Cougars Ward and Utes Ellis secure Camp Award
Ward completed 28-of-34 pass attempts for 404 yards, four touchdowns with no interceptions adding a rushing touchdown (9 carries, 14 yards) in a 38-35 win over Oregon State.
By Earl Heath
Contributing Sports Writer
Ward completed 28-of-34 pass attempts for 404 yards, four touchdowns with no interceptions adding a rushing touchdown (9 carries, 14 yards) in a 38-35 win over Oregon State.
Ward doesn’t care about the accolades he just wants to win in what is potentially the final season for the conference. The Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12). “If I do my part, teammates do their part, we all play as one, I feel like everything will take care of itself,” Ward said.
On the defensive side Ellis racked up a career-high 10 tackles, including 5.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in the Utes’ 14-7 victory over UCLA.
His 3.5 sacks against the BRUINS ranks second in the FBS in a single-game this season with his 5.0 tackles for loss also tying for second in the FBS. His tackle for loss total ties for fourth-most in school history with his 3.5 sacks also sitting in eighth all-time.
Utah’s defense held UCLA to just nine yards rushing, the third time this season the Utes have held an opponent to under 100 yards on the ground. The Utes rank third in the FBS and first in the Pac-12 in rushing defense (51.0 ypg), also ranking sixth and ninth in the FBS in scoring defense and total defense, leading the league in both.
The Moscow Idaho native is the seventh Ute to earn Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors since 2004 with six of the seven being defensive players.
It is Elliss’ first national player of the week honor of his career, also earning Pac-12 Defensive Line Player of the Week for his performance against the Bruins.
Walter Camp is known as “The Father of American football,” 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-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967.