Story courtesy of Conference USA
Photo courtesy of UTEP Athletics
A pair of East Carolina standouts have been honored as Conference USA Players of the Week following the Pirates league-opening win at Southern Miss. The Defensive Player of the Week honor went to redshirt freshman OLB Montese Overton, who had 10 tackles and a fumble return for a touchdown, while special teams recognition was given to junior P Trent Tignor, who played a key role in field position in the win. Offensive Player of the Week honors were given to UTEP senior QB Nick Lamaison, who threw for 300 yards and a career-high four touchdowns in a win over rival New Mexico State. C-USA Football Players of the Week are voted on by a panel of the league's media.
Lamaison threw for 300 yards and a career-best four touchdowns in UTEP's 41-28 victory over rival New Mexico State Saturday. He completed 21-of-32 passes and committed no turnovers while posting the second 300-yard passing game of his career. Lamaison directed the Miners to a 27-7 lead at the half, completing 16-of-22 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns. He registered five passes longer than 30 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown pass to Mike Edwards in UTEP's final TD drive of the contest. Lamaison orchestrated four scoring drives covering more than 60 yards and added 15 yards on the ground. Under his command, the Miners scored touchdowns on four straight possessions for just the third time under head coach Mike Price and the first time since 2009.
Overton keyed an East Carolina defense in his first collegiate start with team-bests in tackles (10), solo stops (4) and TFLs (2.5), while also adding a pivotal 16-yard fumble return for a touchdown during the Pirates' 24-14 Conference USA win at Southern Miss. He posted four first-half tackles before adding six in the second stanza to help limit the Golden Eagles to -4 rushing yards in the final 30 minutes of play. Overton picked up ILB Kyle Tudor's strip of USM quarterback Anthony Alford at the 16-yard line and sprinted in the end zone to cap ECU's 21-point third quarter scoring.
Tignor played a key role in a field position battle during East Carolina's victory at Southern Miss, especially during a scoreless first half for the Pirates that produced a school-record-tying seven punts. In all, he punted 10 times for 422 yards - an average of 42.2 yards per attempt. Tignor dropped a pair of punts inside the three-yard line and planted another at the 14-yard line to thwart possible USM scoring opportunities. He also successfully held for Warren Harvey's career-long 54-yard field goal and all three ECU PATs.