College players of the week honored - Oct. 1 — Tennessee Sports Writers Association

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Chattanooga quarterback Chase Artopoeus had a tremendous night as he led an offensive explosion, earning this week’s Tennessee Sports Writers Association Football Offensive Player of the Week honor.

In all, Artopoeus threw for a season-high 396 yards with four touchdowns as he completed 24-of-32 passes. That stands as the ninth-most in Chattanooga program history as well as his fourth game of over 300 passing yards – ranking behind Chris Sanders’ 12 and B.J. Coleman’s six. The 396 passing yards were three shy of tying his career-best of 399 last season against Western Carolina.

The Orcutt, Calif., native added seven rushing yards to put him at 403 yards of total offense, the 12th time a Chattanooga player surpassed 400 total yards and his second after posting 401 in that career game against WCU and the most since Jacob Huesman compiled 428 at New Hampshire in the FCS quarterfinals.

On the defensive side, Tennessee Tech junior defensive lineman Theron Gaines was selected as this week’s Defensive Player of the Week after earning the Stats Perform FCS National Player of the Week and sharing the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference’s defensive honor with UT Martin’s Oshae Baker – who helped the Skyhawks top FBS newcomer Kennesaw State.

With no power at Gardner-Webb after Hurricane Helene passed through the western part of North Carolina, the two teams lined up in an old-school manner and Gaines dominated the Runnin’ Bulldogs as the Golden Eagles defeated the defending Big South-OVC champions 52-21 to improve to 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2011.

Gaines, a Murfreesboro product, recorded seven total tackles – six of those solo – as he had three sacks for 36 yards and 3.5 tackles-for-loss for 38 yards. He also forced a fumble that teammate Daniel Rickert returned for a 50-yard touchdown.

The three sacks stand two short of the single-game record five that Branon Vaughn recorded in 1988 against Eastern Kentucky and Elois Grooms posted against Murray State in 1974.

VOLLEYBALL: Middle Tennessee senior outside hitter Laure Jansen had a historic week as she set a new single-game record for digs and digs per set, recording 39 digs and an astonishing 9.75 digs per set rate at Sam Houston. She finished the week with 75 digs – distilled down to an amazing 7.5 digs per set – including 19 digs in three sets in a sweep over Alabama A&M. The Valburg, Netherlands, native also had five service aces on the week. She was also named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week.

MEN’S SOCCER: Lipscomb sophomore goalkeeper Juan Carlos Rodriguez added to his Atlantic Sun Conference Goalkeeper of the Week honor as he recorded his second-straight shutout. The Almeria, Spain, native posted the clean sheet with a 2-0 victory over Bellarmine on Sunday. He made five saves and has yet to allow a goal in conference play.

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Sewanee senior defender Ashlyn Richards had a great week as she anchored the defense to two victories. The Charlotte, N.C., native scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in the conference match against Berry, while also collecting an assist against Piedmont. In the two matches on the week, the defense did not allow a goal and held both opponents to a combined three shots on goal.

2024-25 TSWA College Players of the Week
Football
9/3 | Offensive: Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt); Defensive: Bryan Longwell (Vanderbilt)
9/10 | Offensive: Sam Phillips (Chattanooga); Defensive: Elijah Herring (Memphis)
9/17 | Offensive: Dylan Sampson (Tennessee); Defensive: Alex Mitchell (Chattanooga)
9/24 | Offensive: La’Vell Wright (Austin Peay); Defensive: Major Williams (Carson-Newman)
10/1 | Offensive: Chase Artopoeus (Chattanooga); Defensive: Theron Gaines (Tennessee Tech)