SPARTANBURG, S.C. - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Josh Beard was named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Month for October today.   Beard is the fifth Moc to earn SoCon Player of the Month honor since the award began in 2003. 

Defense
Josh Beard, Chattanooga, Sr., DE
Beard leads the nation with 10.5 sacks with seven of those coming in the month of October. Beard also tallied 25 tackles and four quarterback hurries in addition to a forced fumbled. He was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Week after putting up seven tackles and two sacks at Samford on Oct. 10 and followed that with a career-high eight tackles at Elon.
Other Nominees: D.J. Smith (Appalachian State), Bryce Smith (Samford), Adrian McLeod (Western Carolina), Kyle Anderson (The Citadel), Joshua Jones (Elon), Kadarron Anderson (Furman), Dion Dubose (Georgia Southern) and Keaton Thompson (Wofford).

Offense
Armanti Edwards, Appalachian State, Sr., QB
Edwards averaged 403 yards of total offense and nearly four touchdowns per game over five contests while engineering an offense that amassed 2,999 yards (599.8 ypg) and 233 points (46.6 ppg). Appalachian State was 5-0 overall and 4-0 in SoCon play during the month of October as Edwards rushed for 391 yards and nine touchdowns while passing for 1,654 yards and nine more scores with only one interception. The senior became the first player in NCAA Division I (FCS or FBS) history with 9,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in a career on Oct. 31.
Other Nominees: Terrell Hudgins (Elon), Adam Urbano (Georgia Southern), Van Dyke Jones (The Citadel), Blue Cooper (Chattanooga), Mitch Allen (Wofford) and Dion Wilson (Western Carolina).

The Mocs travel to No. 8 Appalachian State for a 3:30 p.m. (E.S.T.) contest on Saturday, Nov. 7.  UTC's final home game is set for a 2:00 p.m. kick-off at Finley Stadium against The Citadel on Saturday, Nov. 14.  Tickets for The Citadel game are available on GoMocs.com.