Rodgers named National Player of the Week
9/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 25, 2005
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- TCU wide receiver Cory Rodgers has been named The Walter Camp Foundation Division I-A National Offensive Player of the Week after his four-touchdown performance in yesterday's 51-50 overtime win at BYU.Rodgers is believed to be the first player in TCU history to score touchdowns via rushing (two), receiving and a kickoff return in the same game. All four scores for the junior from Houston were critical as the Horned Frogs rallied from an 18-point deficit for the victory. It was the largest come-from-behind win in Gary Patterson's five seasons as head coach.
Rodgers' 100-yard kickoff return came after the Cougars had taken a 14-0 lead in the opening 5:43 of the game. His 2-yard scoring run with 1:51 left in the third quarter began the Frogs' comeback from the 18-point deficit (34-16). Rodgers' 34-yard reception from Jeff Ballard pulled TCU within 41-36 with 6:02 to play. The fourth and final score came on a 3-yard run in overtime, setting the stage for Chris Manfredini's game-winning PAT.
Rodgers' nine receptions were just one shy of a career-best 10 he recorded in the season-opening 17-10 win at Oklahoma as well as last year's season finale versus Tulane. His 137 yards receiving represented the third-best game of his career (171 vs. Houston, 2003; 141 vs. Tulane, 2004).
Rodgers had TCU's first four-touchdown game since senior tailback Lonta Hobbs (2 rushing, 2 receiving) in last year's 45-44 double-overtime loss to USF. Rodgers also became just the 11th player in TCU history to score 24 points in a game.
Rodgers is just the sixth player in Frog history to return a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. He set TCU kickoff return records on each of his first two attempts. His first return was the 60th of his career, moving him ahead of Toby Morey (59, 1989-91) for the Frogs' top spot all-time. Rodgers' second return, the 100-yard touchdown, gave him 1,552 career return yards to surpass LaTarence Dunbar (1,513 yards, 1999-02) for No. 1 on the TCU career list. It also enabled Rodgers to climb past Lindy Berry (2,101 yards, 1946-49) for the top spot on TCU's career chart for combined punt and kickoff return yards. Rodgers now has 2,132.
Rodgers is the only player in the Mountain West Conference this season to return a kickoff for a touchdown, and he's done it twice.
