FARMINGTON, Utah (Sept. 27, 2021) - Eastern Washington's Eric Barriere threw for over 500 yards once again, as the quarterback won his third ROOT SPORTS Big Sky Football Offensive Player of the Week honor. Northern Colorado's Xander Gagnon and Sacramento State's Kyle Sentkowski won the Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Week honors respectively.
Barriere helped EWU eclipse the 50-point mark for the third-straight game as the senior quarterback threw for 518 yards and four touchdowns. Barriere became the first FCS quarterback to throw for 500 or more yards in back-to-back games since Cornell's Jeff Mathews did it in 2011. The EWU QB also surpassed the 10,000-yard career passing mark, which moves him into the Big Sky Top 10 for the category. The Offensive Player of the Week honor is Barriere's eighth of his prolific career, including three times in 2021, three times in 2020-21 and twice in 2019.
UNC's Gagnon helped the Bears top NAU in overtime this past weekend, as he racked up 12 tackles on the day, 2.5 for loss and had a QB hurry. Gagnon was a havoc in the backfield all day, even at one point blowing up a read-option play by taking down both the quarterback and running back. The Bears stuffed NAU's rush attempt on 4th and 1 to preserve their 17-10 win in overtime. The Defensive Player of the Week honor is the second for UNC on the year, with David Hoage winning two weeks ago.
Sentkowski was responsible for 11 of Sac State's 23 points in the 23-21 win at Idaho State, with the kicker's three field goals being the only points scored by either team in Sac State's second-half comeback. Sentkowski connected on kicks of 49, 40 and 27, with the 49-yarder tying him for the ninth-longest in school history. The weekly honor is the first for Sac State this year.
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Others Nominated
Off: Isaiah Ifanse (MSU),
Pierre Williams (Sac State), Miles Hastings (UC Davis), Beau Kelly (PSU), Draycen Hall (NAU), Samuel Akem (Montana), Josh Davis (Weber State)
Def: Patrick O'Connell (Montana), Bryce Rodgers (UC Davis), Marte Mapu (Sac State) (MSU), Daniel Hardy (MSU), Morgan Vest (NAU), Jack Sendelbach (EWU), Kofe Semise (PSU), Connor Willis (ISU), Jared Schiess (Weber State)
ST: Ben Omayebu (ISU), Levi Janacaro (Montana), DJ Arnson (NAU), Devin Bale (UNC), Nick Kokich (EWU), Seth Vernon (PSU)
Past ROOT SPORTS Player of the Week Honorees
Off: Justin Miller, Southern Utah (Aug. 30); Eric Barriere/Hunter Rodrigues, EWU/UC Davis (Sept. 6); Hunter Rodrigues, UC Davis (Sept. 13); Eric Barriere, EWU (Sept. 20)
Def: Kobe Singleton, Southern Utah (Aug. 30); Marcus Welnel, Montana (Sept. 6); David Hoage, UNC (Sept. 13); Harrison Beemiller, NAU (Sept. 20)
ST: Jake Gerardi, Southern Utah (Aug. 30); Isaiah Gomez/Brian Buschini, UC Davis/Montana (Sept. 6); Trent Tompkins, UC Davis (Sept. 13); DJ Arnson, NAU (Sept. 20)