College Sports Journal FBS Group of Five National Players of the Week-Sept. 23
The honorees are listed here with their achievements and their school, position, class, and hometown.
Josh Love, QB, San Jose State, Sr., Mission Viejo, Calif.
Love led San José State to a 31-24 road victory over Arkansas—the first win over a Power Five school since 2006. He completed a career-high 32 passes for 402 yards and two touchdowns, while leading the Spartans to their first win over a SEC opponent. He directed a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, covering 1:43 to give SJSU its final lead of the game.
Bryant Koback, RB, Toledo, So., Holland, Ohio
Koback rushed for a career-high 228 yards and three touchdowns, with 168 yards coming in the third quarter, in a 41-35 win at Colorado State. It was the most yards by a Toledo running back since Kareem Hunt rushed for 271 yards vs. Arkansas State in the 2014 GoDaddy Bowl. Koback ran for touchdowns of 37, 75 and 47 yards in Toledo’s first three possessions of the third quarter. The 75-yarder was the longest run of his collegiate career. Koback also grabbed his first ever touchdown reception, an eight-yard touchdown grab in the first quarter.
Elijah Mitchell, RB, Louisiana, Jr., Erath, La.
Mitchell was dominant in Louisiana’s big road win at Ohio, carrying the ball 17 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns. The 143 yards were a season best and his performance on Saturday marked the fourth time in his career where he had three touchdowns in a game. He eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the sixth time in his career. Mitchell has now had at least two scores in back-to-back games.
Demetrius Taylor, DL, Appalachian State, Jr., Miami, Fla.
Taylor had a career performance in the Mountaineers’ 34-31 win at North Carolina, totaling a career-high 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles, while scoring his first career touchdown and snagging his first career interception. He’s the first FBS player since at least 2000 with 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble return for a touchdown and an interception in the same game. Taylor was a force in the Tar Heel backfield all game long, starting with his first-quarter strip sack that he located, scooped and returned 20-yards for a touchdown. That gave App State its first lead of the game (13-7) that it would never relinquish. Taylor’s next big play was an interception that he tipped to himself and returned 19 yards to set up another Mountaineer score that put the Mountaineers ahead 20-7. In addition to those two takeaways, he forced another fumble on second strip sack and broke up a pass at the line of scrimmage.
Bailey Hale, K, Louisiana Tech, Sr., Iowa Park, Tex.
Hale continued his success in the kicking game on Friday evening, connecting on all five of his field goal tries (5-for-5 from 25 (twice), 29, 41 and 45) and all four of his extra-point attempts in a conference-opening win over FIU. His 19 points were the most scored by a C-USA kicker since September 2014 and tied for the third-most ever by a C-USA kicker. Hale’s 5-for-5 outing tied the LA Tech program record (which Hale also matched last season at North Texas). He became just one of four Bulldog kickers to connect on five FGA twice in a career. Since missing his first two FG attempts of the season in Tech’s opener, Hale has made seven consecutive field goals. He is also a perfect 13-for-13 on extra points this season.
Originally from LaMoure, North Dakota, Kent is a 1996 graduate of North Dakota State University. His prior writing experience is over 15 years having previously worked with D2football.com, I-AA.org, and College Sporting News before coming to College Sports Journal in 2016. His main focus is college football is the Missouri Valley Football Conference within the Division I FCS. And in 2017, he began also to look at the FBS Group of Five conferences of the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt.
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