ST. LOUIS – After a night full of historic performances at No. 19 Liberty, senior WR
Bob Pugh and freshman QB
Cade Sparks have both been honored as players of the week by the Missouri Valley Football Conference, the Valley announced Sunday evening.
Pugh was honored as the MVFC Offensive Player of the Week following a 260-yard outing against the Flames, the fifth-best performance by a receiver in the history of the Valley. Sparks was named Newcomer of the Week after a 405 passing yard performance, the second-best in school history and eighth-best in the FCS this season.
The Sycamores have the upcoming week off before opening the Valley season at Illinois State on Sept. 30.
MVFC Offensive Player of the Week:
#4 WR Bob Pugh, R-Sr., 5-11, 190, Foley, Ala. (Foley HS/Highland CC)
Only one receiver in school history and only four in Valley history has ever had a better night than
Bob Pugh did at No. 19 Liberty on Saturday night, as the senior wideout was the main catalyst in a potent Sycamore passing game against the Flames. Pugh put up the second-best single-game performance in school history with 260 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches – the best at ISU since 1955 (319, Bill Griffith, vs. Evansville) and the fifth-best in the history of the MVFC (the best since Illinois State's Laurent Robinson set the current Valley record at 292 vs. Indiana State in 2005). Pugh's monster night ranks as the top receiving game in the FCS this season by 56 yards and the second overall in Division I between FCS and FBS, trailing only Hawaii's John Ursua's 272 at UMass in the season opener. Pugh teamed up with senior TE
Jacquet McClendon (who had 115 yards and one TD on nine catches) to record just the second game in school history with multiple 100-yard receivers, with the previous (and first) game coming at Southern Illinois in 2016 (147 by
Miles Thompson, 131 by
Robert Tonyan Jr.). Pugh had an average of 32.5 yards per catch, with five of his catches coming at 30 yards or longer at 31, 37, 43, 49 and 64 (his scores coming at 31 and 64). On the season, Pugh stands at 30.7 yards per catch, fourth-best in the FCS. Pugh entered Saturday night's contest with 323 career receiving yards in two seasons at ISU.
MVFC Newcomer of the Week:
#16 QB Cade Sparks, R-Fr., 6-4, 195, Fontana, Calif. (Summit HS)
Redshirt freshman
Cade Sparks more than tripled his career passing totals with a lights-out passing showcase at No. 19 Liberty on Saturday night. Sparks put up the second-best passing game in school history with 405 yards through the air, falling just short of Mike Perish's 2014 record of 407 set in the FCS Playoffs at Eastern Kentucky. Sparks' performance (and a 31-yard TD pass by holder
Jeremy Patterson on a fake FG) helped break the ISU school record for team passing yards, totaling 436 to surpass the 2013 record of 433 set vs. Quincy. Sparks' final line on the night read 22-of-36 for 405 yards, two TD, one INT and a long of 64. Of that, 260 yards and both touchdowns went to senior WR
Bob Pugh, who recorded the second-best receiving game in school history and the fifth-best in the history of the Valley. Sparks' performance stands as the eighth-best in the FCS and best in the MVFC at the moment.
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