Utah State’s Jalen Davis named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State cornerback Jalen Davis has been named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week, it was announced Monday by the league office.

It is the first time in his career that the 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior from La Mesa, Calif., has earned conference player of the week accolades.

Overall, this is the Aggies’ 15th MW weekly accolade in their fifth season in the league.

On Sunday, Davis garnered a pair of awards as he was named the CBSSports.com National Player of the Week and the College Sports Madness (CSM) MW Defensive Player of the Week.

Davis intercepted a career-high three passes and returned two of them for touchdowns from 30 and 50 yards, respectively, in the Aggies’ 40-24 win over in-state rival BYU last Friday night at Maverik Stadium.

Davis also had a season-high five tackles, to go along with one pass breakup. With that pass breakup, he tied the school record for passes broken up in a career as he now has 26 overall.

The three interceptions for Davis are tied with New Mexico State’s Shamad Lomax for the most in a game at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level this year, and tied for a Mountain West record as it is the 11th time in conference history a player has had three picks in a game.

The last time an FBS player had more than three interceptions in a game was in 2006, when Middle Tennessee’s Damon Nickson had four picks against Louisiana-Lafayette. Furthermore, Davis’ three interceptions are the second-most in a game in school history, trailing only Henry King, who had four picks against Pacific in 1966.

Davis’ two interception returns for touchdowns are a single-game school record and tied with four other players for the most in Mountain West history, not to mention the most at the FBS level this season. In fact, it is just the 18th time in conference history that a team has had two interceptions returned for a touchdown in a game.

Davis is the first FBS player to have three interceptions and return two of them for touchdowns since 2012, when Fresno State’s Phillip Thomas accomplished the feat against Colorado.

On the season, Davis leads the team with his five interceptions for 120 yards. He also leads the Aggies in pass breakups (5) and shares the lead in sacks (2.0), to go along with his 11 total tackles – the second most by a Utah State cornerback.

New Mexico running back Richard McQuarley was tabbed the MW Offensive Player of the Week and San Diego State’s Juwan Washington was tabbed the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week.

Utah State (3-2, 1-0 MW) returns to action this weekend as it hosts Mountain West foe Colorado State (3-2, 1-0 MW) on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 2:30 p.m. The game will be televised regionally on AT&T Sports (Comcast Ch. 52/693HD, Dish Network Ch. 414, DirecTV Ch. 683).

For Aggie football ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the “Buy Tickets” tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.

Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball or on Facebook at Utah State Football, as well as on Instagram at instagram.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

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