SDSU'S RASHAAD PENNY AND KAMERON KELLY NAMED MW PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Penny wins third straight MW Offensive Player-of-the-Week award; Kelly wins first defensive honor

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

September 18, 2017 (San Diego) - San Diego State senior captains Rashaad Penny (Norwalk, Calif.) and Kameron Kelly (Murphy, Texas) have each been named Mountain West Players of the Week, the league announced Monday. Penny was chosen as the MW Offensive Player of the Week for the third consecutive week, while Kelly was chosen as the MW Defensive Player of the Week for the first time of his career.

Penny became the first MW player to earn player-of-the-week honors in three straight weeks since Utah kicker Louie Sakoda in 2007 (Oct. 8-22). He’s also the first offensive player to win the award three consecutive weeks since Utah quarterback Alex Smith in 2004 (Nov. 1-15). Penny joins Sakoda, Smith and Brigham Young’s Luke Staley (2001) as the only players in league history to be named a player of the week in three consecutive weeks.

Penny now has six MW player-of-the-week awards for his career, including four this year in just three weeks (three-time offensive player of the week, special teams player of the week on Sept. 11). He was also a MW Special Teams Player-of-the-Week winner once in 2015 and once in 2016. Penny’s six MW weekly accolades are tied with Donnel Pumphrey for second in Aztec history, only trailing Ronnie Hillman’s seven awards across 2010 and 2011.

Amazingly, SDSU has captured six of the nine MW Player-of-the-Week awards this year (Penny - three offensive, one special teams; Noble Hall - one defensive; Kelly - one defensive).

Penny and Kelly helped San Diego State to a 20-17 win over then No. 19/19 Stanford Saturday night. It was the third straight win for the Aztecs over a Power 5 school as SDSU stopped the nine-game non-conference winning streak by the Cardinal.

Penny rushed a career-high 32 times for 175 yards (5.5 avg.), while adding a career-high five receptions for 31 yards. The 175 yards are the second most against a Top 25 team this year and the most by a Group of 5 school against a Power 5 school. It was his third consecutive 100-yard game (tied for 11^th-longest streak in school history) and eighth of his career (all over the last 13 games). The eight career 100-yard rushing games are tied for the 11^th most in school history.

On the season, Penny has rushed 71 times for 588 yards (8.3 avg.) with four rushing touchdowns and a long run of 95 yards. He also has nine catches for 69 yards (7.7 avg.) and a touchdown with a long reception of 33 yards, while returning two kicks for 117 yards (58.5 avg.), including a 99-yard TD. Penny leads the nation in rushing yards (588), rushing yards per game (196.0), all-purpose yards (258.0) and all-purpose yards (774), and is also second in overall touchdowns (6), fifth in total points (36) and kick return touchdowns (1), eighth in rushing yards per carry (8.28) and points per game (12.0) and 17th in rushing touchdowns (4).

Kelly, meanwhile, had six tackles (five solo), with a career-high two sacks, career-best two tackles for loss, his first career forced fumble and an interception. The two sacks were the first of his career (in his 36th game) as was the forced fumble, which stopped the Cardinal from driving in the waning moments of the second quarter. He added an interception on Stanford’s final drive, preserving the win for the Aztecs as they went into victory formation. Kelly helped SDSU limit the Cardinal to six 3 and outs, force three turnovers (Stanford had not turned the ball over in six straight games and had just two turnovers combined in its last eight games) and dominate the time of possession, 41:14-18:46. The 18:46 was the fewest time of possession for a Stanford team since at least 1996. 

Kelly ranks third on the team with 15 tackles, including 14 solo (tied for first on the team). He has also added three tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups, an interception and a forced fumble. Kelly ranks in a tie for fourth in the MW in sacks per game (0.67), a tie for sixth in passes defended (PBU + INT) per game (1.00) and a tie for eighth in fumbles forced per game (0.33).