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NEC Offensive Player of the Week: Carson Haggard, Robert Morris
NEC Defensive Player of the Week: Jake Lopinto, Robert Morris
NEC Special Teams Player of the Week: Thomas O'Neill, Mercyhurst
NEC Rookie of the Week: Lesroy Tittle, Chicago State
Previous NEC Releases: September 21 |
September 14 |
September 7 |
August 31 |
Preseason Poll Release |
Streaming/TV Package Release
NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Carson Haggard, Robert Morris
Quarterback, Sophomore, 6-0, 195 lbs., Miami, FL/Gulliver Prep (Abilene Christian)
Week 4 Stats: 13-31 completions, 163 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 59 rushing yards, 4 carries, 1 rushing touchdown
Haggard, a sophomore quarterback, turned in a strong performance against Buffalo on Saturday to earn NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Offensive Player of the Week honors after helping Robert Morris push the FBS opponent to the brink. Registering 163 yards through the air on 13 completions while adding 59 rushing yards on four carries, the Floridian contributed two touchdowns for the Colonials, who came just three points shy of what would have been the program’s first-ever victory over an FBS squad. Haggard delivered one of the biggest plays of the afternoon in the second quarter when he broke free for a career-long 50-yard touchdown run to give Robert Morris a 14-7 advantage. He later helped fuel the Colonials’ late comeback bid by orchestrating an 81-yard, 46-second drive which resulted in a 32-yard touchdown throw that made it a 31-28 game with 1:46 left to play. Haggard enters the week ranked second in both passing yards per game (193.0) and touchdown passes (8). This is Haggard’s first weekly award from the NEC, and the second for a Colonial this season.
NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jake Lopinto, Robert Morris
Linebacker, Sophomore, 6-1, 235 lbs., Columbus, OH/Licking Heights
Week 4 Stats: 19 tackles (8 solo), 1 interception
Lopinto, a linebacker, was a reliable force for Robert Morris behind the line of scrimmage at Buffalo on Saturday. His standout performance was instrumental in keeping the Colonials within striking distance of the Bulls throughout the afternoon in a game that saw Robert Morris come three points shy of the program’s first-ever win over an FBS opponent in a 31-28 final. Lopinto recorded 19 tackles, a mark that is tied for the most by an NEC player this season and the most by an NEC defender since former Bobby Mo standout Jamar Shegog also had 19 stops against Stonehill on Nov. 23, 2024. The sophomore also came away with an interception — the first of his career — that silenced the Bulls on a 1st-and-10 on the Robert Morris’ 27-yard line. The Buckeye State product ranks third in the conference in tackles with 9.8 per game. This is Lopinto’s second NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Defensive Player of the Week award in the past three weeks.
NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Thomas O’Neill, Mercyhurst
Punter, Freshman, 6-7, 225 lbs., Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit
Week 4 Stats: 6 punts, 295 punting yards (52-yard long), 49.2 yards per punt, 3 inside-20, 2 50+ yard punts, 2 kickoffs, 116 kickoff yards, 58.0 yards per kickoff
O’Neill handled both the punting and kickoff duties for Mercyhurst in the Lakers’ third game against an FBS opponent this season at Western Kentucky on Saturday. In six punts, the Rochester, NY native covered 49.2 yards per boot, while in his two kickoff attempts, he covered 116 yards for 58.0 yards per kickoff. Two of O’Neill’s punts went for 50-plus yards, including a blast of 58 yards that went down as a personal-best effort for the freshman, topping his current season-best of 52 yards at New Mexico State (Sept. 5) and at New Mexico (Sept. 12). O’Neill enters the week ranked third in the NEC in yards per punt (43.5) while his six punts of 50-or-more yards are good for second-most on the circuit. He is the first Laker this season to take home NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Special Teams Player of the Week accolades.
NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Lesroy Tittle, Chicago State
Linebacker/Defensive End, Freshman, 6-4, 235 lbs., Aurora, IL/West Aurora
Week 4 Stats: 8 tackles (4 solo), 2.0 tackles-for-loss (8 yards)
Tittle put up solid numbers in Chicago State’s home contest against Norfolk State on Saturday. Recording four solo and four assisted tackles, both of which were career bests, the freshman linebacker/defensive end came away with 2.0 tackles for a loss of eight yards. His second tackle-for-loss of the afternoon in the third quarter pushed the Spartans back five yards on a 3rd-and-9, and on the ensuing Norfolk State down, Chicago State cashed in with a blocked punt, a recovery and a 50-yard touchdown return by graduate linebacker Adrian Bowers. Tittle’s 5.0 total tackles-for-loss this season are tied for the league lead, while the Aurora, IL native’s 1.25 tackles-for-loss per game rank second in the NEC. Tittle made history by becoming the first-ever Cougar to take home a weekly award.
