Quintet of TDs leads to SAC Player of the Week plaudit for Whitson
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For a second consecutive week and a third time this season, Carson-Newman has had a player earn a weekly accolade from the South Atlantic Conference.
VIDEO: Zane Whitson postgame interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For a second consecutive week and a third time this season, Carson-Newman has had a player earn a weekly accolade from the South Atlantic Conference.
Quarterback Zane Whitson (Kingsport, Tenn.) earns his second WePlayed Sports SAC Offensive Player of the Week honor, the league office announced Monday afternoon.
Whitson was hyper efficient with what he did with the football in Saturday's 35-14 Homecoming win over UVA Wise.
The senior signal-caller scored five touchdowns on 12 total offensive attempts while rushing for 133 yards and passing for 61.
He scored three rushing touchdowns and two via the air. The three rushing TDs are the first hattrick of rushing scores for the program since Antonio Wimbush found the end zone three times against Tusculum in the regular season finale of 2019. The five totals TDs are the most since Derrick Evans scored a school record five rushing touchdowns at Lenoir-Rhyne in 2017.
Whitson carried the ball nine times for 133 yards for his second career 100-yard rushing performance and the 386th all-time 100-yard rushing performance in school history. He was 2-for-3 through the air for the two scores and 61 yards. He finished with 194 yards of total offense.
The Dobyns-Bennett product scored on rushing touchdowns of one, 60 and four yards. His passing touchdowns went for 29 yards to Don Bradley and 32 yards to Cam Ferguson.
Whitson is the first Eagle to earn two SAC Player of the Week honors in the same season since Mekhi Brown was recognized with defensive player of the week honors in back-to-back weeks in 2023. Whitson is the first offensive player with two player of the week honors in the same season since Wimbush was lauded twice in 2018.
Whitson and the rest of the Eagles are back in action in Burke-Tarr Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m. against Catawba. Coverage on the Eagles Sports Network begins at noon with the AEC Countdown to kickoff on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to Flo Sports at cneagles.com/FloFB.
