Temple's Isaiah Wright is AAC special teams player of the week
Wright's kickoff return for a TD was the first for Temple in more than two years.
After scoring Temple's first kickoff-return touchdown in more than two years, sophomore Isaiah Wright has been named the American Athletic Conference special teams player of the week.
Wright ran back a kick 98 yards to improve Temple's lead to 14 points Friday night during a 35-24 win at Cincinnati. He also threw a pass to quarterback Frank Nutile on the ensuing two-point conversion.
"I am really proud of Isaiah and then he throws the two-point conversion to our quarterback, Frank Nutile," Temple coach Geoff Collins said during Monday's AAC media call.
This season, Wright is averaging 30 yards on seven kickoff returns. He has averaged 5.3 yards on six punt returns.
In the win over Cincinnati, Wright returned two kickoffs for 115 yards. He also added four receptions for 39 yards. It was Temple's first kickoff return for a TD since Jahad Thomas had a 100-yarder in a 34-26 win at Cincinnati on Sept. 12, 2015.
Also, Temple running back David Hood was named to the AAC honor roll. Hood rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries against the Bearcats.
Temple (5-5, 3-3 AAC) will host No. 14 Central Florida (9-0, 6-0) at noon Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.
UCF leads the nation in scoring offense, averaging 48.6 points. The Knights are coming off a 49-24 win over Connecticut.
"As a whole, this is one of the most explosive offenses, if not the most explosive offense, in college football," Collins said.
Notes
The AAC announced that Temple's regular-season finale, Nov. 25 at Tulsa, will begin at 4 p.m EST. … Temple must win one of its final two games to become bowl-eligible for a fourth straight year. … UCF is 9-0 for the first time in its history. … Temple has won two in a row,, over Navy and Cincinnati, for its first multi-game win streak over Football Bowl Subdivision teams this year.