By: Pac-12 Conference

The Pac-12 today announced its football weekly awards for Week 6 of the 2026 season, as selected by the league's media, with 3 of the 4 winners repeating from Week 5 -  including a 6th straight win for the Freshman of the Week.
OFFENSE:  Braden Atkinson, 2nd year, QB, Oregon State (Raleigh, N.C.)

• Completed 29 of 38 passes (76.3%) for 409 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 0 interceptions and a 210.1 passing efficiency rating, in a 66-14 win over San Diego State
• Per Opta Stats, became just the 4th quarterback at the FBS level this century to pass for 400-plus yards (409), 5 or more touchdowns and 0 interceptions in back-to-back games when he did so the last 2 weeks.  He joins Dillon Gabriel (2020 UCF), Joe Burrow (2019 LSU) and Jared Goff (2015 Cal)
• It was his 2nd straight 400-yard game. He’s the first Beaver to do that since Sean Mannion in 2013 (493 at Washington State, 481 at California).  Only FBS QB this season to have back-to-back games with 400+ yards and only one to have 3 games with 400+ yards 
• Has thrown for 300+ yards in all 6 games, one shy of Mannion’s school record of 7 straight (2013). It was the 14th 300-yard game of his career.  No other FBS QB this season has more than 4 games with 300+.  Only 7 FBS QB last season had 6+ games with 300+ pass yards for the entire season
• His 5 TD passes give him 21 on the season, tying Sean Canfield (2009) and DJ Uiagalelei (2023) for 6th on Oregon State’s single-season list.  3rd game this season with 5+ pass TD, 1 of 2 FBS QB this season with multiple games of 5+ pass TD (Pitt's Mason Heinstschel, 2).  Only one FBS QB last season had 3 games with 5+ pass TD, Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza of Indiana (who did it in 16 games)
• Surpassed 2,000 yards for the season in the 1st quarter against the Aztecs
• Leads the nation in passing yards (2,257), passing yards per game (376.2), passing TD (21), total offense (373.7 yds/gm) and points responsible for (146)
• Named to the Davey O'Brien Great 8 list for the 2nd straight week as one of the top quarterbacks in the country in Week 6
• Named one of the Manning Award Stars of the Week for the 2nd straight week as one of the top quarterbacks in the country in Week 6
• First Oregon State player to win Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks since RB Jermar Jefferson in 2020.  Also the first Beaver to claim this honor 3 times in one season since RB Jacquizz Rodgers in 2008, who also won in back-to-back weeks that season

ALSO NOMINATED:  Dylan Riley, RB, Boise State
 
DEFENSE:  Asher Cunningham, 4th year, ILB, Utah State (Asheville, N.C.)

• Led USU with a career-high 17 tackles, 2 TFL, half a sack, 2 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery in a 17-16 comeback win over Washington State
• Both his forced fumbles were recovered by USU and led to touchdowns, including his solo force-and-recover which led to the game-winning score
• Most tackles by an Aggie since 2023 (MJ Tafisi also 17 vs Fresno State) and tied for the 4th most by an FBS player in a game this season.  Also the most by a Pac-12 player this season
• 1st Aggie to force multiple fumbles in a game since 2021(Nick Heninger at New Mexido)
• Only player this season with 13 or more tackles and 2 forced fumbles in a game this season and 1 of just 15 FBS players since at least 2005 to have 17+ tackles and 2 forced fumlbes in the same game with the last coming in 2020 (Arizona State's Evan Fields at USC).  Utah State's David Woodward had 24 tackles and 2 forced fumbles in 2019 at Wake Forest
• Season-high 7 solo tackles.  Ranks T-2nd in the Pac-12 with 52 tackles and T-3rd with 8.67 tackles per game.  Leads the Pac-12 with 3 forced fumbles while his 6.0 tackles for loss is tied for 3rd most in the conference
• 2nd time in the last 3 weeks that a Utah State player has won the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after Brevin Hamblin captured the honor after Week 4 

ALSO NOMINATED:  Jabari Odoemenem, LB, Oregon State
 
SPECIAL TEAMS:  Jaylon Hawkins, 2nd year, WR/KR, San Diego State (Argyle, Texas)

