College Football 2020: Surprises, awards by conference from Week 12

Group of Five individual awards and recognitions

Let’s continue to look at the players who made major impacts in leading their team to victory in Week 12 from the Group of Five.

American Athletic Conference

• Offensive Player of the Week: Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder played another amazing game. He threw for 338 yards including two touchdown passes, two rushing touchdowns and no interceptions to lead the Bearcats to their eighth win of the season.
• Defensive Player of the Week: Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins had 15 tackles in the Golden Hurricane’s six-point victory over Tulane. He had eight solo tackles but his biggest impact on the game was an interception returned 96 yards for a touchdown.
• Special Teams Player of the Week: East Carolina kick and punt returner Tyler Snead had a very impressive game against Temple. He returned two kick returns for 111 yards for an average of 55.5 yards per return as well as catching five punts and returning them for a total of 58 yards. His most impressive return was when he took an East Carolina kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

Conference USA

• Offensive Player of the Week: UTSA running back Sincere McCormick had an outstanding game in their conference win over Southern Mississippi. He ran for 173 yards, two touchdowns and also caught two passes.
• Defensive Player of the Week: Western Kentucky linebacker Eli Brown had an interception for the Hilltoppers that he returned 22 yards for a touchdown. He also had eight tackles with five of them being solo and three of them being for a loss. He helped the Western Kentucky defense limit Florida International to only 147 yards passing.
• Special Teams Player of the Week: Western Kentucky punter John Haggerty had eight punts for a total of 426 yards giving him an average of 53.3 yards per punt with his longest punt going 63 yards. His outstanding punting gave Florida International poor field position all game with the Panthers gaining only 35 yards in punt return yards versus the Hilltoppers’ punt coverage team.

MAC

• Offensive Player of the Week: Buffalo running back Jaret Patterson had himself a game in a conference win over Bowling Green. Patterson ran for 301 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Bulls remain undefeated.
• Defensive Player of the Week: Ball State defensive back Amechi Uzodinma II returned an interception 71 yards in a six-point game for a touchdown. He also had two solo tackles and two pass deflections, leading the Cardinals to a win over Northern Illinois.
• Special Teams Player of the Week: Kent State kicker Matthew Trickett had a busy day in the Golden Flashes’ victory over Akron. He made all nine of his extra point attempts and kicked off 11 times in a high-scoring game.