College Sports Journal FCS National Players of the Week Oct. 15

Five players including Troy Pelletier from Lehigh, Case Cookus from Northern Arizona, Sam Straub from Southern Illinois, Michael Murphy from Columbia, and Lorran Fonseca from Nicholls have been selected as the College Sports Journal All-Stars for the week ending Oct. 15th, 2017 from the NCAA Division I FCS schools.

The honorees are listed here with their achievements and their school, position, class, and hometown.

Lehigh WR Troy Pelletier

Troy Pelletier, Lehigh, WR, Sr., Deerfield, New Hampshire

Pelletier broke his own Patriot League single-game record with 16 receptions and tied the League’s single-game touchdown reception record with four to go along with 197 receiving yards in Lehigh’s 54-35 victory over Georgetown on Saturday. Three of Pelletier’s touchdowns came in a decisive second quarter for the Mountain Hawks. The senior wide receiver tied the Patriot League career touchdown reception record, catching his 34th touchdown pass of his career in the quarter. Pelletier also had a pass breakup on the last play of the first half.

NAU QB Case Cookus

 

 

Case Cookus, Northern Arizona, QB, R-So., Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Cookus led NAU to its fourth straight win with a 42-20 road win at Portland State. The sophomore completed 23-of-39 passes for 347 yards and a long of 51 yards. Cookus tossed four touchdown passes to four different receivers. He surpassed 6,000 career passing yards with a seven-yard toss to Hunter Burton in the second quarter. Cookus helped NAU score 28 unanswered points in the second half to improve to 3-0 in Big Sky play.

SIU QB Sam Straub

 

Sam Straub, Southern Illinois, QB, Jr., Ames, Iowa

Straub threw for 368 yards and four touchdowns in SIU’s 42-7 win over No. 15 Illinois State on Saturday. Straub went 22-for-34 (65 percent) in the game without turning the ball over. His 368 yards were 10th-most in school history, and he became the first player in program history with three career games of 4+ touchdown passes.

Columbia LB Michael Murphy

 

Michael Murphy, Columbia, LB, So., 200, Tampa, Florida

Murphy made his presence felt against Penn on Saturday, setting career-highs in tackles (12), tackles for loss (4.5) and fumble recoveries (two). He also recorded a sack in the come-from-behind win. Murphy was no stranger to Ivy League fotball growing up, as his father Jeff played for Penn from 1978-80.

Nicholls PK Lorran Fonseca

 

Lorran Fonseca, Nicholls, PK, Jr., Hercules, California

Fonseca set the Colonels’ single-game field goal record with a perfect 5-for-5 day in their 29-20 win over Abilene Christian. The Wildcat defense allowed just one touchdown, but Fonseca delivered every time to keep the Colonels ahead. After ACU scored a touchdown in the fourth to make the score 26-20, Fonseca booted his longest field goal of the game, a 44-yarder, to make it a two-possession game. The field goal also broke Adam Diel’s record of four, set in 1996.