Nov. 28, 2005
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Two players from UC Davis and one from Northern Colorado have been selected as Great West Football Conference players of the week for their performances in games Saturday, Nov. 21.
UC Davis junior quarterback Jon Grant was named offensive player of the week while Northern Colorado safety Reed Doughty earned defensive player of the week honors. UC Davis sophomore placekicker Emmanuel Benjamin was named special teams player of the week.
In a Great West Football Conference game Saturday, UC Davis defeated Northern Colorado 24-14 in Davis, Calif. In a first-round NCAA Division I-AA playoff game Saturday at Missoula, Mont., Cal Poly defeated Montana 35-21. The Mustangs (9-3, 4-1 Big West) visit Texas State for a quarterfinal-round matchup Saturday at 1 p.m. PST.
Grant (6-2, 205, Pacific Grove, Calif.) completed 22 of 32 passes with no interceptions for 279 yards and a pair of touchdowns as UC Davis clinched a share of the conference championship and a 36th consecutive winning season. Grant also ran 10 times for a career-high 65 yards, finishing with 344 yards of total offense. Grant connected with Daniel Fells on a 19-yard scoring pass in the first quarter and on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Blaise Smith in the second period. He had a long completion of 27 yards.
Doughty (6-1, 210, Johnstown, Colo.) had a team-high 15 tackles in the Bears' loss at UC Davis. Doughty registered his 10th double-digit tackle game of the season to finish the year with 159 tackles (14.45 per game), which led all Division I-AA players. Doughty had six solo tackles, nine assists and one tackle for lost yardage in the game.
Benjamin (5-10, 195, Modesto, Calif.) went 2-for-2 on extra-point kicks and kicked a 21-yard field goal during UC Davis' victory over Northern Colorado. His field goal was his 10th of the season, tying him for seventh place on the program's single-season list.
