ST. LOUIS, Mo. — For the second-straight week, a South Dakota football student-athlete has garnered weekly honors recognition from the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Jacob Arop was named the MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week, the MVFC announced Monday afternoon.
 
Arop made his fourth-straight start last week against rival South Dakota State and was the highest-graded Coyote offensive lineman in the 24-17 win over the Jackrabbits. He led the offensive line unit that allowed Phillips Jr. to rush for 168 yards on 27 carries (6.2 yards per rush) and two touchdowns.
 
On the day, South Dakota had 333 yards of total offense and three touchdowns against SDSU. The offense posted 175 rushing yards against one of the top defensive line units in the Valley, while rushing for two scores. The game-winning score came on a 32-yard rush from Phillips Jr. on the first possession of the second half.
 
Arop made his first appearance as a Coyote against Murray State (Oct. 4) and earned his first start at right tackle at Northern Iowa (Oct. 18). He's now started four-straight weeks at right tackle for the Yotes and is earning his first-career MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week honor.
 
The South Omaha native becomes the sixth Coyote to earn a weekly honor from the conference office this season and the second to earn Offensive Lineman of the Week (Brock Woolf, Sept. 15).