Cougar teammate Zach Vaughan was the only obstacle in the way of Brandon Wilson’s on his way to six points. | Justin Tijerina/The Cougar
After taking home the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff Trophy on Saturday, a pair of Cougars bagged another accolade when the American Athletic Conference announced its selection for players of the week on Monday.
Senior quarterback Greg Ward Jr. was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week while senior cornerback Brandon Wilson was the Special Teams Player of the Week.
Ward, who is known for his scrambling ability, used his arm to beat the University of Oklahoma Sooners, as he went 23-of-40 passing and amassed 321 yards through the air. It was just the fourth time in his career that Ward threw for over 300 yards in his career, and he did so against the best passing defense in the Big 12 Conference last season.
He found junior wide receiver Steven Dunbar seven times for 125 yards but also connected with six other receivers in the victory.
When facing third down, Ward went 8-of-10 for 143 yards. All eight completions went for first downs.
Despite the quarterback’s performance, Wilson’s 109-yard touchdown return on a missed field goal attempt by OU was a substantial moment for the Cougars.
In addition to his conference special teams’ honors, Wilson was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week a day earlier. He had a game-high and career-high 10 tackles, including one tackle for loss.
“He’s strong,” Head coach Tom Herman said of Wilson on Monday, during his weekly press conference. “He’s pound-for-pound one of, if not the most, (strongest guys) on our team. He runs really, really hard and he’s fast when he does it. When he is in the open field he can run away from people and run through some angles.”
Although the duo’s hard work has paid off in week one, they will need the effort of everyone on the team as they take on the Lamar University Cardinals on Saturday.
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“Cougars duo wins player of the week honors” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar