Football | September 16, 2019
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Western Michigan junior linebacker Treshaun Hayward has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week following the Broncos' 57-10 win against Georgia State this past Saturday, announced the league office Monday.
The selection marks the third for Western Michigan this season as Hayward joins Jon Wassink (Offense/September 2) and Keith Mixon Jr. (Special Teams/September 2). The MAC selection was the first of Hayward's career.
Hayward, a 6-1, 225-pound native of Ypsilanti, Mich., led the Broncos with a career-high 15 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble to back WMU's explosive offense in the win versus the Panthers. Hayward lifted his season total to 32 tackles, a new single-year high after booking 14 tackles in 2017 and 23 in 2018.
Hayward added his first career sack in the first quarter, dropping Dan Ellington for a loss of 13 yards and was also in on a half sack in the second frame. Hayward tallied his first career forced fumble and was an integral part of the WMU defense that stymied the Panthers offense. WMU held Georgia State to 126 passing yards (124.5 below their season average) and one passing score (2.5 below their season average). The Broncos limited the Panthers to 10 points, marking the team's lowest output of the season to date and 33.0 points below its season average.
The linebacker crew helped hold Ellington to 44 net rushing yards and zero touchdowns on nine carries after he entered the week averaging 73.5 rushing yards per game. As a whole, Western Michigan's defense tallied 4.0 sacks, its most in a game since 7.0 against Northern Illinois on November 20, 2018, and limited Georgia State to 38 yards of total offense after intermission.
The MAC's other weekly honors included Ohio's Nathan Rourke (East Offensive Player of the Week), Miami's Kameron Butler (East Defensive Player of the Week), Kent State's Dustin Adams (East Special Teams Player of the Week), Eastern Michigan's Mike Glass III (West Offensive Player of the Week) and Eastern Michigan's Chad Ryland (West Special Teams Player of the Week).
The Broncos return to action Saturday at 12 noon at Syracuse. The game will be televised by ACC Network.
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