MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week
Kurtis Rourke, Ohio, QB
R-Junior, Oakville, Ontario, Canada (Holy Trinity)
Saturday was a record-setting night for Rourke. Not only did he break his personal career records for pass attempts (50) and pass completions (41) while matching his career high for passing touchdowns (4), the redshirt junior set a new single-game program high with 537 passing yards, breaking a record that was set in 1983. On the ground, Rourke finished the night with 10 carries for 45 yards and one touchdown.
MAC East Division Defensive Player of the Week
Ryan McWood, Miami, LB
7-Sr., Grosse Pointe, Mich. (Brother Rice)
Ryan McWood had a game-high 11 tackles and recorded a fumble recovery in Miami's 17-14 win at Northwestern. McWood and the RedHawks defense held the Wildcats to 107 yards rushing on 31 attempts. He also recorded one fumble recovery in the win.
MAC East Division Special Teams Player of the Week
Alex McNulty, Buffalo, Kicker
Senior, Caledonia, NY (McQuaid Jesuit)
Alex McNulty made all three of his field goal attempts in Buffalo's win at Eastern Michigan. The senior kicker connected on field goals of 41, 37 and 28 yards. He was also 5-of-6 on extra point attempts.His 14 points in the game tied a career high.
MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week
John Paddock, Ball State, QB
R-Junior, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (Bloomfield Hills)
Quarterback John Paddock had a career day under center with career highs of 338 passing yards and 33 completions in a shootout against Sun Belt contender Georgia Southern. He connected with seven different receivers en route to being the first player in four seasons to complete at least 30 passes in a game at Ball State (Drew Plitt at NC State, Sept. 21, 2019). Paddock is one of just two MAC quarterbacks (Ohio's Kurtis Rourke) to have multiple 300-yard passing games. In fact, Paddock has produced 29 percent of all the MAC's 300-yard performances this season, while leading one of the conference's most outstanding offenses at 441 total offensive yards per game.
MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week
Daveren Rayner, NIU, Linebacker
Sophomore, Indianapolis, Ind. (Lawrence Central HS)
Daveren Rayner led an impressive defensive effort for NIU Saturday against No. 8/9 Kentucky with 10 tackles, including six solo stops. Rayner's sack was one of five for the Huskies on the day as he brought down UK QB Will Levis in the fourth quarter. NIU held Kentucky to less than 100 yards rushing for the game and its five sacks were the most by a Wildcats opponent this year. Rayner leads NIU in tackles for the season with 42 and ranks second in the MAC in that category.
MAC West Division Special Teams Player of the Week
Tom Foley, NIU, Punter
R-Sophomore, Peoria, Illinois (Peoria Notre Dame)
Punter Tom Foley had an excellent day for the Huskies in their 8-point loss at Kentucky with five punts for an average of 47.2 yards per punt with three of his five kicks forcing Kentucky to start inside its own 20 yard line. Foley had a season- long punt of 61 yards. The 61-yard punt bounced out of bounds at the two-yard line, while additional efforts were fair caught at the 11 and 10 yard line. Foley is averaging 46.3 yards per punt which would lead the MAC if he had enough punts to qualify.
