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WR Jalen Tolbert of South Alabama was named Maxwell Player of the Week by the Maxwell Fotball Club. Each year, the club honors the best player with the Maxwell Award, as well as the Bendarik Award for the top defensive player. FS Cedric Cunningham of Army was named the Bednarik Defensive Player of the Week.
CollegefootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is a voter for each award.
Tolbert has picked up where he left off last year. The 6-3 junior from Mobile helped the Jags snap a 15-game road losing streak with a 32-21 upset at Southern Miss last Thursday. Showcasing great hands and body control, Tolbert caught six for 169 yards and two scores while posting the game's highest Pro Football Focus grade.
Cunningham helped lead the Black Knights to the academy's largest shutout win since 1963 with a 42-0 shellacking of visiting Middle Tennessee. The junior from South Carolina posted a team-high seven stops, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
RB Tyler Allgeier, BYU
Navy entered its Labor Day matchup with BYU as the proven ground-and-pound attack. But the Cougars owned the line of scrimmage all night, finishing with 301 rushing yards and a healthy 6.1 yards per carry. Lopini Katoa and Allgeier did most of the damage, with the latter cranking out a career-best 132 yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries.
WR Jaelon Darden, North Texas
It's early... and there'll be tougher opponents up ahead. But Seth Littrell's Mean Green attack might not skip a beat after losing four-year starting QB Mason Fine. North Texas rolled up a school-record 721 yards on Houston Baptist in a 57-31 coasting in Denton. Darden, a member of the Maxwell Award Watch List, caught five for 71 yards and three touchdowns, two from precocious sophomore QB Jason Bean.
TE Sean Dykes, Memphis
New year, new weapons. The Tigers lost plenty of production to graduation and opt-outs, but they're ready to regroup around a whole new set of playmakers. Dykes, who succeeds all-star Joey Magnifico, had never caught more than 15 balls in a season. Yet, in Saturday's win over Arkansas State, he caught 10 for a game-high 137 yards and two scores, while easily posting the game's highest Pro Football Focus grade.
QB Grant Wells, Marshall
Just a week after being named the Herd starter, Wells delivered a record-setting debut. The redshirt freshman threw for 307 yards, most-ever by a Marshall quarterback in his first start, in a 59-0 rout of Eastern Kentucky. Wells completed 16-of-23 passes for four scores and no picks to signal the start of an exciting new era in Huntington.
FS Chace Cromartie, SMU
Cromartie possesses the versatility that coaches look for in today's safeties. In Saturday's 31-24 win over Texas State, the sophomore showed off both his tackling and his coverage skills. Despite not even being listed as a starter, he earned Pro Football Focus' highest Week 1 grade for a safety with five stops, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
LB Xavier Cullens, Memphis
While Memphis wins with offense, the defense is littered with playmakers, too. Cullens being one of the chief standouts. The former running back continued his development on D with a strong effort in the opener versus Arkansas State. Cullens had seven tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception to earn the game's highest grade, according to Pro Football Focus.
FS Cedrick Cunningham, Army
The Black Knights pitched a near-perfect game in the opener, blanking Middle Tennessee, 42-0, for the academy's largest shutout win since 1963. Cunningham was at the center of the defensive effort that held the Blue Raiders to just 184 total yards. The junior from South Carolina posted a team-high seven stops, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
LB Isaiah Kaufusi, BYU
No team was more impressive in Week 1 than BYU, which handed Navy its worst loss of the Ken Niumatalolo era, 55-3. The Cougars steamrolled the Mids in Annapolis behind a collaborative wire-to-wire performance. Kaufusi was one of a handful of defensive standouts with five stops, a forced fumble and a rare two-sack effort versus a triple-option offense.
LB Kris Moll, UAB
There are holes to plug before this week's matchup with Miami. But the Blazers have the ingredients for one of Conference USA's top defenses. All-star Moll, as a case in point. In last Thursday's win over Central Arkansas, he opened his senior year with a team-high eight tackles, two quarterback hurries and a couple of broken up passes.