FAMU's Vann does it again, wins weekly award

[FAMU Rattler70]

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Florida A&M returnman Leroy Vann, Liberty quarterback Mike Brown and Richmond defensive tackle Nicholas Battle have been named The Sports Network's FCS national players of the week.

OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Mike Brown, Liberty, Sophomore, 6-0, 190, QB/WR, Charlottesville, VA.

Subbing for injured starting quarterback Tommy Beecher (concussion), Brown completed 29-of-36 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown and ran 20 times for 88 yards and another score as Liberty went on the road for a tough 19-13 victory over Lafayette in a key intersectional game. Brown opened the scoring with a one-yard TD blast with 8:41 remaining in the first quarter. He added a 29-yard scoring strike to Chris Summers with two minutes left in the second period to give the Flames a 14-0 lead that Lafayette could not overcome. Brown, who found out he was starting at quarterback on Thursday, finished with 344 yards of total offense, the 15th best figure in FCS this season, and his completion percentage of 80.6% was the sixth-highest single-game mark in Big South Conference history. The multi-dimensional performer has 13 catches for 171 yards and one TD and has also returns kickoffs and punts for the Flames. Altogether, Brown has 745 total yards this season.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Nicholas Battle, Richmond, Senior, 6-4 , 250, Defensive Tackle, San Diego, CA.

Battle helped Richmond to its first shutout of the season at home against Hofstra, with five tackles, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 2.5 tackles for loss (17 yards) and one sack for a 12-yard loss in the 47-0 Colonial Athletic Association game. Battle was a force for a Spider defense that forced four first-half turnovers to take the Pride out of the game. He had a first-quarter forced fumble to help Richmond to an early field goal and he stripped Hofstra quarterback Cory Christopher of the ball in the second period that a teammate returned 36 yards to set up the Spiders' first touchdown. Later in the second quarter, Battle fell on another fumble after another sack to set up a TD that made it a 24-0 contest. The first-year starter was part of a Richmond defense that limited Hofstra to 199 total yards and just 13 yards on the ground.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Leroy Vann, Florida A&M, 5-9, 185, Senior, KR/PR-DB, Tampa, FL.

Vann led Florida A&M to its second-straight nationally-televised victory with two punt returns as the Rattlers beat Howard 48-10 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contest. It is the second week in a row that Vann has been named national special teams player of the week after returning two kicks for touchdowns. Vann tied an NCAA Division I career record with seven punt returns for touchdowns and tied the single-season FAMU mark of four punt returns for TDs, which had previously been established by Howard Huckaby (1985-88). The NCAA mark was originally set by Kenny Shedd of Northern Iowa (1989-92).

Vann had a 40-yard punt return for a touchdown with 3:49 left in the first quarter to give the Rattlers a 21-0 lead and a 66-yard punt return for another score with 2:16 remaining in the third quarter to complete the scoring. He had five returns overall for 117 yards(23.4 average) and added two kickoff returns for 80 yards, including a 68-yarder to open the game and set up a FAMU touchdown. Vann finished with 197 all-purpose yards. He is first nationally in punt returns (27.9 average), ninth in FCS in all-purpose yardage (185 yards per game) and 26th in kickoff returns (25.8 average). Vann also had four tackles, three of them solo stops, and one tackle for loss as a cornerback.

2009 Division FCS Players of the Week
Week/Side Player Position School

3-Offense Mike Brown QB/WR Liberty
Subbing for injured starting quarterback Tommy Beecher (concussion), Brown completed 29-of-36 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown and ran 20 times for 88 yards and another score as Liberty went on the road for a tough 19-13 victory over Lafayette.

3-Defense Nicholas Battle DT Richmond
Battle helped Richmond to its first shutout of the season at home against Hofstra, with five tackles, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 2.5 tackles for loss (17 yards) and one sack for a 12-yard loss in the 47-0 victory.

3-Special Teams Leroy Vann KR/PR/DB Florida A&M
Vann led Florida A&M to its second-straight nationally-televised victory with two punt returns for TDs as the Rattlers beat Howard 48-10 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contest. It is the second week in a row that Vann has been named national special teams player of the week.




09/21 15:45:34 ET

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

Pretty impressive Rattler. Welcome to the board and thanks for the post!

We are not supposed to post more than 1/3 of an article and the link to the site you get it from has to be included for future reference.

FWIW...I hope the Rattlers get whatever that contract dispute that is troubling them worked out.

[FAMU Rattler70]

Pretty impressive Rattler. Welcome to the board and thanks for the post!

We are not supposed to post more than 1/3 of an article and the link to the site you get it from has to be included for future reference.

FWIW...I hope the Rattlers get whatever that contract dispute that is troubling them worked out.

Thank you and you're welcome...I'm glad to be here...Sorry, I didn't know about the 1/3 allowed to post, thanks for telling me...Montana has a really game team, i watched one of the games on TV.

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

Pretty impressive Rattler. Welcome to the board and thanks for the post!

We are not supposed to post more than 1/3 of an article and the link to the site you get it from has to be included for future reference.

FWIW...I hope the Rattlers get whatever that contract dispute that is troubling them worked out.

Thank you and you're welcome...I'm glad to be here...Sorry, I didn't know about the 1/3 allowed to post, thanks for telling me...Montana has a really game team, i watched one of the games on TV.

Cool man, if you check in on Saturdays people usually have links to watch online if you like and you can always catch games from a lot of conferences on Channelsurfing.net. Looks like you fellas got some real promise going on this year.

[jbrob706]

Strike, Strike, and Strike Again! Aggie Pride!

[FAMU Rattler70]

Thank you and you're welcome...I'm glad to be here...Sorry, I didn't know about the 1/3 allowed to post, thanks for telling me...Montana has a really game team, i watched one of the games on TV.

Cool man, if you check in on Saturdays people usually have links to watch online if you like and you can always catch games from a lot of conferences on Channelsurfing.net. Looks like you fellas got some real promise going on this year.

I'll check Montana out this Saturday at 6:05 ET online, thanks for the info. Yeah man, we have a really good team this year. If we can get by South Carolina St., we will win the MEAC. North Carolina A&T, wont be a problem. Oh, check out FAMU vs Tennessee State game, Saturday at 3:30, on Versus TV.. It will be VannTastic!!!

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

Cool man, if you check in on Saturdays people usually have links to watch online if you like and you can always catch games from a lot of conferences on Channelsurfing.net. Looks like you fellas got some real promise going on this year.

I'll check Montana out this Saturday at 6:05 ET online, thanks for the info. Yeah man, we have a really good team this year. If we can get by South Carolina St., we will win the MEAC. North Carolina A&T, wont be a problem. Oh, check out FAMU vs Tennessee State game, Saturday at 3:30, on Versus TV.. It will be VannTastic!!!

I've got a shit load of moving stuff I gotta do on Saturday but I will try and get back to check that out. Keep the info. coming cuz it helps us to know what's going on for the Poll that's starting next week.

[FAMU Rattler70]

Strike, Strike, and Strike Again! Aggie Pride!

Wassup, My MEAC friend! Nov. 07, You will be seeing SuperVann!!!

[jbrob706]

Strike, Strike, and Strike Again! Aggie Pride!

Wassup, My MEAC friend! Nov. 07, You will be seeing SuperVann!!!

We are trying to make a season. We started out in good shape. But our offense is not there. Maybe we will be ready in Nov. Our last 2 games of the season are FAM and SC State. Maybe we will develop by then.