Utah State running back Darwin Thompson was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week, it was announced Monday by the league office.
It is the first time this year and the first time in his career that the 5-foot-8, 200-pound native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has earned conference player of the week accolades.
Overall, this is the Aggies’ 23rd weekly accolade in their sixth season in the league and their MW-leading fifth offensive player of the week accolade in 2018.
Additionally, Thompson was named the College Sports Madness MW Offensive Player of the Week following No. 14 Utah State’s 56-17 win at Hawai’i this past Saturday night at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.
Against the Rainbow Warriors, Thompson rushed for 141 yards and three touchdowns – both career highs – on 13 carries. He also caught two passes for 37 yards, including a long of 34.
Thompson has a team-leading 13 rushing touchdowns this season, which is tied for ninth all-time in school history, after scoring twice from a yard out and another time from 26 yards out – breaking seven tackles along the way – against the Rainbow Warriors. Overall, it is the fourth time this year that he has had multiple rushing touchdowns in a game, and he has now scored a rushing touchdown in eight of the Aggies’ nine games.
With the win over Hawaii, Utah State improved to 8-1 overall and became just the 13th team in school history to win at least eight games, including the fourth in the past seven seasons. Furthermore, it is the Aggies’ best start to a season since the 1963 squad also won eight of its first nine games.
Thompson and the Aggies have won eight straight, which is the second-longest winning streak in school history, trailing the 1961 team that won its first nine games.
Utah State finished with 601 yards of total offense against Hawai’i, marking the second-straight game the Aggies have produced at least 600 total yards and the first time in school history it's ever happened.
As a team, Utah State rushed the ball 54 times for 426 yards (7.9 ypc), which ranks 10th all-time in school history.
On the season, Thompson has rushed for 702 yards on 93 carries (7.5 ypc), averaging 78.0 yards per game. He ranks first in the Mountain West and fourth in the nation in yards per carry, and his 13 rushing touchdowns on the season are also tops in the conference and fifth in the nation.
Furthermore, Thompson is third in the MW and 23rd in the nation in scoring (8.7 ppg), fourth in the MW and 53rd in the nation in rushing (78.0 ypg) and fifth in the MW and 81st in the nation in all-purpose yards (102.0 pg).
San Diego State’s Kyahva Tezino and John Baron II were named the MW Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week, respectively.
Up next
Utah State returns home to host San José State (1-8, 1-4 MW) on Saturday, Nov. 10, at 2 p.m., in the Aggies’ annual Senior Day game on Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. The game will be aired exclusively on Facebook.