Eastern Michigan Athletics

MAC Defensive Player of the Week Joe Sparacio Nov. 3, 2023

Sparacio Tabbed MAC West Defensive Player of the Week

11/3/2023 10:34:00 AM | Football

Linebacker earned his second weekly accolade after recording a nation-leading 22 tackles

CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – For the second time this season, Joe Sparacio (Naples, Fla./First Baptist Academy/Boston College) has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced today, Nov. 3. Sparacio, who was previously recognized Oct. 9, posted a nation-leading 22 tackles against Western Michigan University Oct. 28.

Sparacio had a monster game against the Broncos as the linebacker recorded 22 total tackles, including 17 assisted and five solo stops, while recording 1.5 TFLs, 1.0 sacks, and forcing one fumble. The 22 stops rank as the most in the nation by a player in the FBS, surpassing the previous best of 19, while taking over the top spot in the MAC, bettering the 18 Matt Salopek recorded at Cincinnati. Since the start of the 2020 season, Sparacio is just the second player to record 22+ tackles in one game in the FBS, joining A.J. Haulcy (New Mexico), who tallied 24 in a game last year. Sparacio has 106 total tackles on the year and is averaging a league-best 11.8 stops per game, which also ranks third nationally.

Sparacio's award is his second of the season and sixth athletic honor earned, including the fourth for defense. He joins Alex Merritt (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) and Bennett Walker (San Diego, Calif./Patrick Henry/San Diego Mesa) as a MAC Defensive Player of the Week honorees in 2023 after Walker was tabbed for the accolade Sept. 18 and Merritt was tabbed Oct. 19. Additionally, Mitchell Tomasek (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) has earned MAC Special Teams Player of the Week both Sept. 18 and Sept. 25 while Hamze El-Zayat (Dearborn, Mich./Fordson/Fordham) took home the special teams honor Sept. 4. Academically, Samson Evans (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge/Iowa) was named the MAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Week, Oct. 10, and Chase Kline (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon/Michigan State) earned the honor earlier this week, Nov. 1.

The Eagles are back in action Wednesday, Nov. 8, when they travel to Toledo, Ohio, to face the University of Toledo in a 7:30 p.m. contest inside the Glass Bowl. The game will broadcast live to a national audience on ESPN2 and fans can tune in to WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app with Tom Helmer and Rob Rubick on the call.

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