MAC announces Week Six POTW

The Mid-American Conferrence today announced its Week Six Football Players of the Week.

​Honorees in the East Division are Matt Johnson (Bowling Green), Quentin Poling (Ohio), and Tyler Tate (Bowling Green). Honorees in the West Division are Drew Hare (Northern Illinois), Trent Voss (Toledo) and Darius Phillups (Western Michigan).

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East Division

Offensive Player of the Week: Bowling Green QB Matt Johnson
Bowling Green senior quarterback Matt Johnson (Harrisburg, Pa.) paced the offense on a record-setting day leading the Falcons to a 62-38 win over UMass. Johnson passed for a Doyt L. Perry Stadium record 450 yards in the game, surpassing Ben Roethlisberger’s previous record of 440 yards set in 2003. Johnson was 33-of-39 (84.6%) on the day with five passing touchdowns. Johnson’s record-setting day led the Falcons’ offense to set a new school-record for total yardage (725) and passing yardage (515). For Johnson, who now leads the country with 2,534 passing yards through six games, it was his fifth 400-yard game in the first six games of the season. To put that in perspective, just three other NCAA quarterbacks have had as many 400-yard passing games in the first six games of a season since the year 2000. Additionally, in Bowling Green football’s previous 95 seasons, there had only been 10 total 400-yard passing games (935 games). Johnson has done so five times in just six games this season. His 84.6% completion rate ranked fifth in school history for a single game.
 
Defensive Player of the Week:  Ohio LB Quentin Poling
Ohio sophomore linebacker Quentin Poling (Spencerville, Ohio) anchored the Bobcats defense to hold Miami without a touchdown in the Bobcats 34-3 win over the Redhawks Saturday. It was the second week in a row the Bobcats held their opponent without a touchdown. Poling made his second interception of the season and ran it back 25 yards to score his first career touchdown and the Bobcats third of the game on Miami’s first drive of the second half to put Ohio up 24-3. Poling also had a tackle and a quarterback hurry in the contest. Ohio leads the Bobcats with 40 tackles this season. 
 
Special Teams Player of the Week:  Bowling Green K Tyler Tate
Bowling Green senior kicker Tyler Tate (Carroll, Ohio) scored 14 points in a 62-38 win over UMass. Tate was perfect on eight PAT tries, setting a new career mark. He also connected on two field goals, from 37 and 27 yards out. On 11 kickoffs, Tate totaled 694 yards (63.1 avg.) and had four touchbacks – also a new career-high.

West Division
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Offensive Player of the Week:  Northern Illinois QB Drew Hare
Northern Illinois junior quarterback Drew Hare (O’Fallon, Mo.) had the most accurate passing day in the history of NIU in leading the Huskies to a 59-41 win over Ball State. Hare completed 29-of-32 passes for 363 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions to set the Huskies’ school record for the highest completion percentage in a single game at 90.2 percent. His career-high 363 passing yards rank as the 11th-most at NIU all-time.  His first touchdown pass went for 13 yards to tight end Desroy Maxwell and gave NIU a 14-13 lead; his second was a 34-yard strike to Kenny Golladay that extended NIU’s lead to 52-34 in the fourth quarter.  He completed 14 consecutive passes in the second quarter when NIU scored 28 points.
 
Defensive Player of the Week:  Toledo DE Trent Voss
Toledo senior defensive end Trent Voss (East Grand Rapids, Mich.) was credited with six stops, including a season-tying best three tackles-for-loss in a 38-7 win over Kent State. Voss has now recorded three tackles for loss behind the line of scrimmage in each of the last two contests. The East Grand Rapids, Mich. native was also credited with a game-high three quarterback hurries.
 
Special Teams Player of the Week:  Western Michigan KR Darius Phillips
Western Michigan sophomore kick returner Darius Phillips (Dearborn Height, Mich.) had two more explosive kick returns against Central Michigan on Saturday, helping Western Michigan to a 41-39 victory. Phillips had two returns totaling 101 yards, including a 67-yarder in the first quarter. Phillips’ 67-yard return set the Broncos up at the Chippewas’ 30-yard line and the team scored its second touchdown of the day as a result, an 11-yard run by Jarvion Franklin. For the season, Phillips upped his average to 30.5 yards per kick return, good for tops in the MAC and 13th in the country.