Raider End Earns Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week, STATS FCS Honorable Mention
Colgate’s Pat Afriyie filled up the stat sheet Saturday against No. 7 Richmond.
The Raiders couldn’t quite corral the victory but Afriyie’s did enough to impress the voters and earn Corvias Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors from the conference office. Afriyie also picked up honorable mention for STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week.
“There are a lot of things that we scheme up as a defense to get after the QB,” Afriyie said. “We really focus on getting after the quarterback and doing the right things to get the job done.”
Colgate’s junior end posted nine tackles, including a team season high seven solos. Three of those tackles came behind the line of scrimmage and two were sacks (back-to-back games), giving Afriyie four for the year and 18 for his career. That’s already good for fifth on the all-time Colgate chart.
In addition, the junior added two pass deflections – one of which ended up in the arms of teammate Victor Steffen for his first career interception – and three quarterback hurries.
Afriyie for the season leads the team with 7½ tackles for loss accounting for minus-41 yards, and four sacks accounting for minus-33 yards. He is coming off an ECAC All-Star and All-Patriot League First Team season in 2015, when the Raiders captured the Patriot League championship and won twice in the NCAA playoffs.
Colgate hosts Cornell this Saturday for Homecoming. Kickoff from Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium is 1 p.m.