Rogers, Sharp Earn SEC Weekly Awards
November 01, 2021 | Football
STARKVILLE – For the second week in a row, two Mississippi State players have been chosen for Southeastern Conference weekly awards.
Quarterback Will Rogers has been selected as the SEC Offensive Player of the Week and center LaQuinston Sharp was picked as the league's Offensive Lineman of the Week on the heels of Mississippi State's 31-17 win over No. 12 Kentucky. It marks Rogers' second SEC Offensive Player of the Week accolade of this season, while it's the first time Sharp has been honored by the conference for his work at his position. Overall, MSU now has six total weekly awards from the conference this season.
Rogers put forth one of the best showings of his career against the Wildcats to help the Bulldogs become the only school in the country to knock off three Top 25 opponents this season. The sophomore signal caller set an SEC record for completion percentage (with a minimum of 30 completions) as he connected on 36 of his 39 throws (92.3 percent) for 344 yards and a touchdown.
It was Rogers' seventh game this season with 300 or more yards of passing, tying the State single-season record set by Dak Prescott in 2015. In addition, Rogers was able to top Prescott in the MSU record books in terms of single-season completions. Rogers has now completed 327 passes for the Bulldogs this season, topping Prescott's previous high of 316 completions in 2015.
Rogers now has thrown for 2,890 yards this year. It's the top mark in the SEC and the third-best total in the nation.
For his career, Rogers continues to press towards the top in multiple statistical categories. Rogers currently sits fourth in school history in season passing yardage (2,890 yards this season), he's fifth in season touchdown passes (19 this year) and he now has 30 total touchdown passes in his time as a Bulldog, which sits eighth in MSU history.
As for Sharp, he started and played all 80 snaps against Kentucky. Sharp earned an 85.1 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus, the best among all SEC centers and the fifth highest among Power 5 centers for the week. It was Sharp's third straight game with a pass blocking grade of 85.0 or higher.
Sharp didn't allow a single sack, hurry, or hit on Rogers, and he was penalized just once as he helped lay a foundation for Rogers' big night. Sharp was also strong in aiding State's ground game as 35 of MSU's 94 rushing yards came up the middle.
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