MAC East: Jaret Patterson (RB, Buffalo); Kameron Butler (DE, Miami); and Julian Ross (RB/KR, Ohio).
MAC West: Drew Plitt (QB, Ball State); Christian Albright (LB, Ball State); and D'Wayne Eskridge (KR/WR, Western Michigan).
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Offensive Player of the Week
Jaret Patterson, Buffalo, RB
Junior, Glendale, MD (Saint Vincent Pallotti)
Patterson rushed for a MAC-record 409 yards and tied an NCAA record with eight rushing touchdowns in Buffalo's 70-41 win over Kent State on Saturday. Patterson's rushing total was the second-highest in NCAA history. The junior running back averaged 11.4 yards per carry. Patterson rushed for 267 yards and five touchdowns in the first half alone. He scored on touchdown runs of 3, 31, 42, 49, 1, 7, 11 and 58 yards.
Defensive Player of the Week
Kameron Butler, Miami, Defensive End
Junior, Florence, Ky.
Butler recorded five tackles, 3.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks in a 38-7 win over Akron. Butler led a defense that held Akron to four rushing yards on 28 attempts and had seven sacks as a team.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Julian Ross, Ohio, Running Back/Kickoff Returner
R-Junior, Kansas City, Mo. (Staley)
Ross (Kansas City, Mo.) helped the Ohio football team (2-1, 2-1 MAC) roll to a 52-10 victory over Bowling Green on Saturday (Nov. 28) at Peden Stadium. Ross helped extend Ohio's lead to 21-3 with 30 seconds left in the first quarter by running a kickoff back a career-long 96 yards to the house. The kickoff return for a score marked the first for Ross in his career and gave Ohio multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns in a single season for the first time since the Bobcats returned three to the house in 2008. Ross finished the contest with two kickoff returns for 135 yards (67.5 yards per return).
West Division
Offensive Player of the Week
Drew Plitt, Ball State, QB
R-Senior, Loveland, Ohio (Loveland)
Plitt threw for 304 yards and accounted for three total touchdowns in Ball State's 27-24 win Saturday at Toledo. He had a hand in all three TDs for the Cardinals. Plitt opened the scoring with a touchdown run on the first possession of the game and later found Yo'Heinz Tyler for two scores as BSU built a 24-3 lead in the third quarter en route to its first win at the Glass Bowl since 2012.
Defensive Player of the Week
Christian Albright, Ball State, OLB
Senior, Kennesaw, Ga. (North Cobb)
Albright registered 3.0 tackles for loss, including 2.0 sacks, to go along with a forced fumble and the game-clinching fumble recovery Saturday at Toledo. He had seven total tackles in the Cardinals' 27-24 victory. Albright keyed a BSU defense that shut out Toledo through the first 29:28 and limited the Rockets to 42 rushing yards, 179 below their average. He had a quarter of the Cardinals' 12 tackles for loss, their most in a league game since 2006, including a strip-sack. Albright recovered a fumble forced by teammate Anthony Ekpe on Toledo's final snap of the game to stave off a comeback by the Rockets for BSU's first win at the Glass Bowl since 2012.
Special Teams Player of the Week
D'Wayne Eskridge, Western Michigan, Wide Receiver
R-Senior, Bluffton, Ind. (Bluffton)
Eskridge had three kick-off returns for 124 yards and returned one for a touchdown in WMU’s 30-27 victory over Northern Illinois. Eskridge returned a kick-off 100 yards for a touchdown, the first of his career. It’s the eighth 100-yard kick-return for a touchdown in WMU history and the first since Darius Phillips back on Sept. 9, 2017 at Michigan State. It’s the only 100 yard return for a touchdown in the MAC this season Eskridge’s 124 return yards was a career-high. Eskridge ranks second in the MAC in return yards (402) and kick return average (30.9). Eskridge is one of just two players in the MAC to have a kick-return touchdown.