Sept. 18, 2007

Florida Atlantic University quarterback Rusty Smith was named USA Today National Player of the Week for his performance in the Owls 42-39 win over Minnesota on Saturday.

Smith took 45 percent of the vote in the fan poll, edging out Kansas State wide receiver Jordy Nelson, who took 40 percent of the vote. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was a distant third at ten percent.

The fan vote counts for one-third of the total vote. USA Today college football editor Erick Smith and Gannett columnist Mike Lopresti made up the other two-thirds of the vote. Both Smith and Lopresti chose Smith as their player of the week to complete the sweep.

The sophomore quarterback threw for 463 yards and five touchdowns, both school records, in Saturday's win over the Gophers. The win was FAU's first ever over a team from a BCS conference and the first for the Sun Belt Conference over a team from the Big Ten.

In addition to this honor, Smith also was named Sun Belt conference Offensive Player of the Week. Additionally, cornerback Tavious Polo won the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week as well as Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week. It is the first time that FAU has ever swept both Sun Belt offensive and defensive player of the week honors in the same week. It is also the first time that two FAU players have won national player of the week honors at the bowl subdivision (formerly known as division 1-A) level.

The Owls will be in action on Saturday, September 22 when they face North Texas at 7 p.m. The game can be seen on CSS for Comcast Subscribers only (channel 32 in the Palm Beach market, channel 63 in the Miami/Dade market, channel 41 in the Broward market). The game can also be heard on the radio in South Florida on WMEN-AM 640, or on fausports.com (the football schedule page).

There will be an Owl Watch party for the North Texas game on Saturday. It will take place at the Miller's East Boca Ale House, 1200 Yamato Road, Boca Raton. There will be free appetizers for FAU supporters and prizes given away throughout the night.