Southern Illinois’ Nic Baker, William & Mary’s Nate Lynn, Utah Tech’s Connor Brooksby and Stonehill’s Nigel Henderson were selected Monday as the FedEx Ground FCS National Players of the Week for Week 3 college football games ending this past Saturday.
In addition, Sacramento State was named the FCS National Team of the Week.
The five honorees plus honorable mention selections:
FedEx Ground FCS National Offensive Player of the Week
Nic Baker, Southern Illinois, QB, Sr., 5-9, 202, Rochester, Illinois
Baker was in command of the second half of the 91st War of the Wheel rivalry game, passing for 404 of his 458 yards to rally his Missouri Valley squad to a 26-25 win at then-No. 13 Southeast Missouri. He was 37-for-51 overall with three touchdowns, including the game-winner on a nine-yard, fourth-down connection to Izaiah Hartrup with 11 seconds remaining. Baker, who had two interceptions in the first half, has three career games above 450 passing yards and 11 with three or more TD passes.
Honorable Mention: Jeff Caldwell, WR, Lindenwood; Coulter Cleland, QB, Davidson; Jermaine Corbett, TB, Stonehill; Kinkead Dent, QB, UT Martin; Mike DiLiello, QB, Austin Peay; Tyler Huff, QB, Furman; Cam Miller, QB, North Dakota State; Brandon Porter, WR, UIW; ShunDerrick Powell, RB, Central Arkansas; Desmond Reid, RB, Western Carolina; NaQuari Rogers, RB, Campbell; Sam Schnee, WR, Northern Iowa; Matthew Sluka, QB, Holy Cross; Jake Wilcox, QB, Brown
FedEx Ground FCS National Defensive Player of the Week
Nate Lynn, William & Mary, DE, Sr., 6-3, 260, Charlotte, North Carolina
Lynn anchored a dominating effort in which William & Mary’s defense allowed just 77 total yards and zero points in a 15-7 victory at Charleston Southern. He recorded a team-high seven tackles, including five solos and two for loss, and had a strip sack that resulted in a safety and an 8-7 Tribe lead. It marked the first time the CAA program held an opponent under 100 yards since 1996 and the fewest yards allowed by an FCS defense against a Division I opponent in the last two seasons.
Honorable Mention: Khalil Arnold, LB, Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Ty Bartrum, S, Harvard; Jacob Dobbs, LB, Holy Cross; Devon Edwards, LB, Lindenwood; Kenny Gallop Jr., S, Howard; Braxton Hill, LB, Montana; Robert Javier, CB, Towson; PJ Jules, DB, Southern Illinois; Blake Ruffin, S, Eastern Illinois; Jeff Stanley, DL, Sacramento State; Tim Steward, S, Jackson State; CJ Williams, CB, Western Carolina; Junior Wily, LB, Wagner
FedEx Ground FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week
Connor Brooksby, Utah Tech, PK, Jr., 6-2, 220, St. George, Utah
Brooksby was perfect on five field goals and five extra points while scoring 20 points as his United Athletic Conference team beat Northern Arizona 50-36 to end a 14-game losing streak against the Big Sky. It tied for the second-most points by an FCS kicker in the last 12 seasons. The lefty kicker, who had a pair of 48-yard field goals, became the program’s all-time leading scorer (156 points), and also averaged 60.7 yards on 10 kickoffs.
Honorable Mention: Jeremy Edwards, P, Eastern Kentucky; Nivon Holland, WR/KR, Charleston Southern; William Hughes, P, Columbia; Jackson Kennedy, PK/P, Cornell; Tucker Large, S/PR, South Dakota State; Aidan Lehman, PK, San Diego; James Lowery, PK, Tennessee State; Grant Nickel, P, Abilene Christian; Kyle Romenick, P, Elon; Kam Thomas, WR/Return, Austin Peay; Jordan Toles, FS/ST, Morgan State
FedEx Ground FCS National Freshman Player of the Week
Nigel Henderson, Stonehill, DB, Fr., 5-10, 180, Hanover, Maryland
Henderson helped Stonehill hand Georgetown its first loss 23-20 and post a second consecutive road win on the FCS level for the first time. Shortly after his Northeast Conference squad kicked a go-ahead field goal, Henderson forced a fumble that was recovered by a teammate with 3:31 left, and the Skyhawks burned the clock to inside one minute. He also had four solo tackles, giving him nine in the back-to-back wins.
Honorable Mention: Jaden Barnes, WR/Returns, Austin Peay; Quincy Craig, RB/Return, Portland State; Scottre Humphrey, RB, Montana State; Anthony Johnson, WR, Stony Brook; Mack Mikko, PK, Presbyterian; KT Seay, DB, Delaware
FedEx Ground FCS National Team of the Week
Sacramento State (30-23 win at Stanford)
Sac State posted its 22nd straight regular-season victory, beating a Power-Five opponent that is now led by former Hornets coach Troy Taylor. Running back Marcus Fulcher’s 49-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown broke a 23-23 tie with 1:32 remaining. The offense was a combined 12 of 17 on third- and fourth-down conversions, with quarterback Kaiden Bennett accounting for 379 yards of total offense and two TDs. Linebacker Armon Bailey (sack) and safety Cameron Broussard (interception) shared game-high honors with 11 tackles each.
Honorable Mention: Eastern Illinois (14-13 win over Illinois State); Holy Cross (49-24 win at Yale); Tennessee State (27-25 win over Gardner-Webb); Utah Tech (50-36 win at Northern Arizona)
