University of South Dakota free safety Andrew Gray is the Defensive Player of the Week in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

The senior from New Lenox, Ill. had a career-high 14 tackles (11 solo), an interception and a tackle-for-loss in leading South Dakota to a 31-24 win against Southern Illinois Saturday in Carbondale.

He defended more than 100 plays as USD became the first team to hold the Salukis to less than 41 points all season.