St. LOUIS – University of Dayton sophomore punter Sean Smith has been named this week's Pioneer Football League Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts in Saturday's 34-20 loss at NEC champion Duquesne.

Smith punted six times for an average of 50.0 yards a punt.  He had four boots of longer than 50 yards with a long of 61.  Three of his punts were inside the Duke 20, and he had no touchbacks.

The left-footed punter was also considered for national FCS special teams player of the week honors by STAT, LLC.  He was named Honorable Mention by STATS.

On the year Smith leads the PFL in punting average (44.0).  He is ninth nationally among FCS punters and is the only sophomore in the top 10.

Smith led the league in average last season as a true freshman (41.7) and was the only freshman to be named First Team All-PFL in 2015.

Valparaiso quarterback Jimmy Seewald and Davidson linebacker Tony Collins were also recognized by the PFL this week.

Dayton remains on the road this week, traveling to San Diego to open the PFL season against the Toreros.  The game is a matchup of the league's defending co-champions, and the two teams regarded as the top contenders for the title again this year.  In this season's preseason poll, USD edged Dayton by one voting point to be the predicted champ, although the Flyers had one more first-place vote than San Diego.

Game time is 7 p.m. ET.