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Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner Named AAC Defensive Player of the Week

The cornerback tallied a season-high eight tackles and a touchdown against East Carolina.

Russ Heltman

Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner Named AAC Defensive Player of the Week
Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner Named AAC Defensive Player of the Week /

CINCINNATI — Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner lived up to his nickname against East Carolina this past weekend, and it was enough to earn him American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Gardner was all over the field in Cincinnati's 35-13 victory. He recorded two pass breakups, and eight tackles (season-high)—cementing it all with a 60-yard touchdown off a blocked field goal in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Gardner is Mel Kiper's fifth-ranked cornerback in the draft analyst's latest rankings. 

Desmond Ridder also earned some recognition in this edition of AAC awards. The quarterback is a part of the weekly honor roll after breaking AAC records for total career yards (12,031) and touchdowns (113). Ridder passed for 301 yards and two scores in another efficient performance against ECU.

Cincinnati battles No. 24 Houston in the American Athletic Conference Championship game this Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Published
Russ Heltman
RUSS HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is a contributor for AllBearcats and AllBengals. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.

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