Oct. 24, 2005
NORMAL, Ill. -
After being named the Gateway Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Sunday, Illinois State senior defensive end Brent Hawkins has added two new awards to a growing list of accomplishments in 2005. On Monday, Hawkins was named the DI-AA National Defensive Player of the Week by The Sports Network and a I-AA.org Weekly All-Star.
Hawkins, a Buck Buchanan Award candidate, put on a clinic and single-handedly disrupted the No. 13 Northern Iowa offense, which had previously allowed the fewest sacks in the league. Hawkins finished with a school-record-tying five sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss. He also registered nine total tackles, including six solo stops. As a result, Hawkins and the Redbirds handed UNI its worst regular season loss to a non-I-A team since losing 52-9 at home to Southern Illinois in the 1983 season.
Head coach Denver Johnson believes the recognition that Hawkins is getting is well deserved.
"I've said all along that Brent in one of the premier players not only on our team but also in the Gateway Conference," said Johnson. "These two awards prove that he's one of the premier defensive players in the nation also and that's great for Brent."
This is Hawkins' second selection by I-AA.org as a weekly All-Star and his first by The Sports Network in 2005. Hawkins and the Redbird defense will look for a third-straight win next week against Western Illinois at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Ill.
