CLEVELAND – After his historic performance at quarterback last Saturday, Drew Hare of the Northern Illinois University football team was named the Mid-American Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Week, the league office announced on Wednesday morning.

Hare (O’Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) received the weekly award, which recognizes tremendous athletic achievements by MAC student-athletes who also excel in their studies, for the third time in his Huskie career after setting the NIU school record for completion percentage last week.

A business administration major, Hare maintains a 3.63 cumulative grade-point average in addition to his duties as the starting quarterback for the NIU football program. He is the first NIU student-athlete in the 2015-16 academic year to earn MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honors.

In helping the Huskies retain the Bronze Stalk Trophy with a 59-41 victory over Ball State last Saturday, the NIU junior quarterback completed 29-of-32 passes for a 90.2 completion percentage – a school record for a quarterback with at least 20 pass attempts in a game. Hare also finished with a career-high 363 passing yards, the 11th most in school history, while passing for two touchdowns and rushing for another as the Huskies exploded offensively for 59 points and 636 total yards.

Hare, who additionally garnered MAC West Offensive Player of the Week and “Star of the Week” recognition from the Manning Award sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl this week, will lead the Huskies (3-3, 1-1 MAC) into a key conference clash with the Miami RedHawks on Saturday in Oxford, Ohio.

--NIU--