Arnold, Thompson voted OVC Players of the Week after overtime victory
Kicker John Arnold and linebacker Trey Thompson, both redshirt freshmen for Tennessee Tech, have been selected winners of two of the league's four Player of the Week honors for their huge roles in the 30-27 Golden Eagle overtime victory Saturday.
BRENTOOD, Tenn. -- Kicker John Arnold and linebacker Trey Thompson, both redshirt freshmen on the Tennessee Tech football squad, have been selected winners of two of the league's four Player of the Week honors for their huge roles in the 30-27 Golden Eagle overtime victory Saturday.
Arnold was chosen as the league's Special Teams Player of the Week, tying the contest in the final seconds to force an overtime and winning the game with his third field goal of the game, a 20-yard kick in overtime.
Thompson, who hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, was selected as the league's Newcomer of the Week after he led the Golden Eagle defense with a career-high 15 total tackles. It was the most tackles by a Tech freshman in two seasons. He had seven solo tackles and assisted on eight other stops.
The Golden Eagles battled back three times in the game to tie the score, eventually knotting things at 27-27 with nine seconds left when Arnold, a former walk-on from Nashville's Father Ryan High School, split the uprights with a 41-yard field goal. It sent the game against Tech's longest-running rivalry into overtime for the fourth time in history.
In the extra session, after Tech's defense held and forced Murray State into a missed field goal, Arnold cranked one through from 20 yards for the game-winner.
He is the second Golden Eagle to earn the league's Special Teams Player of the Week award this year, after return specialist Ladarius Vanlier won the honor in the first week of the schedule.
The OVC named Jacksonville State runningback Miles Jones and Murray State quarterback KD Humphries as co-Offensive Players of the Week, while Southeast Missouri State cornerback Tim Hamm-Bey is the Defensive Player of the Week.
The Golden Eagles have a short week to recover and prepare for their next game, a Thursday night visit to UT Martin with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
Winner's info from the OVC:
CO-OFFENSIVE
Miles Jones, RB • Jr., 5-10, 210 • Acworth, Ga. • Jacksonville State
Jones carried the ball 24 times for a career-high 150 yards and a touchdown in Jacksonville State's 38-14 victory over UT Martin on Saturday. Filling in for All-American DaMarcus James, Jones averaged 6.2 yards/carry and also caught a pass. He scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter to push the Gamecocks lead to 21-0. Jones is the fourth different JSU player to reach the 100-yard rushing plateau this season and the 150 rushing yards are the most by a Jax State player this season.
CO-OFFENSIVE
KD Humphries, QB • So., 6-3, 225 • Montgomery, Ala. • Murray State
Humphries set the OVC single-game completions record by completing 48-of-62 passes in Murray State's 30-27 overtime loss at Tennessee Tech. The sophomore broke the previous record of 45 set by Murray State's Casey Brockman in both 2011 and 2012. Humphries finished the game with a career-high 386 passing yards and no interceptions while throwing a touchdown pass in the third quarter and rushing for touchdowns of 24 and 7 yards in the second quarter. Humphries ranks eighth nationally in completion percentage (67.5%) and 16th in completions/game (21.6).
Others Nominated: Lennies McFerren, Southeast Missouri.
DEFENSIVE
Tim Hamm-Bey, CB • Sr., 5-10, 173 • St. Louis, Mo. • Southeast Missouri
Hamm-Bey had six tackles, five pass breakups and blocked a field goal as Southeast Missouri knocked off its second nationally-ranked opponent of the season in besting No. 20 Tennessee State 28-21. He anchored a Redhawk defense that had a season-high 12 pass breakups as a unit and in the first quarter got a hand on TSU's field goal attempt, marking the fourth blocked kick of his career. He now ranks third nationally in blocked kicks (2) and ninth in passes defended/game (1.7).
Others Nominated: Chris Kelly, Eastern Kentucky; Debarriaus Miller, Jacksonville State; Austin Tallant, Tennessee Tech; Tony Bell, UT Martin.
SPECIALIST
John Arnold, K • R-Fr., 5-11, 180 • Nashville, Tenn. • Tennessee Tech
Arnold made the game-tying kick to force overtime and the game-winning kick in the extra period as Tennessee Tech picked up its first OVC victory of the season in defeating Murray State 30-27. The redshirt freshman nailed a 41-yard field goal with nine seconds to play in regulation to tie the game at 27 and then connected from 20 yards out in the extra period to give the Golden Eagles the victory. Arnold also had a 35-yarder in the first quarter to go a perfect 3-of-3 on the night while also making 3-of-3 point after attempts. Arnold his now 4-of-5 on field goal attempts this season and leads Tech in scoring (23 points).
Others Nominated: Keith Wrzuszczak, Eastern Kentucky; Connor Rouleau, Jacksonville State; Ryan McCrum, Southeast Missouri; James Satterfield, UT Martin.
NEWCOMER
Trey Thompson, LB • R-Fr., 6-2, 235 • Cincinnati, Ohio • Tennessee Tech
In his second career start Thompson had a season-high 15 tackles as Tennessee Tech topped Murray State 30-27 in overtime for its first OVC win of the season. The redshirt freshman had seven solo tackles and eight assists after coming into the contest with just 12 total tackles in three games. It was the most tackles by a freshman in a game for the Golden Eagles since 2012.
Others Nominated: Keith Wrzuszczak, Eastern Kentucky; Connor Rouleau, Jacksonville State; DeQuinten Spraggins, Murray State; Trey Thompson, Tennessee Tech; Nick Dance, UT Martin
