Tulsa Players Earn American Athletic Conference Weekly Honors
10/5/2020 10:43:00 AM | Football
IRVING, Texas –– A pair of Tulsa football student-athletes earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors today, while a third was named to the weekly honor roll, the league announced today.
Linebacker Zaven Collins was named the Defensive Player of the Week and punter Lachlan Wilson earned the Special Teams Player of the Week, and quarterback Zach Smith was named to the AAC's Honor Roll.
The trio of players played major roles Saturday as Tulsa handed the No. 11-ranked UCF Knights a 34-26 loss in an American Athletic Conference road game.
Collins, a 6'4" junior from Hominy, Okla., led a Tulsa defense that held the Knights to 24 points under their season average and to 191 yards under their nation-leading offensive average.
Collins had a team-leading 10 tackles (7 solos, 3 assists), 3.5 TFLs for -11 yards, one interception for a 13-yard return, two pass break-ups and one QB hurry. His second-quarter tackle for loss gave Tulsa a safety for its first two points of the game in an 18-point comeback victory.
In two games this year Collins averages 8.0 tackles, 3.75 TFLs and 1.5 sacks.
Special teams played a huge role in Tulsa's victory and Wilson was a big part of that performance. Wilson pinned UCF inside the 10-yard line on four occasions and ended the game with 7 punts for a 45.1-yard average, including a long of 67 yards.
Wilson, a 6'3" freshman from Eaglemont, Victoria, Australia, had a 48-yard punt to the UCF 9-yard line that eventually led to a safety and Tulsa's first 2 points of the game late in the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, he punted his career-long 67-yarder to the UCF 4. In the 3rd quarter with Tulsa trailing 26-25, Wilson had a 36-yard punt downed at the UCF 4-yard line
With Tulsa leading 31-26 and 8:19 left on the game clock, Wilson had a pivotal 43-yard punt downed at the UCF 1-yard line.
In addition, Smith helped the Golden Hurricane erase an 18-point first-half deficit, connecting on the go-ahead TD pass in the fourth quarter and setting up the game-clinching field goal with 1:30 remaining in the game.
The 6'3" senior from Grandview, Texas, completed 17-of-29 passing for 273 yards, 3 TDs, and had an early interception. His TD tosses went for 48, 34 and 13 yards.
Tulsa has an open week Saturday before playing is first home game of the season on October 17 against the No. 11-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats.
Players Mentioned
Linebacker
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Quarterback
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Punter
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