Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina fifth-year senior
Daquan Patten was today named the Southern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week presented by GEICO as the league office announced its final player of the week honors for the 2021 regular season.
The weekly award is the first for Patten in his career and the fifth by a Catamount this fall, the third honoring play on special teams. Patten joined quarterbacks
Carlos Davis (Oct. 25) and
Rogan Wells (Nov. 1) who both collected top offensive player honors, and PK
Richard McCollum (Nov. 1) and kick returner
Calvin Jones (Nov. 15) who collected the special teams award.
WCU's five weekly awards in the 2021 season mark the most for the program since earning honors nine times back in the 2017 season.
A Catamount football legacy,
Daquan Patten accounted for 107 all-purpose yards in Saturday's road victory including a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown that earned him the special teams weekly plaudit. He added three receptions for 25 yards and a four-yard red-zone rush in the winning effort. Patten scored twice in the regular-season finale against the Keydets, adding a three-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter to cap his WCU career.
According to the NCAA FCS statistics, Patten is one of just 45 players to return a punt for a touchdown through the regular season with his 78-yard return ranking as the fifth-longest punt return this season. It was the first punt return for a touchdown for the Catamounts in 14 years dating back to 2007 when Angelo Brown scored on a 27-yard punt return at Chattanooga. Patten, who changed his number to 86 earlier this fall to honor the memory of his father David Patten, closed the season ranked second in the SoCon with an 11.2 yard per punt return average, ninth in the NCAA.
Western Carolina concluded the 2021 season – the first under head coach
Kerwin Bell – with a 4-7 seasonal record, including a 4-4 mark in SoCon play. The Catamounts finished tied for fourth place in the league standings with Furman and VMI but defeated the Paladins and Keydets in head-to-head competition.
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