Ahlers and McMillian Pick Up AAC Weekly Honors

East Carolina junior Holton Ahlers grabbed American Athletic Conference Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors on Monday according to an announcement by the league office and sophomore cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian made the AAC’s weekly honor roll for his performance against SMU on Saturday.

Ahlers completed 20-of-29 passes (69.0%) for 298 yards and four touchdowns in ECU's 52-38 win over the Mustangs. In the first half, Ahlers was 11-of-17 for 158 yards four touchdowns helping the Pirates build a big 45-7 halftime cushion.

His 38-yard toss on 3rd-and-7 to Blake Proehl with 5:03 to go on the 28-yard line with SMU rallying and trailing by 14 put an end to the Mustangs' hopes of a comeback.

Ahlers has now thrown 51 touchdowns passes and is one of just six current FBS quarterbacks to have passed for over 7,000 yards (7,093) and rushed for over 1,000 yards (1,060) according to statistics provided by ECU.

He has combined to throw for ten touchdowns in his last two games against SMU with a school-record six in Dallas last season.

McMillian earned honor roll status for the first time in his ECU career. He was responsible for five solo tackles and two interceptions off of Shane Buechele both on the 34 yard line in the fourth quarter and returned one of them to the Mustang 35 yard line to quell an SMU rally and help preserve ECU’s 52-38 win last Saturday for Senior Day in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

The two interceptions were his team-best third and fourth of the season (and sixth and seventh of his career). McMillian’s five tackles marked the 19th multi-tackle outing of his 21-game career. The Winston-Salem, N.C. native also logged a pass breakup and played a key role on run defense that helped the Pirates limit the Mustangs to just 70 yards on the ground.