Mizzou Football redshirt freshman Maty Mauk (Kenton, Ohio) and senior defensive lineman Michael Sam (Hitchcock, Texas) have been named the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, the league office announced on Monday.
Mauk made his first-ever collegiate start as he subbed in for injured senior captain James Franklin and did not disappoint. He threw for 295 yards and a touchdown (with one interception), while also adding a rushing touchdown to seal the game in the fourth quarter, as he led the Tigers to a 36-17 win over No. 22 Florida. He is the only quarterback to throw for more than 164 yards against Florida’s vaunted defense this season.
Sam recorded 3.0 sacks against the Gators (22 yards lost), and added four tackles in all, to go with one other QB hurry. It marked the third time this season Sam has notched 3.0 sacks in a game (Arkansas State, Vanderbilt), an accomplishment that has only been reached 22 times across the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Sam currently leads the SEC in both QB sacks (9.0 total / 1.3 avg.) and tackles for loss (13.0 total / 1.9 avg.), and he ranks second in the nation and fourth in the nation in those categories, respectively. His career sack total of 18.5 ranks fifth all-time at Mizzou.
The third honor for Sam marks the first time since 2007 that a Mizzou player has been recognized with a weekly conference honor three times in one season. Sam previously earned two Defensive Lineman Player of the Week recognitions from the SEC (Sept. 28, Oct. 5). Former Mizzou and current Kansas City Chiefs QB Chase Daniel was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week three times during the 2007 season (Oct. 8, Nov. 5, Nov. 26).
The two recognitions mark the sixth and seventh weekly SEC honors earned by Tigers this season. Head coach Gary Pinkel’s 2007 squad brought home a total of eight individual honors.
No. 5 Mizzou (7-0, 3-0) enters Homecoming week and will match up against No. 20 South Carolina (5-2, 3-2) on Saturday, Oct. 26, with a 6 p.m. kickoff on ESPN2. Ticket information can be found at MUTigers.com.
— MU Sports Information —