MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois linebacker Brett Taylor has been named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Sunday (Oct. 15). The weekly conference award is the third of the season for Taylor, and the seventh of his career.
Taylor racked up a game-high 16 tackles in Western Illinois’ 49-30 victory Saturday (Oct. 14) over Missouri State. The senior also registered 2.0 tackles for a loss, one sack and two pass breakups to help the Leathernecks to their second straight 5-1 start.
A native of Macomb, Ill., Taylor leads the nation with 14.5 tackles per game. Both his 87 total tackles and 55 assisted stops rank second in the FCS.
During Western Illinois’ win over the Bears, Taylor moved into fourth place all-time in school history in total tackles with 394. His 232 career solo tackles are fourth in program history, and Taylor has now at least tied for the team lead in stops in each of the last 11 contests, including all six games this season.
Looking to start the season 6-1 for the first time since 2002, Western Illinois travels to the FargoDome next Saturday (Oct. 21) to take on North Dakota State.
