Football: Calais Adds LSWA Honors To Weekly Awards

Running back/kick returner earned Sun Belt honors on Monday 

BATON ROUGE – Strong performances by four athletes from different state schools earned them Louisiana college football Player of the Week honors as selected Tuesday by a panel of Louisiana Sports Writers Association members.
 
Jonathan Banks of Tulane threw for 185 yards and three scores plus one rushing touchdown for the Tulane Green Wave to earn offensive honors, while Corey Thompson of LSU (playing his first game since the 2015 season) and Dae’Von Washington of Louisiana Tech (who had two interceptions) shared defensive honors.
 
But it was Raymond Calais of Louisiana who earned all the votes for special teams’ player of the week after running two kickoffs back in the thrilling win over Southeastern on Saturday night.
 
Here are the capsules on the winners:
 
OFFENSE
JONATHAN BANKS – TULANE – Jr., QB, Humble, Texas
10-15 passing, 185 yds., 3 TDs, 69 rush yds., 1 TD … In his Tulane debut, Banks accounted for four touchdowns (three passing and one rushing) in the Green Wave’s 43-14 victory over Grambling State. He was an efficient 10-for-15 passing for 185 yards and rushed 16 times for 69 yards. His three touchdown passes were the most for Tulane since Glen Cuiellette threw four touchdown passes against UL Lafayette on Sept. 24, 2016. Banks is the first Tulane quarterback to pass and run for a touchdown in the same game since Cuiellette did it vs. Memphis on Oct. 14, 2016.
 
DEFENSE
COREY THOMPSON – LSU – LB
In his first game since the 2015 season, had three tackles and a pair of sacks to lead LSU past BYU, 27-0 … His sacks accounted for 18-yards in losses … LSU’s defense limited the Cougars to only six first downs, 97 total yards and minus-5 yards rushing … The minus-5 rushing yards was the fewest allowed by an LSU team since holding Ole Miss to minus-50 yards in 1982 … BYU never crossed midfield and held the ball for just 18:06, going 2-of-10 on third-down conversions …  Dating back to last year, LSU’s defense has gone eight straight quarters without allowing a TD …  A sixth-year senior, Thompson missed all of last season with an ankle injury.
 
DAE’VON WASHINGTON – LOUISIANA TECH — RS Junior, LB
Louisiana Tech linebacker Dae’Von Washington helped lead the Bulldogs to a dominant victory over in-state foe Northwestern State Saturday night thanks to his impressive second half performance against the Demons. Washington, who was just put on scholarship last Friday, recorded two interceptions in the fourth quarter against the Demons and had 26 return yards to help LA Tech secure a 52-24 season-opening win. He became the first Bulldog since 2014 to record two interceptions in one game. Washington also was the second-leading tackler for the Bulldogs on Saturday with five total tackles (4 solo) and one tackle for a loss of five yards.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
RAYMOND CALAIS, LOUISIANA — RB, Soph., Breaux Bridge, La.
Set a school-record with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in Louisiana’s 51-48 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday … returned the opening kickoff back 97 yards for a touchdown before adding a 100-yard return later in the first quarter … the two returns by Calais is the 19th time in FBS history that two kickoffs were returned for touchdowns in the same game (the last being on Oct. 5, 2013 by Texas State vs. Louisiana) … Calais’ 100-yard return tied a school record joining Jeryl Brazil (vs. Texas State, Oct. 10, 2015) and Darryl Surgent (at Kansas State, Sept. 7, 2013) … his 229 all-purpose yards ranks fifth among FBS players during the opening week of the college football season and his 57.25 average is sixth.