The Sun Belt had quite the season-opening weekend of highs and lows. Arguably the biggest high of the weekend was the resurgence of Arkansas State WR Corey Rucker and his return to top form once again in 2024. His game-winning score highlights the Sun Belt Players of the Week for the first week of the season.
Week 1 Sun Belt Players of the Week
As a reminder, our conference Players of the Week series is a weekly recurring honor given to the top players from the Sun Belt. These honors are bestowed upon the players immediately following all the action from the conference in a given week.
Like our Team of the Week and Players of the Week honors at the national level, all factors are considered, including the quality of the opponent, contribution to team success, the time and impact of a player’s individual efforts, and many other factors.
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In some instances, the player of the week for their respective side of the ball would naturally be duplicated at their respective position. Instead of duplicating players, we’re awarding an overall offensive and defensive player of the week based on their total overall impact. We then remove them from the running for their position-specific honor and highlight the top honoree from the remaining players at their respective positions.
Here’s the best of the best from the Sun Belt in Week 1.
Week 1 Sun Belt QB of the Week: Joey Aguilar, Appalachian State
CMP: 22
ATT: 36
YDs: 326
AVG: 9.1
TD: 2
INT: 0
RSH YDs: 19
RSH TDs: 2
Week 1 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week: Corey Rucker, WR, Arkansas State
REC: 9
YDs: 179
AVG: 19.9
LONG: 58
TD: 1
Week 1 Sun Belt Skill Player of the Week: Jamaal Pritchett, WR, South Alabama
REC: 10
YDs: 197
AVG: 19.7
LONG: 52
TD: 1
Week 1 Sun Belt Offensive Lineman of the Week: Elijah Ellis, T, Marshall
The Thundering Herd ran over Stony Brook, averaging 7.2 yards per carry with 259 yards and a score on the ground.
Week 1 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week: Wydett Williams Jr., S, UL-Monroe
Tackles: 10
TFL: 0.5
Sack: 0.5
INT: 1
Week 1 Sun Belt Defensive Lineman of the Week: Mike Green, EDGE, Marshall
Pressures: 6
Sacks: 1.5
TFL: 1.5
Week 1 Sun Belt Secondary Player of the Week: Chauncey Logan, CB, JMU
Tackles: 4
PBU: 3
INT: 0
Week 1 Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week: Makenzie Ryan, P, UL-Monroe
Punts: 5
YDs: 195
AVG: 39.0
TB: 0
IN20: 4
LONG: 47
Week 1 Sun Belt Freshman of the Week: Ahmad Hardy, RB, UL-Monroe
RSH: 19
YDs: 103
AVG: 5.4
LONG: 39
TD: 1
For all of CFN’s Players of the Week from each conference: AAC | ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | CUSA | MAC | Mountain West | SEC | Sun Belt | National | Team of the Week