Wallace named SLC Defensive Player of the Week

FRISCO – Sam Houston defensive tackle Joseph Wallace was named the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, per a release from league officials.

It is the first such honor for Wallace in his career and the fourth time this season a Bearkat has received a weekly honor from the Southland.

On a day where the Bearkat defense needed to hold, Wallace and the Kats' front line did just that. The senior interior lineman was huge for Sam Houston on a day that SHSU held McNeese to just 37 yards rushing, picking up 5.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss as a team.

Wallace was right in the middle of that with a sack and 3.0 TFLs of his own, and was in on all three plays of an early-game goal line stand that saw the Kats hold off the Cowboys on three straight plays from the 1-yard line to force a field goal.

Later, Wallace made the biggest play of the game, forcing a fumble at the 1-yard line with the Cowboys' on their way to the end zone that Sam Houston recovered to essentially quell any type of late-game rally. Wallace is one of four Bearkats to rank in the top seven among Southland spring players in TFLs per game with 1.10.

That effort helped Sam Houston clinch a share of its eighth Southland title in program history, a title that became theirs outright later in the night when NSU upset UIW. The Bearkats have now earned the Southland's automatic qualifier bid and will be in the FCS playoffs for the 12^th time in program history.

The Kats will close the regular season on Saturday at UIW. The game is set to start at 11:00 a.m. at Benson Stadium and will be aired on ESPN+.

Wallace named SLC Defensive Player of the Week

Players Mentioned

Joseph Wallace

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