Utah State cornerback Jalen Davis, along with Texas safety DeShon Elliott, have been named the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Players of the Week, it was announced Wednesday morning by the organization.
This is the fifth award Davis has collected after helping lead the Aggies to a come-from-behind 40-24 victory over in-state rival BYU last Friday night on Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium.
On Monday, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior was tabbed the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week, followed by collecting America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week honors, an award voted on by a state-wide media panel.
Davis garnered a pair of awards on Sunday as he was named the CBSSports.com National Player of the Week and the College Sports Madness MW Defensive Player of the Week.
Additionally, Davis is one of five defensive/special teams players nominated for HERO of the Week honors by herosports.com. Aggie fans can vote online for Davis. He is pitted against the likes of Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, Texas A&M’s Otaro Alaka, Wisconsin’s Garret Dooley and Texas Tech’s Damarcus Fields.
In Utah State’s win over BYU, Davis intercepted a career-high three passes and returned two of them for touchdowns from 30 and 50 yards, respectively. He also had a season-high five tackles, to go along with one pass breakup. With that pass breakup, he set the school record for passes broken up in a career as he now has 27 overall.
The three interceptions for Davis are tied with New Mexico State’s Shamad Lomax for the most in a game at the Football Bowl Subdivision level this year and tied for a Mountain West record as it is the 11th time in conference history a player has had three picks in a game.
The last time an FBS player had more than three interceptions in a game was in 2006, when Middle Tennessee’s Damon Nickson had four picks against Louisiana-Lafayette. Davis’ three interceptions are also the second most in a game in school history, trailing only Henry King, who had four picks against Pacific in 1966.
Davis’ two interception returns for touchdowns are a single-game school record and tied with four other players for the most in Mountain West history, not to mention the most at the FBS level this season. In fact, it is just the 18th time in conference history a team has had two interceptions returned for a touchdown in a game.
Davis is the first FBS player to have three interceptions and return two of them for touchdowns since 2012 when Fresno State’s Phillip Thomas accomplished the feat against Colorado.
On the season, Davis leads the team with his five interceptions for 120 yards. He also leads the Aggies in pass breakups (five) and shares the lead in sacks (2.0), to go along with his 11 total tackles — the second most by a Utah State cornerback.
Utah State (3-2, 1-0 MW) returns to action this weekend as it hosts Mountain West foe Colorado State (3-2, 1-0 MW) on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 2:30 p.m. The game will be televised regionally on AT&T Sports.