Week 2 Maxwell Football Club Players of the Week

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The Maxwell Football Club (MFC) presents Player of the Week awards throughout the college football season, honoring the week's top player on offense with the Maxwell Player of the Week award and the week's best defensive player with the Bednarik Player of the Week award.

Here are the Maxwell Football Club's Players of the Week award recipients for Week 2.

Maxwell Player of the Week

QB Quinn Ewers, Texas

Ewers led the then-No.3-ranked Longhorns (2-0) to an impressive and decisive 31-12 road win over then-No. 10 Michigan (1-1) at the Big House on Sept. 7, throwing for 246 yards and 3 touchdowns on 24-of-36 passing. He made the most of his passing attempts and avoided turnovers, which was a priority in Texas' game plan.

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"I thought he played really efficiently," head coach Steve Sarkisian said of Ewers after the win. "He got completions. I didn't feel like there was a throw that got forced today. We knew we wanted to take care of the ball. We knew that we just did not want to give these guys a short field, and we wanted to make them drive the length of the field. All in all, I thought he was in really good command all day long, and like I said, took his shots when they were there but also took care of the ball extremely well."

After replacing many of the weapons that surrounded him during last season's run to a Big 12 Conference Championship and a College Football Playoff appearance, Ewers has not missed a beat in 2024 with 506 passing yards, 6 touchdown passes and just 1 interception through two games.

"It's the leadership," Sarkisian said on Sept. 9. "Because of the leadership, the guys around him are playing at a very high level. I think they have a ton of belief in him because of the work that he puts in, and he's playing good."

Bednarik Player of the Week

DB Xavier Scott, Illinois

Scott had 8 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss (TFL) and scored a 30-yard touchdown on an interception with 36 seconds left in the first half to give Illinois a 13-10 halftime lead as the Fighting Illini (2-0) knocked off No. 19 Kansas (101) 23-17 on Sept. 7. The interception was one of 3 turnovers he forced throughout the game.

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He is the only player to force at least 3 turnovers in a single game this season.

Head coach Bret Bielema was thrilled with Scott's play because it was great complementary football and helped Illinois gain momentum while its offense struggled.

"Sometimes those complementary moments come from one player rising up above the moment and putting the unit on his back, and that's exactly what happened," Bielema told the media on Sept. 9.

Scott was also named the Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Week and one of Illinois' Defensive MVPs for the Week. The junior led the Big Ten in pass breakups last season and has already matched his interception total through two games. Overall, he has made 9 tackles with a forced fumble and 2 picks.