Eastern Michigan football has had a player named Athlete of the Week for the first four weeks of the regular season in the Mid-American Conference West.
Senior quarterback Mike Glass III was named Offensive Player of the Week twice following the victories over Coastal Carolina and Illinois. Brody Hoying earned Defensive Player of the Week after the loss versus Kentucky and Mathew Sexton won Special Teams Player of the Week following the recent win over Central Connecticut State. Chad Ryland also won Special Teams Player of the Week after his game-winning kick against Illinois.
Glass III broke a school record with a 90.9% completion rate in the game against Coastal Carolina and led all of college football the first week of the season. He had four total touchdowns in the 30-23 win. He won the award again two weeks later after going 23-for-36 along with three touchdowns in the 34-31 win over the Illini. Glass was top three in the MAC in completions per game and completion percentage after that game.
Senior defensive back Brody Hoying won the MAC West Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 2. He had nine tackles and a half sack in the 38-17 loss against Kentucky. Hoying has added another four solo tackles, seven assisted tackles and one sack in the two wins since he won the award.
“The coaches put me in a great situation in the position I play for me to make plays and the guys around me to support,” Hoying said. “The secondary, like I said, the guys up front can’t do it without them, and then the linebackers, it’s a great defense. As an offense, you have to pick a spot to attack, and the coaches are putting me in the right spot to make the plays, I'm just out there doing it.”
The Eagles’ second victory against Illinois was finished with kicker Chad Ryland, when he made a 24-yard field goal with no time remaining to break the tie. He also had a career-long field goal of 52 yards in the second quarter. That length marked it as second best in school history. Ryland kicked a similar game-winner the year before against Purdue. It was also from 24 yards, at a Big Ten school and to win the game with no time remaining. He was named Special Teams Player of the Week.
Senior wide receiver and special teams player Mathew Sexton had a game-winning play against Central Connecticut State in Week 4. His blocked punt returned for a touchdown with 10 seconds left was the deciding score for EMU to win 34-29. The play alone earned him player of the week honors.
The streak of players of the week goes back to 2018, where two Eagles won awards in the final week of the regular season. Running back Ian Eriksen was Offensive Player of the Week with 118 yards and three touchdowns in the 28-20 win over Kent State. Punter Jake Julien was Special Teams Player of the Week as he had eight punts for 299 yards, three of them pinning Kent State inside the 20-yard line.
