BRAY EARNS SEC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

UT Quarterback’s Record Day Noticed

KNOXVILLE – After a dominating performance against Cincinnati, Tennessee sophomore quarterback Tyler Bray has been recognized with SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors, the league office announced Monday.

Bray, honored by the SEC for the fourth time after claiming three Freshman of the Week accolades in 2010, completed a career-best 34 passes in 41 attempts for a school-record 82.9 percent (min. 30 att.) in UT’s 45-23 win over Cincinnati. The Kingsburg, Calif., native became just the second quarterback at UT (Peyton Manning) to throw for 400-plus yards with the fourth-best effort in school history (405).

The 6-6 sophomore threw for four touchdowns, extending his school-record and current SEC-best streak of consecutive games with at least two touchdown passes to eight. He also rushed for a score, giving him the only five-touchdown effort in the SEC this season.

His 405-yard performance ranks fourth nationally and first in the SEC, while his 34 completions in a game sit atop the conference and are tied for fifth in the FBS. 282 of those yards came in the first half alone, the fourth most by a Vol signal-caller in a single half.

Bray is the first UT quarterback to win SEC Offensive Player of the Week since Jonathan Crompton for his efforts against Georgia in 2009.

Bray’s 698 passing yards are the most by a UT quarterback through the first two games of a season, breaking the previous record of 651, set by Manning in 1997.

Also honored by the SEC were:

Defense: Mark Barron, SAF, Alabama

Special Teams: Melvin Ingram, DE, South Carolina

Offensive Lineman: Alvin Bailey, OG, Arkansas

Defensive Lineman: Rob Lohr, DT, Vanderbilt

Co-Freshman: Isaiah Crowell, RB, Georgia and Josh Clemons, RB, Kentucky