Sept. 30, 2013
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- For consecutive weeks, a pair of WKU Hilltoppers were named to the Sun Belt Conference's Player of the Week award roll as Antonio Andrews was named the Offensive Player of the Week and Xavius Boyd earned his second-straight Defensive Player of the Week nod.
It is Boyd's second career player of the week honor and fourth for Andrews, who earned the honor three times during his record setting 2012 campaign. It is also the first time in program history that two or more Hilltoppers have taken home a player of the week award in consecutive weeks. Jonathan Dowling earned the Special Teams Player of the Week honor last week.
Andrews's second consecutive game with 250 or more all-purpose yards helped lead the Hilltoppers to a 19-7 victory over Navy on Saturday. Andrews rushed a season-high 32 times for 182 and scored both of the Hilltoppers' touchdowns on the day. Andrews also added 35 yards on five catches, second on the team, with 33 yards in kick returns and two yards on a punt return.
With the performance on Saturday, Andrews now leads the nation in rushing and is the only running back in the country to eclipse 700 yards. His eight touchdowns and 228.2 all-purpose yards per game are also the best in the country to this point. Andrews also eclipsed a pair of Hilltoppers on the career all-purpose yardage chart on Saturday and now has 5,321 career all-purpose yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, Boyd led the Hilltoppers in tackles for the sixth-straight game and finished the day with eight tackles, all solos, including a sack which resulted in a safety and a pair of tackles for loss. It was Boyd's first career safety and came in the fourth quarter after the Mids were pinned at their own one yard line, putting the final points on the board for WKU.
Boyd also tallied four of his tackles in the final quarter, helping the Tops to close out the game strong with a pair of TFLs including the sack-safety. With his performance, Boyd kept his hold on the nation's lead in total sacks (6.5) and is second nationally in tackles for loss (11.5). Boyd also leads the SBC in total tackles with 10.6 per game and is No. 11 nationally in that category.
Following a historic win and defensive effort against Navy in a 19-7 win on Saturday, the Hilltoppers have a quick turnaround before facing ULM on Thursday night in Monroe. The Hilltoppers and Warhawks kickoff Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. CT in Monroe, La. The game will be televised nationally by ESPNU. It is the 21st consecutive game that will be broadcast in some capacity. Every game in 2013 has been broadcast on some type of ESPN platform.
