Omolo earns UAC weekly honor after big debut at UT Martin

Donovyn Omolo didn’t need long to turn heads.

The Central Arkansas sophomore made his first career start last Thursday night and it landed him a conference honor before the week was even over.

The UAC announced Monday morning that Omolo was its Offensive Player of the Week following his performance in the Bears’ season-opening win at No. 22 UT Martin.

UCA came away with a 36-24 victory over the Skyhawks.

Omolo’s stat line backed up the award. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 243 yards and threw three touchdowns in the game.

He didn’t just move the ball through the air either.

The Conway native also carried the ball 12 times and led the Bears in rushing with 118 net yards on the ground.

That’s a heavy workload for a quarterback making his first career start.

Head coach Nathan Brown praised his young signal caller after the honor came through.

He said Omolo had a great first week of football and that getting recognized by the conference is always a nice gesture for the program’s athletes.

Brown added he’s excited to watch Omolo build off Thursday night and keep getting better.

He noted the sophomore would probably be the first to admit he left a few plays out there and still has room to grow.

Coach credits offense up front

Brown didn’t stop at praising his quarterback.

He pointed to the players blocking and catching around Omolo as a big reason the sophomore earned the weekly award in the first place.

He said the honor is a credit to the offensive linemen and skill players who helped make it happen.

It’s the kind of comment that shows the coaching staff wants the credit spread around the locker room and not just on one player.

UCA’s win over a ranked UT Martin team to open the season was already a strong start.

Having a first-time starter grab a league-wide honor just days later adds another positive note to the opening week.

The Bears won’t have much time to enjoy it. UCA opens its home slate this Saturday against UAC foe West Florida.

Kickoff on The Stripes is set for 6 p.m.

That means Omolo will get his first home start in front of the UCA crowd, still riding the momentum from his UAC Offensive Player of the Week nod.

The Bears will look for him to build on a debut that already turned heads around the league.