Zach Calzada Highlights Week for Latinos in College Football

Zach Calzada made this week’s choice easy. There are more than 100 Latinos in college football, and one of them quarterbacked his team over No. 1 Alabama this weekend.

Actually, two Latinos played crucial roles in Texas A&M’s 41-38 upset victory over Alabama on Saturday night at Kyle Field. Seth Small, the son of a Mexico City native, kicked the winning field goal as time expired. So Our Esquina is adding a special teams recognition to our weekly roundup of Latinos in college football.

At Our Esquina, where we amplify Latino voices in sports, arts and culture, we’re keeping track of all the Latinos playing college football. This is our weekly list of Latinos in college football. This is a look to see how they and their teams fared.  

We want to highlight their achievements and tell their stories during the season.

Here are our Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week.

Offensive Player of the Week, Zach Calzada 

Texas A&M junior quarterback Zach Calzada threw for three touchdowns, 285 yards and led the 18-point underdog Aggies to an upset win over No. 1 ranked Alabama. 

The previously unranked Aggies entered the home contest with confidence waning, having lost two straight games to Arkansas and Mississippi State.  The Aggies started the game hot and jumped out to a 14 point halftime lead. 

The Crimson Tide overcame that and another fourteen point deficit to eventually take a lead at 38-31 late with five minutes in the fourth quarter. 

The steely Calzada, a grandson of Cuban refugees, responded with four pass completions. The last one was a 25-yard touchdown to tie the game with three minutes remaining. A strong defensive effort forced the Crimson Tide to punt after just one set of downs and less than a minute off the clock. 

Calzada then led the Aggies on an eight play, 54-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard game-winning field goal by Seth Small. 

Latino Defensive Player of the Week José Ramirez

Eastern Michigan sophomore defensive end José Ramirez, a 6-foot-2, 251-pound from Lake Alfred, Fla., filled up the stat sheet against Miami of Ohio.

He had six tackles, one sack, a tackle for loss and five quarterback hurries. He also forced a fumble in the Eagles’ 13-12 homecoming win over Miami of Ohio. 

Latino Special Teams Player of the Week, Seth Small

Texas A&M kicker senior kicker Seth Small opened and capped the scoring for the Aggies in their victory over Alabama.

The son of a Mexico City native was peligroso, as he likes to say often in the morning on Game Day when his father Ricardo asks him how he feels.

Small was 2 for 2 on field goal attempts while also going perfect on his five PATs on a night his locker neighbor Zach Calzada starred.

Growing list of Latinos in College Football

Each week we hear of new Latinos College Football player. Last week we learned of Eastern Michigan’s Ramirez while watching him in person against Northern Illinois. 

This week, the new addition to our list is Jesus Echevarria, a defensive end at Washington State. Please let us know of other Latinos on college football rosters. 

Other noteworthy aspects of Latinos in College Football:

UTSA tight end sophomore Oscar Cardenas scored his first collegiate touchdown for the Roadrunners in a 52-46  win over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. The touchdown gave the undefeated Roadrunners a 24-21 lead just before halftime. The Roadrunners are tied with UTEP Miners atop the Conference USA West standings. UTSA’s athletic department is led by a Latina, Lisa Campos. 

Arizona State defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez was featured prominently during the Friday night ESPN broadcast of Sun Devils’ victory over Stanford. The Sun Devils also wore a Mayan- themed helmet during the game in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

