Oct. 6, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. - UMass junior linebacker Josh Jennings grabbed CAA Football Defensive Player of the Week honors after leading No. 18 Massachusetts to a 17-7 win over No. 16 Delaware Saturday. He was also named the UMass/Dinn Brothers Athlete of the Week on Monday. The New Britain, Conn., native made a career-high 16 tackles in the win, while leading an impressive Minutemen defensive effort. Massachusetts limited Delaware to just 167 total yards on the day, and just 88 yards after the Blue Hens' game-opening scoring drive of 79 yards. Delaware was only able to garner 63 second-half yards, including just five through the air. Jennings, who now has earned two Defensive Player of the Week honors in 2008, also made 3.5 tackles for loss in the win.

Here is the remainder of the release from the CAA

CAA Football announced its Player of the Week honorees, Monday, Oct. 6. Three individuals earned honors following their performances on the field Saturday, including Rhode Island's Derek Cassidy, Massachusetts' Josh Jennings and William and Mary's Jonathan Grimes.

Cassidy, the CAA Football Offensive Player of the Week, helped the Rams top 25th-ranked Brown in the battle for the Governor's Cup and Rhode Island state bragging rights, 37-13, Saturday. The Winter Haven, Fla., native completed 25-of-37 passes for 298 yards and a career-high five touchdown passes against the Bears. Cassidy's 298-yard passing day marks the fifth time in Rhode Island's six games this season he has gone over 200-yard mark. Cassidy also became only the second quarterback in Rhody history to garner five touchdown passes in a single-game, equalling a mark set by Tom Ehrhardt. The senior also now leads the league in both total offense (272.0 yards/game) and passing yards (271.3 yards/game). This is Cassidy's first-ever weekly CAA Football honor.

Grimes, earned both CAA Football Special Teams Player of the Week honors and the CAA Football Rookie of the Week award, after accounting for 324 all-purpose yards in William and Mary's contest against No. 14 Villanova. Grimes helped get the Tribe on the board late in the first half when he returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. The Palmyra, N.J., native went on to total 161 yards in kickoff returns on just four attempts. Offensively, Grimes hauled in a team-high six receptions for a game-high 105 yards and rushed 11 times for 58 yards in the losing effort. Both his 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and his 105 yards receiving marked William and Mary true freshman records. With the two honors this week, Grimes now has a total of three weekly CAA Football honors in his career.