Pac-12 football players of the week announced

SAN FRANCISCO - Quarterback Cody Kessler of USC, safety Damarious Randall of ARIZONA STATE and kicker Andy Phillips of UTAH have been named offensive, defensive and special teams Pac-12 Players of the Week in football.

Kessler, a junior from Bakersfield, Calif., tied the Pac-12 regulation game record, and set a school-record with seven TD passes in USC’s 56-28 victory over COLORADO. In the first half, he averaged a TD pass every 2.7 completions and 3.7 attempts and tied the school-record with five first-half TD passes (four TDs came in the first quarter). He finished 19-of-26 in the game for 319 yards with zero INTs. Kessler currently is sixth nationally in completion percentage (69.5%, third in Pac-12), 10th in passing efficiency (162.1, fourth in Pac-12), 13th in passing TDs (18, fifth in Pac-12) and 18th in completions (23.1, sixth in Pac-12). He has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 17 of his 21 career starts and at least two scores 10 times in his career. His 69.5 percent completion percentage in 2014 currently is above the USC season record (69.1 percent by Matt Barkley in 2011).

Randall, a senior from Pensacola Fla., accounted for seven solo tackles and a sack, forced and recovered a fumble, and broke up one pass in the Sun Devils’ 26-10 win over No. 23 STANFORD. Stanford fumbled a punt near the end of the second quarter and Randall recovered at Stanford’s 12-yard-line to set up the Sun Devils’ second touchdown of the game. Randall led a defense that shut out the Cardinal in the first half for the first time in Stanford’s past 87 games. Randall also played a key role in holding the Stanford running game to just 76 yards on the ground, which marked only the second time in the past 31 games the Cardinal have been held below 100 rushing yards. Randall extended his team-leading tackles total to 58, including 52 solo tackles and six for loss.

Phillips, a sophomore from Draper, Utah, was three-for-three on field goal attempts with makes from 46, 43 and 

38 yards in Utah’s 29-23 double-overtime win at Oregon State. He improved to 9-of-11 in 40+ yard field goals this season and 13-of-15 overall. Phillips, who leads the Pac-12 and ranks sixth in the nation in scoring (10.8 ppg), scored 11 total points against the Beavers, going 2-of-2 in PATs to improve to 26-of-26 this season and 67-of-67 in his career.

Also nominated for Offensive Player of the Week: Mike Bercovici, QB, ASU; Royce Freeman, RB, ORE; Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA; Devontae Booker, RB, UTAH; Also nominated for Defensive Player of the Week: Derrick Malone, LB, ORE; Eric Kendricks, LB, UCLA; Su’a Cravens, S, USC; Nate Orchard, DE, UTAH; Also nominated for Special Teams Player of the Week: Zane Gonzalez, K, ASU; Ka’imi Fairbairn, K, UCLA; Alex Wood, K, USC

2014 Player of the Week History