Miami's Merriweather Named Offensive Player of the Week
9/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 13, 2010
OXFORD, Ohio -- Thomas Merriweather, Miami's senior running back who rushed for 105 yards in the RedHawks' victory over Eastern Michigan, has been named the Mid-American Conference's East Division Offensive Player of the Week.
The native of Florissant, Merriweather carried the ball 15 times, three of which accounted for touchdowns. He scored the game's first TD on a 23-yard gallop with 12:06 left in the first quarter. Merriweather ran 20 yards for his second touchdown in the third period, then scored the game winner with 9:03 remaining in the fourth quarter.
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MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES WEEK TWO FOOTBALL OFFENSIVE, DEFENSIVE AND SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
East Division Offensive Player of the Week: Miami RB Thomas Merriweather Senior running back Thomas Merriweather (Flourissant, Mo.) topped the century rushing mark for the second time in his career with 105 yards on 15 carries (7.0 ypc) and tied his career high with three touchdowns, including the game-winner from nine yards out with 9:03 remaining. Merriweather finished the opening drive of the game with a 23-yard scoring scamper, Miami's first touchdown of the season. He also had a 20-yard score in the third quarter to even the game at 21-21.
Defensive Player of the Week: Temple DT Muhammad Wilkerson Junior defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson (Linden, N.J.) had six tackles, a career-high two sacks, a career-high three tackles for loss and one forced fumble in Temple's 13-10 overtime win over Central Michigan last Thursday. After two games, Wilkerson stands second in team tackles with 11, including nine solos, and leads the Owls with 3.5 TFL and two sacks.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Kent State K Freddy Cortez Sophomore kicker Freddie Cortez (Fort Meade, Fla.) converted two field goals from 45 and 41 yards in a 26-13 loss at Boston College. It was the first time in his career Cortez has made two field goals of 40+ yards and the first kick was a yard shy of his career-long. Cortez has made 14-of-15 during the seven-game stretch, including all four this season and seven in a row overall.
West Division Offensive Player of the Week: Western Michigan QB Alex Carder Sophomore quarterback Alex Carder (Shawnee, Kan.) completed a career-high 24-of-33 passing (72.7 percent) for 298 yards and five touchdowns in a 49-14 win over Nicholls State. Carder became the sixth Bronco QB with five passing TDs in a game in program history and the first since Oct. 8, 2005. Carder through TDs to four different receivers, hitting Jordan White twice, and Dallas Walker, Blake Hammond and Ansel Ponder once.
Defensive Player of the Week: Toledo LB Dan Molls Sophomore linebacker Dan Molls (North Royalton, Ohio) totaled a career-high 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack and two interceptions in a 20-13 road win at Ohio. Molls set up the first Toledo touchdown with a 28-yard interception return to the 2-yard line. Molls picked off another pass at the Ohio 15-yard line and also had a fourth-down sack with two minutes remaining that gave Toledo the ball and sealed the victory.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Eastern Michigan P Jay Karutz Sophomore punter Jay Karutz (North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia) racked up four punts for 198 yards for a 49.5 yard average against the RedHawks with three of the four inside the 20-yard line, including two that were downed inside the one-yard line. His fourth punt was a 56 yarder that went out of bounds. That 49.5 yard average is a school record, shattering the previous single-game mark of 49.0 set by Jerry Wedge versus Eastern Illinois University, Oct. 27, 1956.
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