#NECFB PRIME PERFORMERS (Week Four)
Adrian Bowers, CSU (LB, Gr)
Bowers recovered a blocked punt and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown to pull Chicago State within nine of Norfolk State in the third quarter on Saturday. In addition to his special teams’ duties, the graduate linebacker added a team-best nine tackles, including five solo stops, to go along with 1.0 tackle-for-loss and a pair of quarterback hurries.
Jayden Earley, CSU (S, Sr)
Earley’s evening against Norfolk State was highlighted by his fourth pick of the season, which he returned 33 yards before the end of the first half. The senior safety added four tackles and one tackle-for-loss for the Cougars.
Carson Camp, DUQ (QB, Gr)
Duquesne rolled through visiting Rio Grande by a 53-0 final in this season’s first tilt on Rooney Field thanks to the arm of quarterback Carson Camp. Completing 16-of-21 passes for 211 yards, the graduate student threw for a career-best three touchdowns — all in the first half — to help the Dukes extend their home-opening winning streak to 19 consecutive games.
Zion Patillo, DUQ (DL, Sr)
Patillo was all over the gridiron in Duquesne’s 53-0 shutout of Rio Grande, recording five tackles, four tackles-for-loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery for a defense that conceded just 43 total yards of offense. Included in his stat-stuffing performance was a three-play series that featured a first-down sack, a second-down sack and a third-down tackle-for-loss in the end zone that resulted in a Duquesne safety in the third quarter.
Felix Matos, LIU (DB, So)
Registering six tackles, Matos become just the second player in the NEC, and the ninth player in the nation, to have multiple forced fumbles in a game this season. The sophomore defensive back is currently tied for second in the NEC in the category.
Ricky Encarnacion, NHVN (LB, Sr)
Encarnacion posted seven solo tackles and seven assisted stops to finish with a game-best 14 in New Haven’s 17-10 defeat at Merrimack on Saturday. The senior linebacker, who is one of two NEC players averaging double figures in tackles this season (10.0 per game), also added 0.5 tackles-for-loss on the afternoon.
Amanuel Dickson, RMU (LB, Jr)
Alongside sophomore linebacker Jake Lopinto, Dickson delivered a one-two punch for Robert Morris on defense at Buffalo after he finished with a career-best 18 tackles on Saturday. The junior linebacker posted one of the top single-game tackling performances in program history, as it ranks fourth in Robert Morris lore behind Lopinto (19), Jordan Howard (20 vs. Central Connecticut on Oct. 13, 2007) and Reggie Chambers (20 at UAlbany on Nov. 10, 2001).
Carson Haggard, RMU (QB, So)
Haggard put up 213 total yards of offense and two touchdowns in Robert Morris’ slugfest against FBS opponent Buffalo on Saturday. Throwing for 163 yards and a late touchdown that pulled the Colonials within three inside the two-minute timeout, the sophomore quarterback added a 50-yard rushing score that gave his team a 14-7 advantage in the second quarter. Haggard was also pegged the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Offensive Player of the Week.
Jake Lopinto, RMU (LB, So)
Two weeks after he posted a career-best nine tackles against Akron, Lopinto bested that effort against another FBS opponent when he recorded 19 tackles, the third-most by a Colonial in program history, at Buffalo. Eight of the sophomore linebacker’s stops were marked as solo tackles. Lopinto was also named the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.
#NECFB SLATE ROUTES (AROUND THE LEAGUE IN 9 SENTENCES):
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT: Central Connecticut, which owns the ninth-best turnover margin in the FCS at 1.00, is home to the nation’s leader in forced fumbles (Navon Mitchell - 0.67 per game).
CHICAGO STATE: The first NEC quarterback this season to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in passing yards, freshman Ashton Pannell leads the circuit with 10 passing scores.
DUQUESNE: With Saturday’s 53-0 win over visiting Rio Grande at Rooney Field, Duquesne extended its home-opening winning streak to 19 consecutive games.
LIU: LIU, which hosts Mercyhurst in its NEC debut on ESPN+ on Saturday, has finished .500 or better in league play in each of the last four seasons, with three of those being winning seasons.
MERCYHURST: Mercyhurst concluded its non-conference slate by facing Western Kentucky last Saturday, the Lakers’ third opponent from the FBS this season.
NEW HAVEN: Each of New Haven’s last two defeats to Brown (Sept. 19) and Merrimack (Sept. 26) have been decided by seven points in respective 17-10 decisions.
ROBERT MORRIS: Robert Morris knocked on the doorstep of scoring the program’s first-ever win against an FBS foe on Saturday but came three points shy of turning the trick at Buffalo.
STONEHILL: For the first time in program history, Stonehill took on back-to-back FBS opponents when the Skyhawks traveled to UMass on Sept. 19 and Ohio on Sept. 26.
WAGNER: Limiting opponents to 4.3 yards per carry and 132.8 rushing yards per game, Wagner leads the NEC in both categories through four games this season.
#NECFB EXTRA POINTS: