North Carolina A&T’s Bhayshul Tuten, UT Martin’s Daylan Dotson, Towson’s D’Ago Hunter and LIU’s Luca Stanzani were selected Monday as the FedEx Ground FCS National Players of the Week for Week 9 college football games through Saturday.
In addition, Saint Francis earned FCS National Team of the Week.
The five honorees plus honorable mention selections:
FedEx Ground FCS National Offensive Player of the Week
Bhayshul Tuten, North Carolina A&T, RB, So., 5-11, 195, Paulsboro, New Jersey
Tuten set career highs with 30 carries and 256 rushing yards, while scoring on 42- and 70-yard runs, as North Carolina A&T beat Campbell 45-38 in an important Big South game. The rushing yardage set an A&T record for Homecoming Day, extended Tuten’s school mark to seven consecutive games over 100 yards and allowed him to surpass 1,000 this season. He also had an eight-yard reception.
Honorable Mention: Nic Baker, QB Southern Illinois; Marcus Cooper, RB, UIW; Theo Day, QB, Northern Iowa; Cole Doyle, QB, Saint Francis; Bailey Fisher, QB, Gardner-Webb; Ryan Flournoy, WR, Southeast Missouri; Victor Gabalis, QB, Utah Tech; Darius Hale, RB, Central Arkansas; Miles Hastings, QB, UC Davis; Andrew McElroy, WR, St. Thomas; Jacob Saylors, RB, ETSU; Matthew Sluka, QB, Holy Cross; Nasir Smith, RB, Central Connecticut State; Zak Wallace, RB, UT Martin; Jimmy Weirick, QB, Wofford; Hajj-Malik Williams, QB, Campbell
FedEx Ground FCS National Defensive Player of the Week
Daylan Dotson, UT Martin, DE, So., 6-3, 280, Savannah, Georgia
One of the Ohio Valley Conference’s top pass rushers, Dotson led the defensive excellence as UT Martin forced seven turnovers in a 52-28, non-conference win at Houston Christian. He had five tackles, played a part in three sacks – one solo and two assists that totaled 20 yards in losses – forced two fumbles and recovered a pair of fumbles. He recovered one of his forced fumbles in the HCU end zone for the game’s first touchdown.
Honorable Mention: Colton Adams, LB, Alabama State; Bailey Armon, LB, Sacramento State; Teddye Buchanan, LB, UC Davis; Donte’ Daniels, LB, Southeastern Louisiana; Mikey Jarmolowich, DB, Colgate; Brent Jackson, S, Bucknell; Malaki Malaki, LB, Utah Tech; Garrett Morris, LB, Penn; Eric O’Neill, QB, LIU; Raequan Ousley, DB, Gardner-Webb; Jamias Presley, CB, Prairie View A&M; Omar Rogers, DB, Elon; Sam Schadek, DT, Dayton; Manny Smith, DB, North Carolina Central; Jordan Vincent, S, Eastern Illinois
FedEx Ground FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week
D’Ago Hunter, Towson, WR/KR/PR, R-Sr., 5-6, 160, Culpeper, Virginia
Hunter scored on a 92-yard kickoff return and had a 74-yard punt return as part of his 271 total return yards in Towson’s 52-48 win at Monmouth in CAA Football. He returned five kickoffs for 181 yards and two punts for 90 yards, with the combined yardage the most by an FCS player since 2015. He also had 52 rushing yards and 11 receiving yards in finishing with 334 all-purpose yards (the third-highest total of the FCS season).
Honorable Mention: Gabriel Benyard, RB/RS, Kennesaw State; Adebi Chukwuemeka, TE/ST, Cornell; Austin Dunlap, P, Southeastern Louisiana; Devron Harper Jr., WR/RS, Mercer; Matthew Jester, LB/ST, Princeton; Davion Johnson, KR, Abilene Christian; Colby Kintner, PK, The Citadel; Seth Morgan, PK, Sam Houston; Jose Pizano, PK, Missouri State
FedEx Ground FCS National Freshman Player of the Week
Luca Stanzani, QB, LIU, Fr., 5-11, 180, Clearwater, Florida
Making his first collegiate start, Stanzani accounted for 380 yards of total offense and five touchdowns plus threw the game-winning two-point conversion in the second overtime of LIU’s first victory, 50-48 at Duquesne in the Northeast Conference. He was 22 of 27 while posting the highest passer rating (230.6) in LIU’s four Division I seasons. The Sharks’ point total was 19 more than in any of their prior 31 D-I games.
Honorable Mention: Zach Hrbacek, RB, Sam Houston; Ismail Mahdi, RB, Houston Christian; Kyle Parsons, RB/KR, Wofford; Patrick Rohrbach, P, Montana; Elijah Sarratt, WR, Saint Francis; Rahkeem Smith, RB, Delaware State
FedEx Ground FCS National Team of the Week
Saint Francis (44-14 win at Sacred Heart)
It’s uncommon for a team to clinch an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs prior to November, but Saint Francis did in the NEC. The Red Flash (6-2, 5-0) scored touchdowns on their first five possessions, with quarterback Cole Doyle rushing for one and passing for the next four (three to Elijah Sarratt) while they built a 34-0 lead. QuaSean Holmes rushed for 168 yards, and Marcel Mami, Willie O’Hara and Gregory Reddick tied for the game high with 10 tackles each. It’s the team’s second all-time playoff bid (2016).
Honorable Mention: Brown (34-31 win over Penn); Jackson State (35-0 win over Southern); Holy Cross (53-52 overtime win over Fordham); Morgan State (41-14 win over South Carolina State); Utah Tech (47-44 win at Stephen F. Austin)