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East Carolina's Travis Heath, left, strips the ball from Texas Christian's Ricky Madison, right, late in the game on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2002, at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Heath took the ball 81 yards down the sideline for the winning touchdown as the Pirates upset then No. 22 TCU 31-28. (AP Photo - Stan Gilliland)

East Carolina's Travis Heath has been quite successful recently at gaining possession of valuable items.

On Saturday, the junior safety from Tarboro pilfered the ball from Texas Christian running back Ricky Madison and bolted 81 yards for what turned out to be the winning touchdown in ECU's 31-28 upset win over the Horned Frogs.

His most recent deft acquisition came about off the field, when he claimed ownership of this week's Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week Award.

Heath was one of the three weekly award winners announced Monday by the league. The others were Tulane teammates Mewelde Moore and Seth Marler, who played key roles in the Green Wave's 31-10 trouncing of Southern Mississippi on Saturday.

The decisive play in the ECU-TCU game was Heath's spectacular effort along the ECU sideline which transformed a threatening Frog drive into a sprint in the opposite direction that was pivotal in the game's outcome.

East Carolina coach Steve Logan was impressed enough by the play and how it changed the game's fortunes that he couldn't recall a feat of greater impact during his career.

“It’s as dramatic of a play that I’ve ever been a part of," he said. "It certainly turned the game around. With the struggles that we’ve had on defense, we needed a big play. I would say that’s as big as it gets.”

The play represented a potential 14-point turnaround as TCU was on the move at the ECU 19 in the fourth quarter with a five-point lead. The highlight received recognition on ESPN as one of its top 10 'Plays of the Day.'

Heath also had four tackles on the day, including one tackle for loss, plus recorded two quarterback pressures.

He is the fifth Pirate to receive a C-USA weekly award this season. Running back Art Brown has won the league's offensive player-of-the-week honors while safety Kelly Hardy and linebacker Chris Moore have both won the defensive award. Last week, linebacker Christshawn Gilliam won special teams player of the week after blocking two punts at UAB.

Moore, Tulane's multi-purpose running back, had a big day running and catching passes in the Wave's win over USM to earn this week's Offensive Player of the Week Award, while Marler, a kicking/punting specialist who aided the cause with three field goals and a series of booming kickoffs, was named Special Teams Player of the Week.

OFFENSIVE AWARD:

MEWELDE MOORE, RB, Tulane: Moore rushed a career-high 32 times for 136 yards while also catching a team-high five passes for 58 yards in Tulane's 31-10 win over Southern Miss. Included in his big rushing day was the 1,000th yard of his season, marking the second straight year he has gone over 1,000 yards. The Baton Rouge native wrapped up the victory with a five-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. The game marked Moore's 15th 100-yard game, a new C-USA record.
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DEFENSIVE AWARD:

TRAVIS HEATH, S, East Carolina: Heath scored the game-winning touchdown midway through the fourth quarter of ECU's 31-28 upset of No. 22 TCU when he stripped the ball from a Horned Frog runner and returned the fumble 81 yards. The play represented a potential 14-point turnaround as TCU was driving at the ECU 19 at the time with a five-point lead. Heath also had four tackles, including one tackle for loss, plus recorded two quarterback pressures

SPECIAL TEAMS AWARD:

SETH MARLER, K/P, Tulane: Marler connected on three-of-three field-goal attempts in against Southern Miss. The veteran celebrated his final home game by booting field goals of 37 yards, 38 yards and 51 yards, a season-high. Marler also handled kickoff duties, booting all of his seven kickoffs into the end zone with just three being returned.

Even though East Carolina fell short in its fourth quarter rally at UAB last Saturday, the performance of Christshawn Gilliam was eye-catching enough to gain the senior linebacker the Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Week Award.

As a member of ECU's punt return unit, Gilliam blocked two punts against against the Blazers. His second block was scooped up by teammate Anwtane Yelverton and returned 26 yards for a touchdown.

The weekly award is the second of Gilliam's career. He was named Defensive Player of the Week last season after the Cincinnati game.

He has 32 tackles this season, including seven for losses, and has established himself as one of the team's big playmakers both on defense and special teams.

Gilliam is the fourth Pirate to win a C-USA weekly award in 2002. Earlier this season, running back Art Brown won the offensive award and free safety Kelly Hardy and linebacker Chris Moore earned defensive honors.

UAB quarterback Darrell Hackney shattered his own school record with 424 yards passing in Blazers' 36-29 win over the Pirates to earn this week's Offensive Player of the Week Award while Louisville linebacker Chad Lee was named Defensive Player of the Week after recording nine tackles, forcing a fumble and recovering two fumbles in the Cards' 20-17 double-overtime win over Southern Miss

Darrell Hackney QB UAB — Hackney enjoyed his finest game of his young career as he shattered the UAB Division I-A record for passing yards in a game with 424 in a victory over East Carolina. Hackney completed 20-of-34 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions. After ECU had tied the game at 29-all with 4:09 remaining, Hackney led the Blazers on a 9-play, 89-yard game-winning drive in the final minutes of the game.

