University of Massachusets Athletics
Two Minutemen Earn Atlantic 10 Weekly Honors
October 06, 2002 | Football
Oct. 6, 2002
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Senior punter David Sanger (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) and redshirt freshman linebacker Gerard Washington (Columbia, S.C.), members of the University of Massachusetts football team, have been honored by the Atlantic 10 Conference for their performances in UMass' 34-13 victory at Richmond on Saturday. Sanger was selected the Atlantic 10 Special Teams Player of the Week, while Washington was chosen the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week.
Sanger punted seven times for 309 yards against the Spiders, averaging 44.1 yards per kick. Four out of his seven punts were downed inside the Richmond 20-yard line, while his long punt of 68 yards tied for the 10th longest in UMass history. Through five games this year, Sanger has averaged 42.0 yards on 23 punts, with 10 kicks inside the 20-yard line. Over the course of his UMass career, Sanger has now punted 191 times for 7,790 yards, and his average of 40.8 yards per punt ranks as the best in school history.
Washington started for the first time in his collegiate career on Saturday, and led the team with 12 total tackles on the afternoon, including eight solo stops, two tackles for loss and a sack for 14 yards. He also recorded the first interception of his career, and made one pass breakup. For the season, Washington has now totaled 22 total tackles through five games, with five tackles for loss.
UMass (3-2 overall, 1-1 Atlantic 10) returns to action on Saturday, October 12, when it plays host to No. 3 Maine (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic 10) in a 1:00 p.m. game at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
