MAC Announces Week Seven East and West Division Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week

East Division

Offensive Player of the Week: Miami RB Kenny Young

Miami senior running back Kenny Young (Tallahassee, Fla.) had 137 yards from scrimmage in a little over 30 minutes of action in Miami’s 31-6 win over Kent State. Young rushed the ball for 90 yards (on 10 attempts) with a touchdown, while also adding a team-high 47 yards receiving on three catches. Young and the entire Miami offense had a season-high 504 yards of total offense.

Defensive Player of the Week: Buffalo LB Khalil Hodge

Buffalo senior linebacker Khalil Hodge (Stockton, Calif.) had a game-high 12 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry in a 24-6 win over Akron on Saturday. Buffalo’s senior linebacker spearheaded the Bulls’ best defensive effort of the season.

The Bulls held the Zips out of the end zone, marking the first time since 2013 Buffalo didn’t allow a touchdown in a game. The Bulls held Akron to just 235 yards of total offense.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Ohio P Michael Farkas

Ohio junior punter Michael Farkas (Mishawaka, Ind.) recorded five punts for a total of 199 yards, averaging 39.8 yards a punt in a 24-21 loss at NIU. Farkas pinned two punts inside the 20 and got off a 59-yard punt early in the first half, tying his season-long. Farkas also registered four kickoffs registering 197 total yards while averaging 49.2 yards per kickoff, while recording only one touchback.

West Division

Offensive Player of the Week: Western Michigan RB Jamauri Bogan

Western Michigan senior running back Jamauri Bogan (Union, N.J.) scored four touchdowns in a 42-35 come-from-behind win at Bowling Green. Bogan had touchdowns run of 9, 5, 7 and 3 yards. The last two touchdowns came in the fourth quarter as the Broncos tied the game at 35-35 and then went ahead for the game-winning score, 42-35.

It was the third time in his career he has rushed for four scores and the first time since he was named the Bahamas Bowl MVP in 2015.

Bogan is the only player in the MAC to rush for four touchdowns in a game this season. He currently leads the MAC with eight rushing touchdowns. Bogan carried the ball 15 times in the game, racking up 75 yards. Western Michigan (5-2 overall) has won five games in a row and is off to a 3-0 start in MAC play.

Defensive Player of the Week: Northern Illinois LB Sutton Smith

Northern Illinois junior defensive end Sutton Smith (St. Charles, Mo.) continues to make huge plays for the Huskie defense and on Saturday versus Ohio, came up with one of the biggest plays of the game with a strip sack and fumble recovery to set up NIU’s game-winning touchdown in a 24-21 victory. After NIU scored to trim Ohio’s led to 21-16, Smith sacked Ohio quarterback Nathan Rourke, stripping the ball in the process, and then fell on the ball to give the Huskies possession at its 47-yard line.

The fumble recovery was Smith’s second of the game. He had two sacks for minus 18 yards and 2.5 tackles for loss among his five total tackles in the game. Smith has three strip sacks-forced fumbles on the season, seven sacks, which ranks 10th nationally, and 13 tackles for loss, ranked fourth nationally). He leads the MAC in both categories.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Ball State K Morgan Hagee

Ball State senior kicker Morgan Hagee (Plainfield, Ind.) nailed a 36-yard game winning field goal with 47 seconds left in regulation to give the Cardinals a 24-23 win at Central Michigan. The game-winning field goal was the first for Ball State since 2014. Hagee leads the MAC with 11 field goals.

*** As provided by the MAC Communications team***