Texas Tech senior linebacker Dakota Allen and senior place kicker Clayton Hatfield garnered Big 12 weekly honors Monday as Allen was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week, while Hatfield was named the Special Teams Player of the Week.

It is the first career Big 12 weekly award for Hatfield and the second for Allen, who was also the league’s top defensive player on Sept. 25 last year. The duo joins teammates Alan Bowman (Newcomer of the Week on Sept. 17) and Dominic Panazzolo (Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 15) as weekly award winners this season.

Allen put together another strong performance anchoring the Tech defense as he notched a team-leading seven tackles, including two for a loss, in the 48-16 rout of Kansas. Allen also recovered a key fumble early in the second quarter, one of two red zone turnovers caused by the Red Raiders.

Allen, a nominee for the Bednarik and Nagurski Awards, leads the Red Raiders with 52 tackles this season, including 5.5 for a loss. His fumble recovery was his first of the season and second of his career.

Hatfield, meanwhile, drilled a pair of 40-plus yard field goal attempts as he put the Red Raiders on the scoreboard with a 48-yarder in the first quarter and a 47-yarder midway through the third quarter. It marked the first time since 2011 that a Red Raider had successfully connected on multiple field goals of 40 yards or longer in a game.

After battling injuries for most of the 2017 campaign, Hatfield has been among the most accurate kickers in college football this season as he is 9-of-10 on field goal attempts and a perfect 40-of-40 on point-after attempts. He is currently tied for eighth in the FBS for field goal percentage.

Hatfield’s performance against Kansas moved him into sole possession of fourth place among Tech’s career field goal and scoring leaders. Hatfield passed both Ricky Gann (1981-84) and Scott Segrist (1985-88) with his final field goal, giving him 42 now for his career. He also passed Ryan Bustin (2012-14) on the all-time scoring chart with 306 points now over his four seasons.

The Red Raiders will look to build on a two-game winning streak this Saturday when Tech travels to face Iowa State. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. from Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

COURTESY OF TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS