American Announces Weekly Football Honors

The American Conference has announced the winners of the league’s weekly football honors from Week 1 of the 2025 season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Evan Simon • Sr. • QB • Temple

Simon had as many touchdown passes (six) as incompletions as he led Temple to its first road win since 2021 with a 42-10 victory at Massachusetts. Simon completed 19 of 25 passes for 248 yards, while his school-record-tying six touchdowns are the most of any NCAA FBS player thus far in Week 1.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Jhalyn Shuler • Jr. • LB • South Florida

Shuler registered a game- and career-high 14 tackles, matching the most by an American player in Week 1, to lead South Florida to a 34-7 win against No. 25 Boise State. Shuler added a tackle for loss, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery to lead a Bulls defense that forced three turnovers and held the Broncos to 30 points below their 2024 scoring average.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Patrick Durkin • RFr. • K • Tulane

Durkin accounted for nearly half of Tulane’s points and led all American kickers in scoring with 11 points in the Green Wave’s 23-3 win against Northwestern, the Green Wave’s first win against a Big Ten team since 1970. Durkin connected on all three of his field goal attempts as he connected from 22, 41 and 31 yards and he registered touchbacks on all six of his kickoffs.

HONORABLE MENTION

Quinton Jackson • Jr. • RB • Rice
- Rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in a 14-12 win at Louisiana.
Byrum Brown • Sr. • QB • South Florida
- Accounted for 253 yards of total offense with two rushing touchdowns in a 34-7 win against No. 25 Boise State. Completed 16 of 24 passes for 210 yards and rushed for 43 yards on 14 attempts.
Robert Henry • Sr. • RB • UTSA
- Rushed for an American-best 177 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, averaging 11.1 yards per attempt, in a 42-24 loss at No. 19 Texas A&M.
Jake Retzlaff • Sr. • QB • Tulane
- Completed 18 of 31 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown and added 113 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in a 23-3 win against Northwestern.
Javion White • So. • DB • Tulane
- Had two key red zone interceptions and added two tackles in a 23-3 win against Northwestern.