CHICAGO – Samford senior quarterback Devlin Hodges was named the STATS FCS National Offensive Player of the Week and Furman kicker Grayson Atkins was named the National Special Teams Player of the Week when the organization released its weekly football awards Monday.
Hodges turned in his third straight 400-yard passing game in leading the Bulldogs to a 38-25 win at Furman on Saturday. With his 402-yard performance, Hodges became the SoCon’s all-time leader in career passing yards, and he set the all-time FCS record for career completions. He also set the SoCon record for passing yards in a three-game span, throwing for a combined 1,437 yards in wins over Western Carolina, VMI and Furman.
Hodges threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Chris Shelling and a 30-yard scoring strike to Jai’Rus Creamer, both in the second half, to lead Samford to the come-from-behind win. Additionally, Hodges led the team in rushing in the game, running for 45 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
For the season, Hodges leads the nation in passing yards per game (384.5 yards per game), total passing yards (3,076), total offense per game (412.3 ypg) and points responsible for (180). Hodges, the two-time SoCon Offensive Player of the Year, is on the watch list for the Walter Payton Award, which goes to the top offensive player in all of FCS football.
Atkins, a sophomore from Inman, South Carolina, and product of Boiling Springs High School, fashioned a record-setting performance by converting all four field goal attempts, including efforts from 27, 50, 51 and 53 yards, averaging 45.8 yards on six punts, including a career long 57-yarder, and registering four touchbacks on six kickoffs against the Bulldogs.
He became the first kicker in Furman history to make two 50-plus yard field goals in a game, and extended his own standard to three when he drilled a career-best 53-yard effort on the final play of the first half to give Furman a 12-10 halftime lead, accounting for all of the Paladins’ first half points.
His 53-yard field goal tied an NCAA Division I record for most 50-yard field goals in a game (three), last accomplished in 2006 by Sam Swank of Wake Forest, and marked the first time an FCS player had registered the feat since Jesse Garcia from Louisiana-Monroe vs. McNeese in 1983.
Atkins’ four made field goals against Samford extended his consecutive field goals made streak to seven, making him 7-of-9 on the season. He is now 16-for-22 for his career.
A 2017 SoCon All-Freshman Team pick, he paced the league in kick scoring a year ago with 82 points.
Atkins is averaging 41.3 yards this fall in his first season as Furman’s punter, and 16 of his 31 kickoffs have not been returned in his first campaign as Paladins’ kickoff specialist.