DALLAS — UTSA defensive lineman Trumane Bell II has been named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week following his performance in the 27-13 win over Middle Tennessee, the league office announced on Monday.
Bell II led a dominant defensive showing for the Roadrunners in their league opener last Saturday at the Alamodome. The Dallas native registered four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a pair of sacks, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble to help the Roadrunners hold the Blue Raiders to 199 yards of offense and keep them off the scoreboard until the final three and a half minutes of the game. Bell posted a sack in the second quarter for a loss of 11 yards and then had a strip-sack early in the fourth quarter that resulted in a 3-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Lorenzo Dantzler.
Bell and the UTSA defense yielded only eight rushing yards to the Blue Raiders, tied for the third-fewest allowed in a game in program history. The Roadrunners currently rank 10th in the nation in total defense with a conference-best 244.3 yards allowed per game.
This marks the third straight week a UTSA player has earned a conference weekly award, as Hunter Duplessis and Sheldon Jones were named the C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week following the first two wins this season.
UAB's Gerrit Prince and Kyle Greenwell won the C-USA Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week honor, respectively. The 2021 C-USA Players of the Week awards are presented by Surf & Turf Golf and are voted on by a panel of the league's media.
The Roadrunners will hit the road to face Memphis in a battle of 3-0 teams this Saturday, Sept. 25. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
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