MAC EAST
Sieh Bangura (Ohio), Bryce Houston (Ohio) and Alex Bevelhimer (Miami)
MAC WEST
Dequan Finn (Toledo), Jalen Buckley (Western Michigan), Terrance Taylor (Toledo), Hamze El-Zayat (Eastern Michigan)
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Sieh Bangura, Ohio, RB
R-Sophomore, Bowie, Md.
Ohio's first home game of the 2023 season marked their first win and Bangura's first game of the year rushing for over 100 yards. The redshirt sophomore running back net 107 yards on 19 carries, leading the Bobcats on the ground. His longest rush was 20 yards and he averaged 5.6 yards per attempt.
MAC Football East Division Defensive Player of the Week
Bryce Houston, Ohio, LB
Graduate Student, Lewis Center, Ohio
Houston helped the defense hold the LIU Sharks, allowing one touchdown and one field goal in the Bobcats' 27-10 victory last Saturday (Sept. 2). The graduate student linebacker led the team with 11 tackles, four of which were solo, while recorded a team-best two tackles for loss. Houston snagged one of two interceptions of the day and registered one of the team's three sacks.
MAC Football East Division Special Teams Player of the Week
Alec Bevelhimer, Miami, Punter
Junior, Indianapolis, Ind. (Brebeuf Jesuit)
Seeing the first significant action of his career, Alec Bevelhimer averaged 45.2 yards per punt in the loss to Miami (FL). He had a pair of punts that traveled over 50 yards, including a career long 62-yard punt and downed two other kicks inside the Hurricane's 20-yard line.
MAC Football West Division Co-Offensive Players of the Week
Dequan Finn, Toledo, QB
Junior, Detroit, Mich.
Dequan Finn accounted for 305 yards and three touchdowns in Toledo's 30-28 loss at Illinois. Finn threw for TDs of 15 and nine yards, and rushed for a one-yard score that gave Toledo a 28-27 lead with 2:59 left in the game.
Jalen Buckley, Western Michigan, RB
R-Freshman, Aurora, Ill. (Batavia)
In his first career start, redshirt freshman running back Jalen Buckley was a workhorse in WMU's 35-17 win over Saint Francis (PA). Coming into the game he had only nine career rushes for 27 yards in four games last season. Buckley finished the night with a career-high 194 yards on 30 carries and one rushing touchdown. Buckley helped the Broncos total 339 yards on the ground, the most since the team's win over Nevada in the Quicklane Bowl victory on Dec. 27, 2021.
MAC Football West Division Defensive Player of the Week
Terrance Taylor, Toledo, OLB
Senior, Chicago, Ill.
Terrance Taylor led the Rockets with 3.0 TFL and 1.5 sacks, gaining his first sack since 2021 after missing much of last season due to injury. He also added one QB hurry.
MAC Football West Division Special Teams Player of the Week
Hamze El-Zayat, Eastern Michigan, WR
Graduate, Dearborn, Mich. (Fordson)
El-Zayat, who had not appeared in a collegiate game since playing for Fordham during the 2021 season, put on an impressive display in his debut with the Eagles. El-Zayat finished the game against Howard with 156 all-purpose yards, a career-high, as he returned one kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, two punts for 42 yards, one reception for 12 yards, and one rush for six. El-Zayat made the most of his debut for the Eagles as his first kick return at EMU and just the third of his career went 96 yards to the house for the fourth-longest kick return in program history and tied for the fifth-longest of the season so far in FBS. He also added a two punt returns of his career, collecting 42 yards. All told, his 156 total yards are the second-best performance of his collegiate career behind the 166 receiving yards he posted for Fordham at Lafayette, Oct. 2, 2021.