The wide receiver turned QB earns his third SEC POW honor of the season
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky junior athlete Lynn Bowden Jr. has earned another weekly award and this time it’s the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week after his stellar performance in the Wildcats’ 45-13 win over Louisville. This is Bowden’s third SEC Offensive Player of the Week honor in seven games as UK’s starting quarterback.
Here are the highlights of Bowden’s record-breaking day vs. the Cardinals:
· Rushed 22 times for a career-high 284 yards and career-high four touchdowns – breaking or tying six records in the process — in Kentucky’s 45-13 win over Louisville
· 284 yards broke the Southeastern Conference record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game
· Set Governor’s Cup records for most rushing yards and most rushing touchdowns and was given the Howard Schnellenberger Award as the game’s Most Valuable Player
· Tied the school records for most touchdowns in a game and most rushing touchdowns in a game
· Averaged 12.9 yards per rushing attempt, third-best in SEC history (min. 20 attempts), highlighted by a career-long 60-yard touchdown run
· Broke the school record for most rushing yards in a season by a quarterback and became the ninth 1,000-yard rusher in school history
· 284 yards in one game is the third-most in the nation this season
· Led UK’s offense that generated a school-record 517 rushing yards and set an SEC record with 12.9 yards per rushing attempt
· The erstwhile wide receiver has directed UK to a 5-2 record since moving to quarterback seven games ago
· Named CFPA National Performer of the Week
· Earned one of eight Manning Award “Stars of the Week”
Bowden, a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award for the nation’s most versatile player, currently leads the SEC and ranks ninth nationally in all-purpose yardage, averaging 153.0 yards per game (note that all-purpose yardage does not include Bowden’s passing yardage as a quarterback). He is one of only three players in the top nine nationally with rushing, receiving, punt return and kickoff return yards.
The Youngstown, Ohio native, who earned First-Team Midseason All-America honors as an all-purpose player by The Associated Press and ESPN, is averaging 8.2 yards per rushing attempt, and is in contention to break the school record. That mark leads the SEC and ranks second nationally.
He also is the only player in the nation leading his team in both rushing (1,235) and pass receiving (348). He ranks 13th on UK’s career receptions list with 114 and is 18th on the career receiving yards list with 1,303 yards.