Oct. 5, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State junior defensive back Dey Juan Hemmings (San Bernardino, Calif./Rialto HS) has been named the Mountain West Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the team's victory over New Mexico State, the league office announced Monday morning. Hemmings, who shares the honor with TCU's Daryl Washington, is the first Aztec to be recognized by the league this season and this is his first career player-of-the-week award.
Hemmings helped spark the Aztecs to a 34-17 victory over visiting New Mexico State at Qualcomm Stadium last Saturday. In the first quarter, Hemmings logged his first career tackle for a loss and on the Aggies' next possession, intercepted his first career pass, which would lead to a San Diego State field-goal attempt.
With his team trailing 7-0, Hemmings came up with his second takeaway of the night when he picked up a fumble and returned it 14 yards for his first career touchdown. It marked the Aztecs' first fumble recovery for a touchdown since 2006. He ended the night with six tackles, including five solo efforts, to rank second on the team and was one short of matching his career best in that category.
Hemmings, who has started all five games at one of the warrior positions, has 20 tackles this season to already exceed his 2008 total of 17 stops.
The Aztecs have an off week this coming Saturday, before resuming Mountain West Conference action on Oct. 17, when Brigham Young comes to town for a 3 p.m. kick-off on Homecoming. SDSU single-game tickets are still available and can be purchased at the Aztec ticket office at Qualcomm Stadium or by calling (619) 293-SDSU (7378).