Sept. 6, 2015
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - San Diego State junior Calvin Munson (St. Louis) has been named the Walter Camp National FBS Defensive Player of the Week, the Walter Camp Foundation announced today. Munson is the first Aztec to ever earn the national award.
Munson recorded a team-high 11 tackles, including 2.5 for loss, and had two interceptions returned for a touchdown and a fumble recovery in SDSU's 37-3 win over San Diego on Saturday night. The two interceptions returned for a touchdown - 19 and 67 yards - tied an NCAA single-game record for a linebacker, tied for the second most in a game among all players in NCAA history and were the most in a game in San Diego State history.
The two picks were only beaten this week by teammate Damontae Kazee and West Virginia's Karl Joseph (both had three), while the 86 interception yards ranked second in the nation. He is already tied for the most interceptions returned for a touchdown in Aztec single-season history (Leon McFadden - 2012, Tory Nixon - 1984) and now has three for his career, tying Ricky Parker (1993-96) for the most in program history. Munson has totaled six interceptions for his career with 232 return yards (fifth all-time at SDSU).
Munson also led the team in tackles for the fourth time of his career and recovered his first-ever fumble.
This is the 12th year of the Walter Camp Football Foundation honoring one offensive (UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen) and one defensive player as its national FBS player of the week during the regular season. Recipients are selected by a panel of national media members and administered by the Foundation.
Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp - a former Yale University athlete and football coach - is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation (www.waltercamp.org,@WalterCampFF) - a New Haven-based all-volunteer group - was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. The Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's website, www.ncfaa.org.
San Diego State will meet California at 2 p.m. PT Saturday in Berkeley, Calif.