IRVING, Texas — UTSA senior Martavius French has been chosen as the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the 44-36 victory over No. 25 Memphis this past Saturday at the Alamodome, the league office announced Monday.
French racked up 10 tackles to help the Roadrunners register their first-ever win against a ranked team, extending the home winning streak to eight games in the process. The inside linebacker tallied five solo stops and a pair of tackles for loss to help UTSA hold the Tigers’ potent rushing attack to only 62 yards, the sixth opponent this season to be limited to fewer than 100 yards on the ground.
French leads UTSA with 53 total tackles and 11.5 TFLs to go with one sack, three pass breakups and a pair of quarterback hurries this season. The Memphis native ranks second in The American and 19th in the FBS with 1.3 tackles for loss per game.
Additionally, Owen McCown was selected as one of five players for the league’s honorable mention player of the week list after passing for 280 yards and four touchdowns and also rushing for 28 yards. He completed 20 of 37 passes in notching his second consecutive four-TD outing.
McCown also landed on the Davey O’Brien Award’s Great 8 along with Zeon Chriss (Houston), Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Kevin Jennings (SMU), Jalen Kitna (UAB), Kurtis Rourke (Indiana), LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina) and Cam Ward (Miami). The Davey O’Brien National QB of the Week will be announced Tuesday.
UAB quarterback Jalen Kitna won the AAC Offensive Player of the Week award and return specialist Kam Shanks claimed the special teams honor.
The Roadrunners are idle this weekend before hosting North Texas on Friday, Nov 15. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Alamodome and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Fans can purchase tickets online or by calling the UTSA Ticket Office at 210-458-UTSA (8872) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding holidays.
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