BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Two WKU Football players earned Conference USA weekly awards following the team's 35-16 Homecoming win over New Mexico State on Saturday, the conference announced Monday.
Quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr. was named the CUSA Freshman of the Week and punter Cole Maynard was named the CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week. The win improved WKU to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in CUSA play.
The two CUSA weekly awards brings WKU's total for the season to 15. It is the fourth CUSA Freshman of the Week award for the Hilltoppers and second for Tisdale – running back Marvis Parrish also received the recognition twice before. It is the third CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week award the program has received and the second for Maynard. Koron Hayward received the other Special Teams Player of the Week nod.
In addition to those recognitions, quarterback Maverick McIvor has claimed the CUSA Offensive Player of the Week award three times, running back La'Vell Wright has been named the league's Offensive Player of the Week once, left guard Laurence Seymore has been named CUSA Offensive Lineman of the Week twice and Marshall Jackson received the nod once, and defensive back Jaylen Lewis has been named the CUSA Defensive Player of the Week once.
Tisdale Jr. threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns to lead WKU's offense to the win over the Aggies. Tisdale, making the second start of his college career and first at home, completed 79% of his passes (30-38) and added 28 yards on 12 rushing attempts in the win, helping the Hilltoppers to 429 yards of offense in the game. Tisdale threw touchdown passes to three different receivers, and 10 different Hilltoppers had at least one reception in the win, with six posting multiple catches.
Punter Cole Maynard continued his consistent play on Saturday, averaging 44.2 yards on four punts, with one traveling 50-plus yards and one downed inside the 20-yard line. Maynard is currently second in the country in punting average with 48.8 yards per punt, and he is on pace to set the WKU record for punting average in a season. John Haggerty currently holds the record with 45.9 yards per punt during the 2019 season.
The Hilltoppers will be off next weekend, before closing out the regular-season home slate with a Senior Day matchup against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Nov. 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT at Houchens-Smith Stadium and the game will be streamed on ESPN+. Tickets for the game can be purchased HERE.
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