Illinois State’s Coprich earns MVFC Offense Player of Week honors

Posted on September 21, 2015

By ISU Sports Information

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Illinois State All-American running back Marshaun Coprich willed his team to victory Saturday night at Eastern Illinois, which earned him Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors Sunday from the league office.

The senior from Victorville, California, put the Redbirds on his back and recorded a stellar performance in the Redbirds’ 34-31 overtime win over the Panthers at O’Brien Field in the 104th Mid-America Classic. Coprich carried the ball a season-high 33 times for 178 yards and scored twice for ISU.

Coprich averaged 5.4 yards per carry and ripped off a long run of 33 yards in the contest. His first touchdown, a five-yard run in the first quarter, broke the ISU all-time touchdown record and his 15-yard run in the fourth quarter put the Redbirds up 31-24 at the time. With his two scores, Coprich now has 41 total touchdowns in his career (all rushing), which passes former record holder Toby Davis (39) for the top spot in the ISU record books.

The 100-plus yard performance was Coprich’s second in two weeks, following a 130-yard and three-touchdown performance in the home-opener against Morgan State. He has now rushed for over 100 yards 20 times in his career at Illinois State and has upped his career rushing yards total to 3,569, which is just 133 yards short of Davis’ all-time record of 3,702.

Through three games, Coprich has rushed for 340 yards on 66 attempts (113.3 yards per game average) and has found the end zone five times. Illinois State heads into a bye week, before opening MVFC play by hosting the nationally-ranked UNI Panthers at Hancock Stadium on Oct. 3. Kickoff is slated for noon on Family Weekend

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