Zach Abey, McKenzie Milton, Jordan Wyatt and Tony Pollard Receive Week 1 AAC Honors

Navy Midshipmen junior quarterback Zach Abey was named the American Athletic Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week, which was announced on Monday. Abey rushed the ball 32 times for 235 yards and two touchdowns. He also went 3-for-10, passing for 110 yards and a touchdown in Navy’s 42-19 win at Florida Atlantic.

Abey set a record for rushing yards by a quarterback in the American Athletic Conference with 235 yards. He also holds the second most yards by a quarterback in the country and is third in rushing yards total, sitting behind Georgia Tech’s quarterback TaQuon Marshall and Hawaii running back Diocemy Saint Juste.

UCF Knights quarterback McKenzie Milton shared the honor with Abey, going 9-for-16, passing 360 yards and four touchdowns in UCF’s 61-17 win over the Florida International Panthers. Despite playing extremely well, Milton wants to improve.

“I’d maybe give myself a B; maybe B-minus … missed some plays in the run game and made a bonehead throw on the interception. There’s always room to progress,” Milton said via the Orlando Sentinel. “You kinda know sometimes in the game where you messed up and where you need to improve and then you can go back and look on film.

“There were a couple of plays where I missed some guys wide open. There was one I forced into coverage that Manny [Green] was shooting under the defense wide open. There’s always room for improvement.”

SMU Mustangs junior defensive back Jordan Wyatt was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week. He made five tackles (2.5 for a loss), one sack and one interception returned for 85 yards and a touchdown against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. His performance also garnered national recognition as he wa named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week as well.

Memphis Tigers redshirt sophomore return man Tony Pollard was the Special Teams Player of the Week. Pollard had two returns for 144 yards and a touchdown, averaging 72.0 yards per return. His 99-yard kick return for a score was the third of his career, which set a school record. He is the reigning AAC Special Teams player of the year.