News Archive (archives homepage)
Leshoure (Illinois) and Hunter (Texas A&M) Named Walter Camp National Players of the Week
The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced its Football Bowl Subdivision National Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for games ending November 20.
New Haven, Conn. – The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced its Football Bowl Subdivision National Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for games ending November 20.
About the Award: This is the seventh year that the Walter Camp Football Foundation will honor one offensive and one defensive player as its national Bowl Subdivision player of the week during the regular season. Recipients are selected by a panel of national media members and administered by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MIKEL LESHOURE, ILLINOIS
Junior, Running Back, Champaign, IL/Centennial
Junior running back Mikel Leshoure rushed for a school-record 330 yards (on 33 carries) and two touchdowns as Ilinois (6-5, 4-4) defeated Big Ten and instate rival Northwestern, 48-27, at Wrigley Field. Leshoure’s 330 yards were the most by an FBS running back since Navy's Shun White had 348 on Aug. 30, 2008. Leshoure’s day included 4- and 1-yard touchdown runs on the first two possessions, plus a 70-yard gain in the first quarter.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
TRENT HUNTER, TEXAS A&M
Junior, Safety, Katy, TX/Katy HS
Junior safety Trent Hunter had four tackles and two interceptions as 19th-ranked Texas A&M (8-3, 5-2 in Big 12) defeated ninth-ranked Nebraska, 9-6. Hunter’s play led an Aggie defense that didn’t allow a touchdown and held the Cornhuskers to just six points and 306 yards of total offense – well below their season averages of 35.4 points per game and 437.9 yards per game entering the contest.
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. Plans are already underway for the 44th annual Walter Camp Weekend, scheduled for January 13-15, 2011 in New Haven. The Walter Camp 2010 College Player of the Year recipient and its 121st All-America Team will be announced live on ESPN in early December.
Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp — a former Yale University athlete and football coach — is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation — a New Haven based all volunteer group — was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All America team.
About the Foundation
"Walter Camp was one of the giants of football in the United States. He stands with Stagg, Rockne, Thorpe, Warner, Heffelfinger in the imprint they made upon the game. He stands first among them, for it was he who sired the game as it is played in the United States, the game that evolved from the rugby football of England. He played in the first Yale-Harvard game of rugby in 1876. From then on, his was the fertile, inventive mind and guiding leadership that brought about the evolution of the American style of football."
More about Walter Camp