DEFENSIVE AWARD:

Chad Lee LB Louisville — Lee notched nine tackles, forced one fumble and recovered two fumbles in Louisville's double-overtime win at Southern Miss. Lee's biggest play came with less than eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the game knotted at 17-17. USM had the ball at the Cardinals' 20-yard-line, but Lee forced and then recovered a fumble by Derrick Nix.

SPECIAL TEAMS AWARD:

Christshawn Gilliam LB East Carolina — As a member of ECU's punt return unit, Gilliam blocked two punts against UAB Saturday. His second block was scooped up by teammate Antwan Yelverton and returned 26 yards for a touchdown.

East Carolina was dominant enough on both sides of the ball in its 59-24 rout of Army last Saturday that two of the most prominent performers in that runaway victory were selected as Conference USA's offensive and defensive players of the week, the league office announced on Monday..

Running back Art Brown and inside linebacker Chris Moore were instrumental in leading the Pirates to their second conference victory of the young season.

Brown rushed for 161 yards on 27 carries and scored four touchdowns. The Winston-Salem junior, who has at least one touchdown in every game this season, scored three touchdowns rushing and one receiving as he became the first Pirate since 1996 to reach the end zone four times in a game.

Currently tied for eighth in the nation in scoring, Brown is averaging 10.8 points per game. Saturday's performance was his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season. He currently ranks second in C-USA in rushing and leads the team in receptions with 16.

Moore, a redshirt freshman, wreaked havoc on the Army offense, causing three turnovers, all of which led to Pirate touchdowns. Moore set the tone early in the game as he caused a fumble on Army's second play from scrimmage, following that up shortly thereafter with an interceptions midway the first quarter. Both plays gave ECU the ball deep in Army territory.

Moore also had an interception in the fourth quarter which he returned 41 yards for a touchdown. A product of Havelock High School, Moore who entered the game as the nation's leading tackler among freshmen. Against the Black Knights, he accounted for five tackles and two pass breakups.

This marks the second week this season that ECU has earned a player of the week honor. Senior cornerback Kelly Hardy was named defensive player of the week following the Pirates` win over Tulane on Sept. 14.

Kick returner Latarence Dunbar of Texas Christian was named the league's special teams player of the week.

OFFENSIVE AWARD

ART BROWN, RB, East Carolina: Brown rushed for 161 yards on 27 carries and accounted for four touchdowns to lead the Pirates to a 59-24 win over Army. Brown, who has at least one touchdown in every game this season, scored three TDs rushing and one receiving as he became the first Pirate since 1996 to reach the end zone four times in a game.

DEFENSIVE AWARD

CHRIS MOORE, LB, East Carolina: Moore caused three Army turnovers, all of which led to Pirate touchdowns. Moore set the tone early in the game as he caused a fumble on Army's second play from scrimmage, then made the first of two interceptions midway of the first quarter. Moore also had an interception in the fourth quarter which he returned 41 yards for a touchdown. Moore also accounted for five tackles and two pass breakups.

SPECIAL TEAMS AWARD

LATARENCE DUNBAR, KR, Texas Christian: With the score tied at 10, Dunbar returned the second half kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, giving the Frogs a lead they would not relinquish in a win over Houston. It was the third kickoff return for a touchdown in Dunbar's career, becoming the first TCU player to accomplish that feat. For the day, he returned three kicks for 139 yards.

East Carolina's Kelly Hardy is this week's Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday.

A product of Kinston High School, Hardy tallied seven tackles, including six solos, and had a key interception in the Pirates` 24-20 win over visiting Tulane last Saturday night. His first-quarter pickoff and subsequent 31-yard return set up a field goal and gave the Pirates momentum.

Hardy also had a pass breakup and a third-down stop. For the season, the senior free safety is second on the team in tackles with 29 and is tied for the team lead in pass breakups with three.

It marks the second time in Hardy's career that he has earned the C-USA weekly award. He also gained the honor during his sophomore season in 2000 after a win against Duke. He is the first Pirate of the 2002 season to win a conference player of the week award.

Running back Derrick Nix of Southern Mississippi won the league's weekly offensive award and kicker Dustin Bell of Houston was the special teams player of the week.

Here are thumbnails of the award winners' Saturday performances:

OFFENSIVE AWARD

DERRICK NIX, RB, Southern Miss: Nix carried 21 times for 196 yards and two touchdowns as Southern Miss won its Conference USA opener over Memphis. The 196 yards was the third-highest total in his career and he now has 474 rushing yards in three games in 2002. Nix is the first player to win back-to-back player of the week award since Tulane’s Patrick Ramsey in November, 2000.

DEFENSIVE AWARD

KELLY HARDY, FS, East Carolina: Hardy recorded seven tackles (six solo) and returned an interception 31 yards to set up a field goal in ECU’s win over Tulane. He also had a pass breakup on third down to end a drive.

SPECIAL TEAMS AWARD

DUSTIN BELL, K, Houston: Bell connected on field goals of 44, 37 and 43 yards in Houston’s win over Louisiana-Lafayette. His 44-yarder was a career-long and he also added three extra points on the night. Bell is 6-for-6 on field goal attempts this season.