Pac-12 football players of the week announced

SAN FRANCISCO – Quarterback Luke Falk of WASHINGTON STATE, linebacker Cameron Smith of USC and place kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn of UCLA have been named offensive, defensive and special teams Pac-12 Players of the Week in football.

Falk, a redshirt sophomore quarterback from Logan, Utah, threw for a season-high 514 yards, completing 47-of-62 passes with five touchdowns and no interceptions in Washington State’s 45-42 victory over Arizona in Tucson. When Arizona cut the lead to 38-35 with 8:01 to play, Falk engineered an 11-play, 76-yard drive that lasted 5:58, culminating with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Marks, one of four on the day for Marks. On the drive Falk was 6-for-6 for 63 yards, added 17 yards rushing and connected with five different receivers. Following his performance, Falk was named the Walter Camp National FBS Player of the Week, the first Cougar to earn the honor since 2004. It was Falk’s third-straight game with five or more touchdown passes, pushing WSU to its best start since 2003 and marked the most passing yards ever against Arizona. Falk garnered his second Conference weekly honor of the season, also doing so on Sept. 14.

Smith, a freshman linebacker from Roseville, Calif., tallied three interceptions against then-undefeated No. 3 Utah, including a 54-yard return for a touchdown that broke the game open before halftime. His three interceptions were the most by a Trojan in a single game since Jason Oliver had three against Penn State in 1991. Smith also totaled a team-best nine tackles, had 122 return yards on his interceptions including one from 41 yards to set up for USC’s game-tying touchdown in the second quarter. He currently leads USC in tackles with 62, which ranks second nationally among all true freshmen.

Fairbairn, a senior place kicker from Kailua, Hawai’i, scored 16 points in the Bruins’ 40-24 win over California. Fairbairn converted on all four of his field goal attempts including a school record 60-yard kick at the end of the first half. His kick is the longest in the FBS this season and the longest field goal in a Conference contest. Fairbairn has made 13 of his 14 field goal attempts this season, and seven of his eight kickoffs went for touchbacks and the lone return was for 14 yards.

Also nominated for Offensive Player of the Week: Ryan Nall, RB, OSU; Christian McCaffrey, RB, STAN; Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA; JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, USC; Britain Covey, WR, UTAH; Also nominated for Defensive Player of the Week: Chidobe Awuzie, CB, COLO; Blake Martinez, LB, STAN; Kenny Clark, DL, UCLA; Gionni Paul, LB, UTAH; Also Nominated for Special Teams Player of the Week: Christian McCaffrey, RB, STAN; Andy Phillips, K, UTAH

2015 Football Players of the Week