MANHATTAN, Kan. – Thanks to his 71-yard punt return touchdown to help fuel Kansas State’s 31-7 victory over Arizona, sophomore running back Dylan Edwards has been named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.
It is the second weekly conference honor in Edwards’ career as he was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after his first-career game last season while playing for Colorado. Edwards’ honor this year is the Wildcats’ 64th special teams weekly accolade since 1997 and the third-straight year a Wildcat has been honored for their work on special teams.
With the game tied, 7-7, just six seconds into the second quarter, Edwards fielded a punt on one hop, went left toward the K-State sideline and out-ran the Arizona coverage unit for the score. He became the first K-State running back to record a punt-return touchdown since Darren Sproles took one back 63 yards against Kansas in 2003, while it was the longest by a K-State running back since David Allen had a 74-yarder at Texas in 1999. It was also K-State’s first non-blocked punt-return touchdown since the second game of the 2022 season.
A product of Derby, Kansas, Edwards has recorded four touchdowns on just 22 touches this year with two on the ground, one via a reception and one on a punt return. He is the first Wildcat with a rushing, receiving and return touchdown over the first three games of a season since Deon Murphy did so in 2007. He leads the Big 12 with a 27.0-yard return average this season.