Troy Hairston, Luke Elzinga win conference honors
Birmingham senior defensive end Troy Hairston and Grand Rapids redshirt freshman punter Luke Elzinga earned conference awards for their performances in CMU's 30-27 season opening win over Ohio.
The Mid-American Conference announced Nov. 9 that Hairston was selected as the West Division's Defensive Player of the Week while Elzinga was named the division's Special Teams Player of the Week.
Hairston, in his first season as a starter at defensive end, had seven tackles and three sacks in the Chippewas' win over the Bobcats. He also forced a fumble. Hairston played in all 14 of CMU's games last season, starting two, and had 28 tackles, two of which were sacks.
Elzinga made his Chippewa debut in the 2020 season opener. In the game, he punted five times for an average of 47.2 yards. Each of his first two punts were outstanding, one of which was a 76-yard blast while the other was a perfectly placed 34-yarder to place the Bobcats inside the 5-yard line.
Toledo quarterback Eli Peters was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week. Ohio running back De'Montre Tuggle also earned MAC East honors, taking home the division's Special Teams Player of the Week award for his performance against CMU.
The Chippewas return to action Wednesday night against Northern Illinois.
