COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. --- For the second time in three weeks since his return from an injury that sidelined him for ten weeks, Austin Brawley was named the Old Trapper Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week. It marked the third time that a Lobo was named the weekly winner of the league's defensive honor.
Brawley won it after UNM's 20-17 win over Colorado State, and Jaxton Eck did likewise after UNM's historic 35-10 upset of UCLA in Week 3.
Other winners this week were Boise State quarterback Max Cutforth for Offensive Player of the Week, Fresno State kicker Dylan Lynch for Special Teams Player of the Week, and Hawai'i quarterback Micah Alejado as Freshman of the Week.
On Saturday, he recorded a season-high 10 tackles with a sack, a TFL, a forced fumble, and an interception as UNM beat San Diego State 23-17 in double overtime.
In the opening quarter, with UNM up 3-0 and with SDSU in field goal range, he ripped out a ball for a forced fumble, which UNM recovered at its own 35, turning it into a touchdown for only the second score after a turnover allowed by San Diego State this season.
With under a minute in the fourth quarter and the game tied at 17 and SDSU on the edge of field goal range, Brawley blitzed from his safety position for a sack that knocked SDSU out of range and forced a punt for overtime. On the first play of overtime, he ended the opening SDSU drive with his team-leading third interception (in just his fourth game).
In the three games in his return, UNM has now recorded nine takeaways, and he has three interceptions and a forced fumble over that span as UNM is allowing just 12.3 points per game.
New Mexico, which missed out on the Mountain West Championship game due to poor computer rankings in the two predictive models (Connelly SP+ and SportSource), will learn its bowl game invitation and opponent on Sunday, December 7.