College Sports Journal FCS National Players of the Week Oct. 8

Five players including Devlin Hodges from Samford, Hayden Hildebrand from Central Arkasas, Ronald Smith II from Columbia, Justin Strong from Montana, and Elijah Marks from Northern Arizona have been selected as the College Sports Journal All-Stars for the week ending Oct. 8th, 2017 from the NCAA Division I FCS schools.

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

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

Cookus completed 26-of-45 passes for 380 yards with no interceptions and three touchdowns in the 37-16 upset victory over No. 7/11 Illinois State of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The win was the highest victory over a ranked team for the Big Sky this season. In addition to 380 passing yards, Cookus recorded his first career touchdown reception when he caught a 23-yard pass from true freshman wide receiver Chance Brewington.Prior to Saturday’s game, Illinois State previously unbeaten this season at 4-0, now 4-1 was the second-ranked team in the FCS in yards allowed at 166.5. Cookus and NAU recorded 431 yards of offense, breaking ISU’s previous opponent high of 311. The Redbirds had also only previously allowed three offensive touchdowns through its first-four games. NAU scored four touchdowns in the game.

 

Sean McGuire, Western Illinois, QB, Jr., Franklin, Wis.

McGuire completed 19-of-34 passes (55.9 percent) for 334 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in Western Illinois’ 38-29 win at UNI. After a UNI score put the Panthers ahead 29-25 with 1:12 left, McGuire engineered a nine-play, 65 yard drive, finding Jaelon Acklin for a go-ahead 20-yard touchdown with six seconds left. In the fourth quarter alone, McGuire was 7-for-12 for 160 yards and two touchdowns. In his 20 career starts, McGuire now has 10 300-yard passing games. Over the last 14 quarters of play, McGuire is 84-for-121 (69.4 percent) for 1,187 yards, 12 touchdowns and one interception.

 

Andre Stoddard, Wofford, FB, Jr., Greenville, S.C.

Stoddard ran for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns Saturday to lead the fifth-ranked Terriers to a 35-28 win over No. 22 Western Carolina in overtime. The junior from Greenville, South Carolina, averaged nearly 7.5 yards per attempt, carrying 21 times with a long of 31 yards, in his first career 100-yard rushing game. Both of Stoddard’s scoring runs came from 3 yards out, with his first tying the game at 21 after a successful two-point try with 3:52 left in the third quarter and his second coming on the second play of overtime to give Wofford a lead it would not lose.

 

Vincent Sellers, Tennessee State, S, Fr., Sarasota, Fla.

Sellers tied the NCAA FCS record with two interception returns for touchdowns in Tennessee State’s 45-21 victory at Eastern Kentucky. With TSU clinging to a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter, Sellers picked off Tim Boyle and returned the ball 34 yards for a touchdown with 6:40 to play. Less than three minutes later, Sellers once again picked off Boyle and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown to give the Tigers a 38-21 lead. Sellers became the 29th person in FCS history to achieve the feat. The freshman also added eight tackles (seven solo) and added a pass breakup.

Sean Smith, Dayton, P, Jr., Avandale, Pa.

Smith averaged 43 yards per punt to help Dayton down Drake, 20-10, in PFL action, Saturday. Five of his seven punts were downed inside the Drake 20-yard line with two punts going for more than 50 yards. Smith punted three times from inside Drake territory but when punting from inside his own 25 he boomed an average of 56.7 yards on three punts. Drake attempted just one return on his seven punts but muffed the catch and the ball was recovered by Dayton.