OGDEN, Utah (November 6, 2017) – The Big Sky Football ROOT SPORTS Players of the Week were announced on Monday by the league office. This week’s honors went to UC Davis’ Jake Maier for the ROOT SPORTS Offensive Player of the Week, Montana’s Connor Strahm for ROOT SPORTS Defensive Player of the Week, and UC Davis’ Matt Blair for the ROOT SPORTS Special Teams Player of the Week.
Maier helped UC Davis to a 56-17 road win at Idaho State. The quarterback threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another. The 56-point showing by the Aggies was the most for the program in the Big Sky era. The sophomore recorded 358 passing yards in the win – his seventh 300-yard performance this season, and is the first Big Sky quarterback to cross the 3,000 passing yard plateau this season.
Strahm led Montana with 16 tackles in the 17-15 win over Northern Arizona at home. The linebacker also recorded a sack, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, and forced fumble that led to a go-ahead touchdown for the Grizzlies.
Blair was a huge part of the UC Davis special teams unit on Saturday. He had four punts with three landing inside the 20. Blair averaged 50.5 yards per punt with kicks that sailed 58, 57 and 45 yards. He also had nine kickoffs with eight going for a touchback. Blair finished with 585 kickoff yards and averaged 65.0 yards per kick.
The ROOT SPORTS Game of the Week is Northern Colorado at Montana. The game is scheduled for
Other Nominees for ROOT SPORTS Offensive Player of the Week: Jared Mohamed, Cal Poly; Nsimba Walker, Eastern Washington; Ty Flanagan, Idaho State; Makena Sims, Montana; Alex Wesley, Northern Colorado; Davis Alexander, Portland State; Elijah Dotson, Sacramento State; Patrick Tyler, Southern Utah; Stefan Cantwell, Weber State.
Other Nominees for ROOT SPORTS Defensive Player of the Week: Mark Reza, Cal Poly; Ketner Kupp, Eastern Washington; Mario Jenkins, Idaho State; Kasun Jackett, Portland State; Jarmaine Doubs Jr., Southern Utah; Tucker Yates, Montana State; Keifer Morris, Northern Colorado; Ben Sorenson, Sacramento State; Ryan Bua, UC Davis; LeGrand Toia, Weber State.
Other Nominees for ROOT SPORTS Special Teams Player of the Week: Casey Sublette, Cal Poly; Roldan Alcobendas, Eastern Washington; Matt Peterson, Idaho State; Jerry Louie-McGee, Montana; Jered Padmos, Montana State; Devon Medeiros, Sacramento State; Jacob DeMaio, Weber State.
Press release courtesy of Denise Thompson – Big Sky Conference. All Rights Reserved.
