Football | November 20

DeKALB, Ill. – After a dominating performance against an Outland Trophy semifinalist in Northern Illinois University's 35-31 win over Western Michigan last Wednesday, NIU defensive end Sutton Smith collected his third Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season, the league office announced Monday. 
 
The nation's leader in sacks and tackles for loss, Smith (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell HS) earned the award after another record-setting performance as he set a new Huskie record for quarterback sacks in a season one week after breaking the school mark for tackles for loss in a year.  Facing 2017 Outland Trophy semifinalist Chukwuma Okorafor of WMU much of the night, the sophomore registered 2.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss and six total tackles. 
 
The sacks were far from the whole story, as for the second time this year, Smith scored on a fumble recovery as he picked up a fumble by Broncos' quarterback Reece Goddard and ran 58 yards untouched to give NIU a 21-14 lead in the second quarter. Smith also ranks second in the nation in fumbles recovered with three on the year.  His 13 sacks this season lead the Football Bowl Subdivision as do his 27.5 tackles for loss. More than half of Smith's 53 tackles on the year have been for loss.
 
Smith broke the NIU record of 12 sacks in a season previously held by Scott Kellar (1984) and Larry English (2007) and has now smashed the previous mark of 20 tackles for loss held by Kellar since 1984.
 
A Huskie has earned a MAC weekly honor 10 times this season with Smith the only multiple time winner this season. With his three wins, Smith becomes the first NIU player since Jordan Lynch in 2013 to collect three or more MAC Player of the Week awards.
 
NIU (8-3, 6-1 MAC) will play their final game of the regular season this Friday at Central Michigan (7-4, 5-2 MAC) with a chance to win the MAC West. The game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff and will air on CBS Sports Network.
 
The Huskies will return to the postseason in 2017 and are currently taking deposits for bowl tickets.  Check out Postseason Central on NIUHuskies.com for all the latest information and links on NIU's postseason destination.
 
-- NIU --