ST. LOUIS – Following a strong performance in the secondary for No. 7 Illinois State in its Senior Day win over Missouri State, Redbird junior cornerback Devin Taylor was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player on Sunday by the league office.
The MVFC Defensive Player of the Week honor is the second for Taylor in his career and this weekly honor is the seventh for a Redbird player in 2019. He was joined by running back D.J. Davis of Southern Illinois (Offense), punter Brendan Withrow of Missouri State (Special Teams) and quarterback Keaton Heide of South Dakota State and running back Javon Williams Jr. of Southern Illinois, who shared the Newcomer of the Week award.
Taylor locked down Missouri State wide receivers all afternoon, as the Redbirds held off the Bears for a 17-12 victory at Hancock Stadium. The Lansing, Michigan, native recorded his team-leading third interception of the season and finished the game with a career-high five pass breakups in the victory over the Bears. Taylor also had three solo tackles in the contest and his final breakup came on third-and-goal at the 3-yard line with under a minute remaining in the game set up the fourth-down sack by Luther Kirk that sealed the win. Taylor now leads the team with 16 PBUs on the season and 19 total passes defended, which is tops among all Valley Football defensive backs.
The nationally-ranked Redbirds (8-3, 4-2 MVFC) fly to Youngstown, Ohio, next Saturday for the regular season finale against Youngstown State (5-6, 1-6 MVFC), with kickoff slated for 11 a.m. CT at Stambaugh Stadium.
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