TERRY AMONG FOOTBALL GAZETTE'S NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Ferris State Tailback Gains National Recognition

*Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette's National Players of the Week* (10/5/04) PDF

FSU's Andrew Terry picks up a national offensive honor for his historic exploits in Saturday's win over Findlay.

Ferris State University senior tailback Andrew Terry (Kentwood/Grand Rapids Creston) is among four individuals to be honored by Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette as this week's (Oct. 5) NCAA Division II National Offensive Players of the Week.

Terry was selected for his NCAA-II record-setting 410 rushing yard and one touchdown performance in FSU's 35-7 conference victory against the Findlay Oilers Saturday (Oct. 2) evening at Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, Mich. The 5-8, 196-pound backfield performer had already been tabbed as this week's (Oct. 4) Wilson/Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Offensive Player of the Week.

Joining Terry as this week's national NCAA-II Offensive Players of the Week were junior quarterback Denny Bies of Western Oregon, Albany State's senior quarterback Uyl Joyner, and senior quarterback Darmel Whitfield of Gannon.

In his first year as a starter, Terry turned in the NCAA-II's largest single-game rushing yard performance ever along with the best in both Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and Ferris State history. His 410 yards surpassed the previous NCAA Division II mark of 405 yards set by Kentucky State's Alvon Brown against Kentucky Wesleyan in the 2000 campaign (Sept. 16). Terry also established GLIAC and FSU single-game marks in the process, eclipsing Chris Pulliams' 329 yards against Saginaw Valley State in 1995 (Nov. 11).

Terry averaged 10.8 yards per carry on 38 rush attempts versus the Oilers and registered the contest's first points on a first-quarter 82-yard touchdown run. In the first half alone, Terry ran for 256 yards on 21 carries for an average of 12.2 yards per attempt.

The last Ferris State gridrion student-athlete to garner player of the week honors by Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette was tailback Derek Fudge a season ago. Fudge was a tri-recipient of the media organization's offensive player of the week following his 276 yards rushing and two touchdown effort in the Bulldogs' 2003 season-opening 25-20 non-conference win at Hillsdale (Sept. 6).

Ferris State, which is off to its best start since 1999, puts its five-game winning streak on the line against the nationally-ranked and 2003 NCAA-II National Champion runner-up the North Dakota Fighting Sioux this Saturday (Oct. 9) in a non-league encounter at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D. Opening kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. (EDT).