Jaylen Raynor (Photo courtesy of Arkansas State University)
JONESBORO, Ark. (10/2/23) – Following a record-setting performance at UMass this past Saturday, Arkansas State true-freshman quarterback Jaylen Raynor has been named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week along with multiple recognitions from national outlets.
For the second consecutive week, Raynor was named to the Davey O’Brien Great 8 and a Manning Award Star of the Week. The Kernersville, N.C., native was also named 247Sports’ True Freshman of the Week and College Football Network’s (CFN365) Freshman of the Week.
Finishing with more touchdowns than incompletions in his second career start, Raynor was 20-of-25 for 383 yards and six touchdowns in a 52-28 win Saturday at UMass. His six touchdown passes tied Justice Hansen’s school record and marked the most by a true-freshman since Caleb Williams (Oklahoma) did so in 2021. Dating back to 2013, Raynor is the fourth true-freshman quarterback with six touchdown passes in a single-game joining Caleb Williams (Oklahoma vs Texas Tech, 2021), Justin Herbert (Oregon at California, 2016) and Patrick Mahomes (Texas Tech vs Baylor, 2014). Five of his six touchdown passes went to a different receiver and he found nine different targets on the afternoon.
Registering a 287.89 pass efficiency, Raynor has the highest of any Sun Belt Conference quarterback over the last 11 seasons against a FBS opponent. His rating is the highest by a true-freshman since Zach Wilson (BYU) against Western Michigan in 2018 (321.27). His 287.89 rating ranks 20th among all quarterbacks versus an FBS opponent since 2013.
Raynor is A-State’s first SBC Offensive Player of the Week since Corey Rucker in week one of 2021. He is the first A-State quarterback to earn the weekly honor since Justice Hansen on Oct. 22, 2018. He is the first true-freshman quarterback to be named SBC Offensive Player of the Week since ULM’s Caleb Evans on Nov. 7, 2016.
A-State returns to action Saturday, Oct. 7 at Troy. Kickoff against the Trojans at Veterans Memorial Stadium is set for 3 p.m.
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