Troy University Athletics
Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer
Jernigan Takes SBC Offensive Player of the Week
9/27/2010 5:56:11 PM | Football
SUN BELT CONFERENCE RELEASE | NCAA ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS | SUN BELT VIDEO FEATURE
Winning awards and breaking records is not something Troy senior Jerrel Jernigan is interested in. Those things are, however, a byproduct of his true interest, winning games.
The Eufaula native was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive player of the Week for his performance on Saturday against Arkansas State in a 35-28 Trojans victory.
“That really doesn't matter to me, as long as we win the game,” Jernigan said. “As long as we win, I don't care if I get offensive player of the week. It is a nice honor and a good award, but I'd rather get the win.”
Jernigan had a career day for the Trojans, setting the bar on the third play of the day when he took a pass over the middle from Corey Robinson and split two ASU defenders to race 70 yards for a touchdown.
For the game, Jernigan had 10 receptions for a career-high 209 yards and that one score. He also had two key receptions in the Trojans' game-winning drive, hauling in a short pass over the middle and going 30 yards on the first play of the drive and then, two plays later, making another catch for a 10-yard gain to the 17 to set up the winning touchdown.
“The game came down to him having a big role at the end,” Trojans coach Larry Blakeney said. “He is a fierce competitor and he likes to win. You can see his jets come on when he gets it in the grass. He was about to run out of bounds on that play the other night, but he saw one of the blockers seal the edge so he took it on down a little farther. He is going to be in the Troy Hall of Fame, I'll say that.”
It is the second time Jernigan has been honored by the Sun Belt Conference this year. His first award was for Special Teams Player of the Week following his performance at Oklahoma State.
Jernigan capped the victory when he hauled in a pass from Jamie Hampton to convert a two-point try for the final 7-point margin of victory. He finished with a season-high 311 all-purpose yards in the game.
With his performance, Jernigan moved up five spots on the Sun Belt career list for receiving yards and now stands just 28 yards shy of the league mark. He also moved up two spots to third on the league career all-purpose yardage list and stands just 508 yards shy of that record.
Jernigan is the active career leader in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with 209 career receptions and he stands second in career receiving yards (2,689), trailing leader Greg Salas of Hawaii by 179 yards.
The senior is also fifth among all active players in career all-purpose yards with 4,722.
Despite the big career numbers, Jernigan is only interested in the bottom line of winning games.
“I do sneak a peek every now and then, and Mr. Ricky (Hazel) will let me know every now and then where I am on the charts, but that doesn't really matter to me, I just go out and play the game.”
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