Oct. 27—What’s better than one weekly honor?
Two weekly honors.
After a career performance, New Mexico tight end Cade Keith was named the Mountain West Offensive Player and Freshman of the week, the league announced Monday.
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The 6-foot-5, 239-pound redshirt freshman led the Lobos with seven receptions for 104 yards and one touchdown in a 33-14 win over Utah State on Saturday. Four of his catches went for a first down, and his lone score — the second of his career — staked UNM to a 19-point lead in the first half.
A Las Vegas, Nevada native, Keith also received Pro Football Focus’ highest grade (92.3) of any player in the 136-team FBS last week.
“We knew we were going to come in here and play good football today,” he said in a news conference Saturday, “That’s exactly what we did. Just a credit to (head coach Jason Eck, offensive coordinator Luke Schleusner, tight ends coach Jared Elliott and offensive line coach Cody Booth) for believing in me, and then just a credit to my teammates for coming in here ready to play a big game.”
Keith now has 178 yards and two touchdowns on 17 receptions, the third most on the team. He the second Lobo to surpass 100 or more receiving yards in a game this season; wide receiver Keagan Johnson (39 receptions, 415 yards, two touchdowns) notched triple digits against Boise State and San Jose State.
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“He’s got great hands,” Eck said of Keith in a postgame news conference. “He’s gotta keep growing as a blocker — there’s times where he hasn’t been physical enough, and we gotta keep getting him better and developing that. But we thought in the spring (that) was a weapon with his hands.”
WATCH LIST: UNM punter Daniel Hughes has been named to the Ray Guy Award watch list, the program announced Monday.
The 6-5, 230-pound Melbourne, Australia native is averaging 47.3 yards per punt, barely off the program’s single season record set by Corey Bojorquez. His average is also the second-best mark in the Mountain West, trailing only Air Force’s Luke Freer.
Named after the legendary former Oakland Raiders and Southern Mississippi punter, the Ray Guy Award is annually given to the nation’s best collegiate punter.
