Central Michigan's Lew Nichols III was named the Mid-American Conference West Division co-Offensive Player of the Week after helping to lead the Chippewas to a 37-17 victory at Ball State.
Nichols, a freshman from Detroit, ran for a career-high 219 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries, surpassing the 200-yard mark for the second consecutive week. Among his TD runs was a 66-yarder that gave CMU a 28-10 lead in the second quarter.
Nichols became the first CMU rusher since Thomas Rawls in 2014 to post back-to-back 200-yard games. He had 215 yards rushing the previous week in a 54-30 victory over Kent State. Nichols is the third in CMU history to record consecutive 200-yard games.
Nichols also caught one pass for 17 yards against the Cardinals, giving him 236 all-purpose yards in the game.
Nichols upped his season-rushing total to 1,516 yards, which leads the nation. His all-purpose yardage total stands at 1,777, which is second in the country.
It marks the second consecutive week that Nichols has won the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week Award.