ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum University's Matthew Palazzo and Nicholas Pope have been named the WePlayed Sports South Atlantic Conference Football Players of the Week. Palazzo was named the SAC Offensive Player of the Week for a second time this season while Pope was selected as the SAC Special Teams Player of the week.
Palazzo, a sophomore quarterback from Greeneville, Tennessee, accounted for four touchdowns (3 pass, 1 throw) to lead the Pioneers to a 35-7 win over UVA Wise on Saturday.
Two of his three touchdown passes were for 70-plus yards, with one covering 73 yards and the other 70 yards. In addition to his three touchdown passes, Palazzo ran for his team-leading sixth rushing touchdown of the season.
Palazzo is third in the league in passing yards per game averaging 213.7 per contest. His 11 TD completions are third in the conference while his six rushing scores are third in the SAC as well and 41st nationally. He is averaging 17.3 points responsible for per game which is tops in the conference and 17th in NCAA II.
Pope, a graduate student from Lincoln, Alabama, averaged 40 yards per punt on his seven attempts for 280 total yards. He pinned the Cavaliers inside the 20 three times and with four of his punts resulting in fair catches.
He is averaging 39.7 yards per punt which is fifth in the conference and 35th in the country. He has pinned the opposition inside the 20 on 14 occasions while his 22 fair catches are the most in the SAC.
Tusculum (4-3, 4-1 SAC) returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Emory & Henry for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
