Russ Earns PFL Offensive Player of the Week Honors

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – After leading the Mercer University football team to an historic 41-14 Homecoming victory over Stetson Saturday evening, redshirt freshman quarterback John Russ has been named the PFL Offensive Player of the Week as announced by the league office Sunday afternoon.

The weekly award marks the second time in the last three games Russ has emerged with a weekly honor after being named the PFL Player of the Week and The Sports Network National Freshman of the Week following his five-touchdown performance against Jacksonville.

Russ continued his dominance and did so in every facet of the game against the Hatters, recording a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown to pace Mercer to a 27-point victory.

The three scores gave the Buford, Ga. native 34 total touchdowns on the year as he put the finishing touches on his resume for the Jerry Rice Award as the top FCS freshman in the land. The offensive mastermind ends the year with 1,916 passing yards and 903 rushing yards.

The victory was one of the ages, as Mercer picked up win No. 10 and set the NCAA’s all-time record for victories by a first-year program, topping Old Dominion’s 9-2 record in 2009.

The Bears also moved to a nation-leading 8-0 at home, giving Mercer the most home wins of any NCAA Division I program in the country, a mark that can only be tied by Auburn next Saturday with a win over Alabama at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Following a 10-2 season in the PFL, Russ and the Bears will make the transition to the historic Southern Conference next fall.