UPCOMING GAMES (ALL TIMES CT)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Southern Miss at Jax State (ESPN+) 2 p.m.
Duke at MTSU (ESPNU) 3 p.m.
UTEP at Colorado State (truTV) 4 p.m.
Monmouth at FIU (ESPN+) 5 p.m.
East Carolina at Liberty (ESPN+) 5 p.m.
NM State at Sam Houston (ESPN+) 6 p.m.
Tulsa at LA Tech (ESPN+) 6 p.m.
Toledo at WKU (ESPN+) 6 p.m.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Offensive Player of the Week – Caden Veltkamp, WKU
Veltkamp came off the bench to replace injured starting quarterback TJ Finley and had a massive game in WKU’s 49-21 victory over “100 Miles of Hate” rival Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro on Saturday. He threw for 398 yards and five touchdowns on 27-30 passing and added another touchdown rushing. He started the game with 10 consecutive completions and had 17 consecutive completions to end the game. The 17 consecutive completions is the second-longest streak in a single game in program history. For his efforts, Veltkamp was named to the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 and the Manning Award Stars of the Week.
Defensive Player of the Week – Caleb Weaver, SHSU
On a night where the Bearkats had to dig deep into their stable of defensive backs, Weaver stood out in the Bearkat secondary to lead SHSU to a decisive 31-13 win over Hawaii in the 2024 home opener. The redshirt junior safety came up with his first interception of the year and broke up three more passes, along with totaling three stops against the high-powered Rainbow Warrior passing attack. In all, Weaver’s efforts helped hold Hawaii to just 21-42 passing in the game and 242 yards. Weaver’s interception came in the second quarter and set up a 26-yard field goal for Sam Houston which put the Kats up 17-3.
Special Teams Player of the Week – Buck Buchanan, LA Tech
Buchanan was perfect in all three phases of the kicking game in a tight road loss to NC State on Saturday, as he logged eight of the Bulldogs’ 20 points, including a program-record 57-yard field goal to put the Bulldogs ahead 17-6 at halftime. The boot also marked the fourth-longest field goal in CUSA history. Buchanan made a 20-yarder in the third quarter to go along with two extra point conversions. The junior finished with touchbacks on all five of his kickoffs including one that sailed through the uprights.
Conference USA will name an Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Week each Monday during the season. The awards are selected by a panel of media members with one representative in each league city.
The conference office also will produce a weekly football release Mondays during the season. It will be distributed directly to members of the media upon request and available at ConferenceUSA.com.
