Camp Honors Cowboys Gordon III and Huskies Powell
Gordon II rushed for a career high 282 yards (on 29 carries) and four touchdowns in Oklahoma State’s 48-34 win at West Virginia.
By Earl Heath
Contributing Sports Writer
The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced the Football Bowl Subdivision National Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for games ending October 21.
Ollie Gordon II of Oklahoma State and Mishael Powell of University of Washington were recognized after sensational performances.
Gordon II rushed for a career high 282 yards (on 29 carries) and four touchdowns in Oklahoma State’s 48-34 win at West Virginia.
Entering the fourth quarter, OSU trailed the Mountaineers 24-20. That’s when Gordon went to work scoring three times on runs of (16, 46 and 53 yards). His 282 rushing yards were the most by a FBS player this season. With the win, the Cowboys improved to 5-2, 3-1 in the Big 12.
“I feel when we run the ball well, teams try to condense at the line of scrimmage,” said Gordon. “When they do that, we have great receivers that will go over top and go get it.”
The running back from Fort Worth, Texas is the eighth Oklahoma State player to earn Walter Camp National FBS Player of Week honors since 2004, and the first since former quarterback Taylor Cornelius (Sept. 17, 2018).
On the Defensive side Powell had three tackles and one pass break-up, but his fourth-quarter interception and 89-yard return for a touchdown spearheaded the Huskies’ 15-7 victory over Arizona State.
Powell stepped in front of Sun Devil QB Trenton Bourget’s throw on fourth-and-3 from the 12 and sprinted down the left sideline. With the win, Washington remained unbeaten (7-0, 4-0 Pac-12) win its 14th straight. The 89-yard interception return was the sixth-longest in Washington history.
Misael Powell (3) stepped in front of Sun Devil pass and took it 89 yards to the house. (Photo: U of Washington Athletics)
“It’s my job in that scenario to take him, but for a while throughout the game they were just motioning him and just running him off,” Powell said. “I could just tell by the demeanor of No. 7 (Sun Devils receiver Melquan Stoval) that he looked a little more like determined. I said, ‘OK, he looks a little locked in, he might be getting the ball.’”
Powell is the second Washington player to earn Player of Week honors this season (quarterback Michael Penix, Jr., Sept. 17). It is the sixth time a Washington player has earned Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors since 2004.
The award which is presented by The Heights Group at Morgan Stanley is in its the 20th year. Walter Camp Football Foundation honors one offensive and one defensive player as its national Football Bowl Subdivision player of the week. Recipients are selected by a panel of national media members and administered by the Foundation. It is the nation’s longest running Player of Week award.
Walter Camp is “The Father of American football,” he first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation (www.waltercamp.org) – a New Haven, Connecticut-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.