• Scored 1 of SDSU’s 2 touchdowns at Oregon State
• Returned a 97-yard kickoff for a touchdown.  It was his 2nd straight game with a kick return touchdown and 3rd of the season in 6 games
• Became the 1st Aztec since at least the 1996 season (likely in program history) with a kick return touchdown in consecutive games.  1st FBS player to have a kick return TD in consecutive games since Kentucky's Barion Brown in November 2023
• 3 kick return touchdowns are tied with Rashaad Penny (2015) for the most in SDSU single-season history and tied for the 10th most in NCAA FBS history
• 3 career kick return scores (in 10 games) are already tied for the 2nd most in SDSU program history (also Jordan Byrd, Juwan Washington and Colin Lockett), 4 behind Rashaad Penny’s FBS-record tying 7
• Also had SDSU’s lone “explosive play” (20+ yards) with a 43-yard catch. The catch set up SDSU’s 1st touchdown late in the 2nd quarter, an 11-yard TD pass
• Played on the kickoff unit as well
• 3rd time this season winning Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week, the first to claim this 3 times in one season since Stanford kicker Joshua Karty won 3 in 2023.  The last returner to earn the conference award 3 or more times in a season was Washington's Dante Pettis who was honored 3 times in 2017

ALSO NOMINATED:  Canaan Moore, K, Boise State; Caleb Ojeda, K, Oregon State; Landon Rehkow, P, Utah State; Jack Stevens, K, Washington State
 
FRESHMAN:  Jesse Legree, 1st year, WR, Oregon State (Baltimore, Md.)

• Caught a career-high 10 passes for 191 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a 71-yard score in the 3rd quarter
• 1 of 3 FBS players this season with 10+ catches, 190+ receiving yards and 3+ receiving TD in same game joining Miami's Malachi Toney (12/234/3) against Stanford and Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith (12/217/4) against Illinois.  1st Oregon State player to hit all 3 of those in the same game since Mike Hass had 12 catches for a school-record 293 yards and 3 scores against Boise State in 2004
• 6th straight 100-yard receiving game, breaking the Oregon State record of 5 he shared with Mike Hass (2005) and Brandin Cooks (2013). He’s the 1st FBS player with 6 straight since Buffalo’s Nik McMillan last season
• 2nd straight game with 3 receiving touchdowns. Only the 6th time in at least the last 30 seasons that an OSU player has had 3+ receiving touchdowns in a game (last done by Jack Velling in 2023 against Cal) and Legree is the only one in that span to do it multiple times.  His 12 receiving TD tie James Newson (2002) for 3rd on OSU’s single-season list
• 1st Beaver with 10 or more catches in a game since Trent Walker had 13 at App State last season
• In 6 career games he has 932 receiving yards, already more than Walker’s 2025 team-leading 823. He leads the nation in receiving yards, receiving yards per game (155.3) and receiving TD (12) while 2nd in the country with 24.53 yards per reception.  4th in FBS in points per game at 12.0 and tied for most points scored in the country with 72
• 1st player to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Week 6 times in a single season since the award was first given out at the start of the 2019 season.  Only player to win any Pac-12 weekly award 6 times in any one season

 

	Offensive	Defensive	Special Teams	Freshman
Week 1 (Sept. 8)	Hauss Hejny, QB, Colorado State	Oumar Diomande, LB, Colorado State	Jaylon Hawkins, WR/KR, San Diego State	Jesse Legree, WR, Oregon State
Week 2 (Sept. 14)	Dylan Riley, RB, Boise State	Jaylen Thomas, DB Washington State	Cam Bates, WR/KR, Boise State	Jesse Legree, WR, Oregon State
Week 3 (Sept. 21)	Braden Atkinson, QB Oregon State	Ethan Tierney, DB Fresno State	Manaki Watanabe, K Fresno State	Jesse Legree, WR, Oregon State
Week 4 (Sept. 28)	Rayshon Luke, RB Fresno State	Brevin Hamblin, Safety, Utah State	Dameon Crowe, WR/KR Texas State	Jesse Legree, WR, Oregon State
Week 5 (Oct. 5)	Braden Atkinson, QB Oregon State	Cameron Cooper, LB, San Diego State	Jaylon Hawkins, WR/KR, San Diego State	Jesse Legree, WR, Oregon State
Week 6 (Oct. 12)	Braden Atkinson, QB Oregon State	Asher Cunningham, ILB Utah State	Jaylon Hawkins, WR/KR, San Diego State	Jesse Legree, WR, Oregon State