Olsen, Brown, Beckstead, Hawkins Honored as ROOT SPORTS Players of the Week
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GDEN, Utah (Oct. 27, 2014) - The Big Sky Conference has selected the ROOT SPORTS football Players of the Week for games played on Saturday, Oct. 25. Cal Poly quarterback Chris Brown and Southern Utah quarterback Ammon Olsen are the Co-Offensive Players of the Week. Idaho State linebacker Mitch Beckstead is the Defensive Player of the Week. Northern Arizona kicker/punter Ryan Hawkins is the Special Teams Player of the Week.
Brown, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior from Compton, Calif., rushed for a career-high 226 yards and two touchdowns, and threw for 107 yards and a touchdown in Cal Poly’s 41-21 upset of No. 7 Montana. Brown set a Cal Poly single-game rushing record by a quarterback. He averaged 10.8 yards per carry, scoring on runs of 17 and 15 yards. He also tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass. This is Brown’s first career Player of the Week honor.
Olsen, a 6-3, 190-pound junior from Draper, Utah, completed 23-of-25 passes for 320 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in Southern Utah’s 35-17 win over North Dakota. Olsen also scored on a 4-yard TD run. He finished the game with a pass efficiency rating of 320, just shy of the league record of 322.3. Olsen threw TD passes of 4, 2, 37 and 87 yards. This is Olsen’s first career Player of the Week honor.
Beckstead, a 6-foot, 235-pound senior from Dayton, Idaho, tallied 11 tackles – two for loss –with one sack, a forced fumble and an interception as Idaho State snapped a 48-game road losing streak with a 46-12 win over Northern Colorado. Beckstead tallied seven solo tackles. His forced fumble was recovered by a teammate and returned 53 yards to the Northern Colorado 1-yard line, setting up the Bengals’ final touchdown. ISU held Northern Colorado to 55 yards of offense in the first half. The 12 points were the fewest allowed by the Bengals to a Division I opponent since 2002. This is Beckstead’s first career Player of the Week honor.
Hawkins, a 5-11, 185-pound junior from Peoria, Ariz., connected on three field goals and averaged 55.5 yards per punt in Northern Arizona’s 28-27 upset of No. 2 Eastern Washington. Hawkins made field goals of 44, 26 and 42 yards. The 42-yarder pulled the Lumberjacks within 24-22 in the fourth quarter. Hawkins took over punting duties for the first time, and blasted a 70-yarder on his first attempt. He also had punts of 40, 67 and 45 yards. Six of his seven kickoffs went for touchbacks. This is Hawkins first career Player of the Week honor.
Big Sky Conference football on ROOT SPORTS continues this Saturday when No. 12 Montana plays host to Sacramento State. Coverage begins at Noon, Mountain, on ROOT SPORTS and DIRECTV’s Audience Network.
Others Nominated
OFFENSE
Quincy Forte, RB, Eastern Washington
Xavier Finney, RB, Idaho State
Jamal Jones, WR, Montana
Jer Garman, RB, North Dakota
Alex Holmes, WR, Northern Arizona
Kieran McDonagh, QB, Portland State
DEFENSE
Nick Dzubnar, LB, Cal Poly
Ronnie Hamlin, LB, Eastern Washington
Matt Hermanson, S, Montana
Austin Hasquet, LB, Northern Arizona
Jeremy Lutali, LB, Portland State
Chinedu Ahanonu, LB, Southern Utah
Tre’Von Johnson, LB, Weber State
Special Teams
Tyler McNannay, K, Eastern Washington
Chris Lider, P/K, Montana
Jonathan Gonzales, K, Portland State
Tate Lewis, P, Southern Utah