Chris Evans named SoCon Player of the Week

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Samford junior running back Chris Evans was named the Southern Conference’s Offensive Player of the week for his outstanding performance Saturday at Wofford, when the league released its weekly honors on Monday.

In Samford’s 27-24 win over the Terriers, Evans rushed for a career-high 257 yards on 37 carries, with 163 of his yards coming in the second half. The 257 yard-performance breaks his previous career high of 212 set against Austin Peay as a freshman in 2007.

Evans’ rushing performance ranks as the 12th-highest rushing total in Southern Conference history. In addition to his rushing totals, Evans caught four passes for 12 yards, giving him 269 all-purpose yards on the day. 

With Saturday’s performance, Evans became Samford’s all-time career rushing leader with 3,379 yards, eclipsing the previous record of 3,122 set by Jerome Russell from 1996 to 1999. Evans also passed the 1,000-yard mark for the season on Saturday, making him the only Samford player to rush for at least 1,000 yards in three-straight seasons.

The honor marks the third time this season and the second week in a row that a Samford player has been named SoCon Player of the Week. Punter Bob Hooper was named Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 12, and linebacker Bryce Smith was named Defensive Player of the Week last week.

Samford will wrap up its regular-season with a home game against the 10th-ranked Elon Phoenix on Saturday. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start from Seibert Stadium.
(courtesy: Samford Sports Information)