By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech junior defensive lineman Hudson Tucker was everywhere on Saturday afternoon, terrorizing the Tennessee State offense as he was able to get into the backfield and shut plays down.
The Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association selected Tucker as its Defensive Player of the Week among strong competition. The awards are voted on by the league's sports information contacts.
While Tucker didn't have the scoring statistics that Tennessee State's Boogie Trotter had on the losing side of the 24-14 Golden Eagle victory at Tucker Stadium, Tucker's numbers were very impressive. To go along with his six total tackles, the Kingsland, Ga., native flushed out TSU quarterback Draylen Ellis four times, while also recording 2.5 tackles-for-loss for 16 yards and two sacks for 14 yards.
Tucker was also named an honorable mention by Stats Perform as the FCS National Defensive Player of the Week, behind Weber State's Kemari Munier-Bailey, who recorded eight tackles – six for-loss for 25 yards – with three sacks.
In all, the Golden Eagles recorded seven total sacks in the contest – the most since recording eight against Eastern Illinois in 2010. The defense also held Tennessee State to exactly zero rushing yards in the contest.
Southeast Missouri quarterback Paxton DeLaurent was the Offensive Player of the Week, while Eastern Illinois' Jacob Horvath and Lindenwood's Logan Seibert split the Specialist of the Week honor. Southeast Missouri's Payton Brown was named the Freshman of the Week.
DeLaurent threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-21 win at FCS No. 7 Southern Illinois, Horvath averaged 51.2 yards per punt with a long punt of 66 yards in the Panthers' 31-7 loss at No. 15 Illinois State and Seibert was 3-for-3 on field goals and 7-for-8 on PATs for 16 points in Lindenwood's 64-0 win over St. Thomas. Brown ran for 124 yards and a touchdown, while also catching two passes for 27 yards in the Redhawk victory.
The Golden Eagles (1-2, 1-0 Big South/OVC) return to action on Saturday as they head to Boiling Springs, N.C., for a 3 p.m. Central kickoff against Gardner-Webb. Tech is back home at Tucker Stadium on October 5 as the Golden Eagles host South Carolina State.
Tickets for Tennessee Tech Football are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or order online at TTUsports.com.
Photo | Jim Dillon
