Monday, September 13, 2010

Temple's Wilkerson named MAC Defensive Player of the Week

CLEVELAND (9/13/10) - Temple junior DT Muhammad Wilkerson (Linden, N.J.) has earned the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor for the East division, the MAC announced on Monday.

In Temple's win over defending champion Central Michigan, Wilkerson had six tackles, a career-high two sacks, a career-high 3.0 TFL, and a forced fumble. The forced fumble was the second of his career. Wilkerson also played on the punt, punt return, and field goal defense units.

With the win, Temple opened the season at 2-0 for the first time since 1981 while snapping CMU's 18-game win streak against MAC East Division teams dating back to 2004. The overtime win was the first in Temple's history. 

After two games, Wilkerson stands second in team tackles with 11, including nine solos. He leads the Owls with 3.5 TFL and two sacks.

The MAC honor is the second of Wilkerson's career and his first this season. He is the second Owl to earn conference recognition this fall. Sophomore PK Brandon McManus (Hatfield, Pa.) earned Specialist of the Week accolades on Sept. 6.

Temple (2-0, 1-0 MAC) hosts Connecticut (1-1, 0-0 Big East) on Saturday, Sept. 18 at Noon at Lincoln Financial Field. ESPN Plus/Game Plan will televise the game (shown locally on 6ABC).

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