JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The United Athletic Conference (UAC) announced its weekly football awards for the week of Sept. 21 with Abilene Christian, Austin Peay, North Alabama and Tarleton State taking home honors.
Kaden Anderson led Tarleton State to a 45-20 victory over Merrimack where he completed 23-of-32 (.719) passes for 407 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night to earn Offensive Player of the Week. The senior playcaller notched a new career-high in passing yards in the win. This was the Texans’ first 400-yard passing game in nearly four years and the most since the 2019 season.
Austin Peay’s Malik Denkins earned Defensive Player of the Week after he totaled eight tackles in the Govs’ 38-16 win over West Florida. Denkins lived in the Argos backfield Saturday night, collecting 4.5 tackles for loss—the third-highest total in FCS this season—and adding one sack.
Brandon Perez went perfect on kicks for Abilene Christian this week to earn Specialist of the Week. Perez went 2-for-2 on field goals from 31 yards and 51 yards - a new personal best for the Crandell, Texas native - while going 5-for-5 on PATs.
Xavier Johnson from North Alabama snagged his third Freshman of the Week honor after he led the Lions with 161 all-purpose yards in the 38-20 win over Alcorn State. Johnson broke off a career-long 75-yard touchdown run on a reverse play while catching five passes for 86 yards to lead the team in receiving yards.
Requests for interviews should be directed to:
Claire Johnson, Senior Director, Strategic Communications & Content
Unisun Sports / claire.johnson@unisunsports.com
About the United Athletic Conference
The United Athletic Conference (UAC) was established in 2023 as a single-sport football conference through a partnership between the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) and the former Western Athletic Conference. In July 2026, the ASUN and UAC formed Unisun Sports to further strengthen the conference, which now features eight football-playing member institutions: Abilene Christian University (Abilene, Texas), Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, Tenn.), the University of Central Arkansas (Conway, Ark.), Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, Ky.), the University of North Alabama (Florence, Ala.), Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Texas), the University of West Georgia (Carrollton, Ga.) and the University of West Florida (Pensacola, Fla.).