FRISCO, Texas – HCU's Colby Suits, Texas A&M-Commerece's Max Epps, and Southeastern's Austin Dunlap are the winners of the Southland Conference’s football weekly awards for the fourth week of the season, as announced by the conference office Monday.
Offensive Player of the Week: Colby Suits, HCU– QB – Sr. – Forney, Texas (North Forney HS)
Quarterback Colby Suits of HCU led the Huskies to a monumental 34-19 road win over SLU in which HCU never trailed. Suits accounted for more than 300 yards of offense and four touchdowns without a turnover in the game. Suits threw for 246 yards and three touchdown passes in the first half, including an 86-yard strike, to help HCU build a 24-6 lead. Leading by five in the fourth quarter, Suits ran for a 21-yard touchdown run on fourth down to ice the game and earn the first ever win over the Lions.
Defensive Player of the Week: Max Epps, Texas A&M-Commerce – DB – Jr. – Spring, Texas (Dekaney HS)
Defensive back Max Epps of Texas A&M-Commerce was all over the field on Saturday at Old Dominion. Epps started off with an interception in the first quarter and then caught another, which he returned for 46 yards in the Lions' narrow 10-9 loss against the FBS Monarchs. He finished the game with four tackles and a pass breakup to go along with his two interceptions. Epps has at least one interception in all four games he's played in and is tops in the nation with four total
Special Teams Player of the Week: Austin Dunlap, Southeastern – P – Sr. – Slidell, La. (Northshore HS)
For the second consecutive week, punter Austin Dunlap was terrific for Southeastern in their home opener. Dunlap averaged 48.0 yards per punt versus HCU including two punts downed inside the 20. The senior had punts of 62 yards and 56 yards. Through four weeks, Dunlap leads the SLC with a 45.3 punting average.
Honorable Mention: Alfonso Deleon, Lamar
2023 Southland Football Players of the Week
| Date |
Offensive |
Defensive |
Special Teams |
| Sept. 4 |
Champ Dozier, HCU |
Ian Goodly, Southeastern |
Cam Thomas, McNeese |
| Sept. 11 |
Zach Calzada, UIW |
Steven Parker, UIW |
Gavin Lasseigne, Nicholls |
| Sept. 18 |
Brandon Porter, UIW |
Tre Richardson, UIW |
Austin Dunlap, Southeastern |
| Sept. 25 |
Colby Suits, HCU |
Max Epps, Texas A&M-Commerce |
Austin Dunlap, Southeastern |
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.