Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina sophomore tailback Desmond Reid was today named the Southern Conference's Offensive Player of the Week following his school-record performance in the first half of last Saturday's league win at The Citadel. Reid rushed for a program-best five touchdowns over the first two quarters in leading WCU to a 49-14 road victory at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston.
 
Reid gives the Catamounts the top weekly offensive award in back-to-back weeks as QB Cole Gonzales was honored last week. It's also the third award through the first five weeks of the regular season for WCU. Reid is the first player in the league to collect multiple offensive weekly plaudits from the conference office which selects the awards from nominations submitted by the sports information or media relations staff of each league school. Mercer's Devron Harper collected his second special teams honor on Monday afternoon.
 
Also released Monday, Reid was listed as an honorable mention for the FedEx Ground FCS National Offensive Player of the Week plaudits from Stats Perform FCS.
 
Additionally, on Sunday, Reid earned an honorable mention for the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) National Performer of the Week. It's the second straight week that a Catamount was recognized by the group as Gonzales claimed recognition following his five first-half TD pass performance in the win over Charleston Southern.
 
Reid racked up 167 yards on 18 carries on the ground and a school benchmark of five touchdowns in just two-quarters of action last Saturday at The Citadel. He averaged 9.3 yards per carry, eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark for the fourth consecutive game. Reid capped WCU's five first-half offensive possessions with touchdown rushes of 11, 1, 9, 1, and 13 yards in helping the Catamounts build a 35-7 halftime advantage on the way to the 49-14 victory.
 
A product of Miami Gardens, Fla., Reid pushed his touchdown streak to six straight games dating back to last season. His five TDs set program records for both rushing scores in one half of football – breaking a tie between 10 different players last accomplished in 2017 – and for scores on the ground in a single game, eclipsing the tie between four former Catamounts (Donnavan Spencer, ETSU 2017; Shaun Warren, Mars Hill 2011; Brad Hoover, VMI 1998; and David Mayfield, ETSU 1986) who each had four rushing touchdowns in a game.
 
Reid's five scores also matched the Southern Conference record for rushing TDs in one half of play, matching former Georgia Southern tailback – and Walter Payton Award winner – Adrian Peterson (1998) and former Furman running back Jerome Felton (2006). Reid's five rushing TDs are tied for the most in a single game in the NCAA FCS to date this season, matching Idaho's Anthony Woods who also accomplished the feat last Saturday against Eastern Washington.
 
Through the first five weeks of the regular season, Reid is the only running back in the SoCon to average over 100 yards on the ground, pacing the league at 127.2 yards per game – a mark that ranks him fourth overall in the NCAA FCS. He has scored an NCAA FCS and SoCon-leading 10 touchdowns on the ground, a mark that already ties him for 11th in WCU's seasonal record books – and ranks just six shy of the program's single-season record held by Darrell Lipford (16, 1977).
 
Reid also leads the conference in scoring with 60 points on his 10 TDs, and he sits second in the SoCon in all-purpose yards, averaging 155.8 total yards per game.
 
No. 17 / 11 Western Carolina (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) plays the backend of a two-game league road swing this Saturday, Oct. 7, traveling to Finley Stadium to face No. 20 / 24 Chattanooga Mocs (4-1, 3-0 SoCon). Both teams are riding four-game winning streaks entering the clash of FCS-ranked teams. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live audio from the Catamount Sports Network beginning at 3 p.m.

WCU's weekly football coaches show, "Catamount Football Weekly" with head coach Kerwin Bell continues Monday (Oct. 2) night at 6 p.m. The show originates live-on-location at Innovation-Cullowhee, located on the first-floor Noble Hall in the heart of the WCU campus. The show also airs on Facebook LIVE through the Catamount Athletics Facebook page (fb.com/catamountsports).

Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports) and Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountsFB).