MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/15/06)--Concordia junior quarterback Jesse Nelson (Chanhassen, Minn./Minnetonka HS) was named the MIAC Tri-Offensive Player of the Week it was announced by the league office for his outstanding play against St. Olaf on Saturday. Nelson shares the award with St. John's quarterback Alex Kofoed and St. Thomas quarterback David Sauer.

It is the first time in his career that Nelson has earned the conference weekly award. He becomes the third Concordia player to win Player of the Week honors. Junior Paul Shol and senior running back Adam Swingdorf have also earned the conference weekly award this season

Nelson ran for two touchdowns and threw three TD passes in the Cobbers' 52-51 loss at No.17-ranked St. Olaf. Nelson had a career day as Concordia's signal caller, rushing 23 times for 104 yards and completing 18-of-26 passes for 225 passing yards. His 329 total offensive yards in the game is a career high for Nelson.

Nelson was instrumental in keeping Concordia close with the league's top-ranked offense. He was able to lead the Cobbers on six straight scoring drives and out of the 11 times Concordia had the ball, he drove the team to eight scores.

The biggest drive of the game came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter when he took the team 78 yards in 14 plays to set up the last-second extra point dramatics.