Week 5 Pac-12 Football Players of the Week

For Immediate Release:

The Pac-12 is pleased to announce our Week 5 Players of the week from our third week of action in our recreated 2019 season.

Offensive Player of the Week:

CJ Verdell, RB, Oregon Ducks

25 carries, 135 yards, 2 TD, 2 receptions, 15 yards, 1 TD

Verdell was ultra impressive in the Ducks victory over Cal, making defender miss at will both on the ground and through the air. He forced 10 missed tackles in total for the game and racked up an impressive 150 total yards of offense with three scores. Considering he scored three of the Ducks four total touchdowns, this one warrants Verdell over his counterparts in Justin Herbert and Juwan Johnson, each who had impressive games of their own against Cal.

Defensive Player of the Week:

Jaydon Grant, CB, Oregon State Beavers

3 total tackles, 1 solo, 1 INT, 31 yards, 1 FF, 1 FR

Grant was all over the field for the Beavers on Thursday night, forcing a fumble that he recovered and intercepting Steven Montez on a crucial fourth-quarter drive that gave the ball back to his offense in the red zone. It was an Isaiah Hodgins touchdown on the ensuing drive that led to the comeback, all spurned by Grant on the backend. He was absolutely dominant and no receiver hauled in a first down in his coverage all night.

Coach of the Week:

Jonathan Smith, Oregon State Beavers

You don’t get to 5-0 on the season without some gutsy calls and some gutsy performances, and that’s just what Smith did in his team’s comeback victory over Colorado on Thursday night. Smith, down by 11 late in the third quarter, decided to go for two after an Isaiah Hodgins touchdown cut the lead to just 3 points. His team was successful, and a field goal tied the game on their next possession that would have been good enough to push the game into overtime at the very least. Fortunately for Smith and his Beavers, his right call also allowed his team to play a bit looser, and they won the game outright in regulation with strong play on both sides of the ball and on the sidelines.

Reminder, this is a fictional take on our recreation of the 2019 NCAA football season using last year’s updated rosters and playing the games in NCAA Football 14 on a Playstation3. For more information, check out our intro story.