them twice this spring.”

San Jose State had three players inside the top 10, including Lucia Lopez-Ortega in fourth, Kajsa Arwefjall in a tie for fifth and Natasha Andrea Oon in a tie for 10th.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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College Performers of the Week powered by Rapsodo: Florida Gulf Coast men’s golf

Florida Gulf Coast has now won back-to-back tournaments in the spring season as it aims for an at-large NCAA bid to end the season.

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Florida Gulf Coast is well on its way this spring after winning back-to-back events to start the second half of the season. Led by Frankie Capan, who finished 54 holes with a sub-200 score for the first time in program history, FGCU won the Auburn Invitational on March 7. That followed a victory at the Eagles’ own Coral Creek Club Invitational to start the month.

At Auburn, FGCU was 32 under for three rounds, which left them 13 shots ahead of host Auburn. Capan’s rounds of 69-64-64 (19 under) helped considerably but Austin Cherichella also added a 9-under total to finish third and Brady Madsen tied for seventh at 2 under.

The Eagles haven’t won multiple titles in the same season since 2017-18.

“I’m really proud of our team. They played great golf again today and were able to finish the tournament on top of the leaderboard,” head coach Andrew Danna said in a school release. “We’ll look to learn as much as we can from our experience this week and will apply that to our next event.”

Florirda Gulf Coast is the No. 42-ranked team in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, and is aiming for an NCAA Regional berth after narrowly missing out on an at-large spot a year ago.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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College Performers of the Week powered by Rapsodo: Wake Forest women’s golf

Wake Forest won the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate for a second consecutive spring title and fourth of the season.

A freshman is firmly in the lead spot for Wake Forest and so far, she’s carried the Demon Deacons to two consecutive spring titles. Carolina Chacarra topped the individual leaderboard at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate on March 2 and Wake Forest also won the team title.

Wake Forest has now won two consecutive events, adding the Darius to its UCF Challenge title from last month, and has won four times this season. The team also won the Darius Rucker in 2020, the last time it was played.

Wake Forest climbed from fourth to first in the second round and eventually claimed a nine-shot victory on host team South Carolina. The Demon Deacons, ranked No. 5 by Golfweek, led the field in birdies.

“What an incredible week for these student-athletes! There was outstanding competition on a difficult course with phenomenal crowds all week,” head coach Kim Lewellen said in a school release. “We are proud of this.”

Behind Chacarra, Rachel Kuehn tied for 13th for Wake Forest while Lauren Walsh and Mimi Rhodes were T-20.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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College Performers of the Week powered by Rapsodo: Vanderbilt men’s golf

Vanderbilt has now won back-to-back titles at premier events to start the spring season.

A scoring record from the Brandt Snedeker era fell in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on March 1 as Vanderbilt sophomore Cole Sherwood set a course- and 18-hole program record with a final-round 61 and led Vandy to the team title at the loaded Cabo Collegiate.

Sherwood had three eagles and five birdies in his final round at the Cove Club and accounted for a huge part of Vanderbilt’s final-round 19-under 265. The Commodores were 32 under for 54 holes and landed at the top of the leaderboard, ahead of Texas Tech, Florida State and Arkansas. This is the team’s second consecutive title this season after winning the Prestige a week earlier.

Besides Sherwood finishing on top of the individual leaderboard in Cabo, Vanderbilt also counted a T-7 from Gordon Sargent.

“Total team effort,” head coach Scott Limbaugh said in a school release. “I think at one point almost halfway through the first round someone came up and told me we had fallen into last place. So about 45 holes later we look up and we’ve won the whole thing.

“I just think that shows a lot about our character and our team and our leadership. Just super-proud and really had some guys do some great things this week. It’s exciting to see kids have success. You’re seeing some buy-in and when you start seeing that buy-in good things can happen.”

Vanderbilt is ranked No. 8 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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College Performers of the Week powered by Rapsodo: Middle Tennessee State

Two starts into the spring season, Middle Tennessee State is 2-0.

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Two starts into the spring season, Middle Tennessee State is 2-0. The Blue Raiders held off Utah Valley on Feb. 22 to win the Loyola Intercollegiate by one shot after having won the Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational earlier in the month to kick of the spring season.

Middle Tennessee State, ranked No. 81 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, went 29 under at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona, a 54-hole total that was the fifth-lowest in program history.

Sophomore Kevin Jegers accounted for a big chunk of that red number, going 16 under on his own to win the individual title by three shots. Michael Barnard (sixth) and Owen Stamper (T-10) also made big contributions.

“Great win for the team,” head coach Mark McEntire said in a school release. “Happy to get the second victory of the spring. Congrats to Kevin Jegers as he broke the record last week and again this week. The guy is a stud. We’ve got a couple weeks off, but we look forward to getting back in action at the Schenkel middle of March.”

The victory continues Middle Tennessee’s strong play from the fall, which included a runner-up finish at the J.T. Poston Invitational and a T-3 at the Trinity Forest Invitational.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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College Performers of the Week powered by Rapsodo: New Mexico men’s golf

New Mexico overtook Arizona in the final round of the John Burns Collegiate, turning a three-shot deficit into a nine-shot victory.

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The Lobos went to Hawaii to continue their spring season and brought home a trophy – their second of the season. New Mexico overtook Arizona in the final round of the John Burns Collegiate, turning a three-shot deficit into a nine-shot victory.

New Mexico, ranked No. 37 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, not only picked up a win over No. 24 Arizona, but also, notably, No. 9 Texas A&M. The Lobos won the Wolfpack Classic in the fall, and in their first spring start finished runner-up at the Arizona Intercollegiate.

In six total events this year, New Mexico now has two victories and two runner-up finishes.

At the John Burns, the difference for New Mexico was a strong start. The Lobos started the day on Nos. 1 through 3 in a shotgun start and threw out a slew of birdies to build some momentum.

“Another great job by our guys today,” head coach Glen Millican said in a school release. “We had an awesome start and finished well again in some tough conditions on the hard final five holes. It was an impressive showing and a great win on a fantastic course against some great teams.”

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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