LAST NAME, FIRST NAME	TEAM	POSITION	STATS	TEAM RESULT
Aguilar, Luis	NAU	K		BYE
Alonso, Mandy	Virginia	DL	3 tackles, 2 solo, 1 TFL, 1 QB Hurry	W, 34-33Louisville
Araiza, Matt	San Diego St.	P/K	FG- 1/1PAT- 4/4	W, 31-7New Mexico
Aranda, Dave	Baylor	Head Coach		W, 45-20West Virginia
Arias, Daniel	Colorado	WR		BYE
Arroyo, Elijah	Miami (FL)	TE		BYE
Arroyo, Marcus	UNLV	Head Coach		BYE
Avalos, Andy	Boise State	Head Coach		W, 26-17BYU
Aybar, Wilfredo	Stanford	LB	NO STATS	L, 28-10Arizona State
Banda, Ephraim	Utah State	Def. Coord/Safeties		BYE
Barr-Mira, Nicholas	UCLA	K	FG- 2/2PAT- 4/4	W, 34-16Arizona
Borregales, Andrés	Miami (FL)	K		BYE
Calzada, Zach	Texas A&M	QB	21-31, 285 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT 2 rushes, 12 yds.	W, 41-38Alabama
Camarena, Evan	Portland State	CB	3 tackles	L, 42-35Idaho
Canales, Mike “Chico”	Maryland	Analyst		L, 66-17Ohio State
Cardenas, Oscar	UTSA	TE	2 rec., 19 yds., 1 TD	W, 52-46Western Kentucky
Cavazos, Lejond	Ohio State	CB	1 tackle	W, 66-17Maryland
Coley, James	Texas A&M	TE Coach		W, 41-38Alabama
Corral, Matt	Ole Miss	QB	14/21, 287 yds., 2 TD 15 rushes, 94 yds., 2 TD	W, 52-51Arkansas
Corrales, Beau	North Carolina	WR	NO STATS	L, 35-25Florida State
Cristobal, Mario	Oregon	Head Coach		BYE
Cropper, Jalen	Fresno St.	WR		BYE
Cruz, Gunner	Arizona	QB	4/7, 48 yds, 1 rush, -7 yds.	L, 34-16UCLA
Davila, Peter	Albany	DB Coach		L, 31-24William & Mary
Diaz, Manny	Miami (FL)	Head Coach		BYE
Echevarria, Jesus	Washington St.	DL	2 tackles	W, 31-24Oregon State
Escobar, Alex	NM State	RB	1 rush, 0 yds.2 rec., 20 yds.	L, 55-28Nevada
Escobar, Ivan	NM State	DL	NO STATS	L, 55-28Nevada
Fernandez, Aaron	Southern Utah	RGC/OL		L, 41-20Sacramento State
Figueroa, Nick	USC	DL	4 tackles, 2 solo	W, 42-26Utah
Flores, Joah	New Mexico	WR	NO STATS	L, 31-7San Diego State
Flores, Justin	Maine	WR coach		L, 33-23Elon
Fuente, Justin	Virginia Tech	Head Coach		L, 32-29Notre Dame
Flores, Reynaldo	UTEP	RB	1 rush, 8 yds.  4 rec., 48 yds.	W, 26-13Southern Miss
Garcia, Elijah	Rice	DL		BYE
Garcia, Jake	Miami (FL)	QB		BYE
Garcia, Julio	UNLV	OL		BYE
Garcia, Xavier	Temple	Def. GA		W, 52-3Cincinnati
Garcia- Castaneda, Isaiah	NM State	WR	5 rec., 76 yds.	L, 55-28Nevada
Gonzalez, Billy	Florida	WR/ Passing Game Coord.		L, 42-0Vanderbilt
Gonzales, Christian	Colorado	CB		BYE
Gonzales, Danny	New Mexico	Head Coach		W, 31-7San Diego State
Gonzales, Paul	TCU	Safeties Coach		L, 52-31Texas Tech
Gutierrez, Daniel	UNLV	K		BYE
Hernandez, Dan	Eastern Illinois	OL Coach		BYE
Hernandez, Zach	Cal Poly	DB	NO STATS	L, 45-7Montana State
Infante, Gabe	Temple	RB Coach		L, 52-3Cincinnati
Jackson, Jim	Rice	TE Coach		BYE
Longoria, Esai	Montana Tech	OL	Total Offense- 253 yds.	L, 28-23College of Idaho
Loya, Logan	UCLA	WR	NO STATS	W, 34-16Arizona
Lozano, Alex	Portland State	LB	3 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack	L, 42-35Idaho
Madrigal, Anthony	San Jose St.	LB	NO STATS	L, 32-14Colorado State
Magana, Jorge	Montana Tech	LB	NO STATS	L, 27-23College of Idaho
Maldonado, Dino	NM State	QB	NO STATS	L, 55-28Nevada
Maldonado, Gunner	Arizona	Safety	5 tackles, 1 INT	W, 34-16UCLA
Martinez, Adrian	Nebraska	QB	18-28, 291 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT 8 rushes, 38 yds., 1 TD	L, 32-29Michigan
Martinez, Cameron	Ohio State	SAF	1 tackle	W, 66-17Maryland
Martinez, RJ	NAU	QB		BYE
Martinez, Marc	Tarleton St.	LB coach		BYE
Martinez, Willie	Tennessee	CB coach		W, 45-20South Carolina
Mateos, Eric	Baylor	OL		W, 45-20West Virginia
Matthews, Jesse	San Diego State	WR	1 rec., 6 yds.	W, 31-7New Mexico
Mejia, Christian	Washington St.	DL	NO STATS	W, 31-24Oregon State
Melo, Lucas	Davenport University	Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line		W, 18-13Northern Michigan
Mendez, Julian	Ottawa University	Offensive Coordinator		W, 37-14University of St. Mary
Mirabal, Alex	Oregon	OL Coach		BYE
Montano, Abraham	Fresno State	K		BYE
Montero, Antonio	Rice	LB		BYE
Morales, Kamari	North Carolina	TE	1 rec., 21 yds, 1 TD	L, 35-25Florida State
Navarro, Jaime	San Jose St.	OL	Total Offense- 267 yds.	L, 32-14Colorado State
Navarro, Juan	NCCU	DL Coach		L, 27-16Tennessee Tech
Navarro, Donny	Illinois	WR	1 rec., 16 yds.	L, 24-0Wisconsin
Nunez, Jay	Eastern Michigan	Sp. TeamsAssoc. HC		W, 13-12Miami (OH)
Olave, Chris	Ohio State	WR	7 rec., 120 yds, 2 TD	W, 66-17Maryland
Ornelas, Jesse	Central Oklahoma	RB Coach		W, 49-9Northeastern State
Ortega, Josh	UTEP	DE	2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB Hurry	W, 26-13Southern Miss
Ortega- Jones, Julian	Texas St.	WR	NO STATS	W, 33-31South Alabama
Ortiz, Angel	Ottawa Univ. (AZ)	WR Coach		W, 48-6Texas College
Pacheco, Isaih	Rutgers	RB	11 rushes, 47 yds.	L, 31-13Michigan State
Padilla, David	Charleston Southern	Ass’t AD for Football		L, 31-24Robert Morris
Pagan, Justice	Portland State	LB	NO STATS	L, 42-35Idaho
Perales, David	Fresno State	DL		BYE
Ponce, Frank	Appalachian State	Offensive Coordinator		BYE
Ramirez, José	Eastern Michigan	DE	6 tackles, 3 solo, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 5 QB Hurries, 1 forced fumble	W, 13-12Miami (OH)
Ramirez, Manny	Texas Southern	OL Coach		W, 35-31Southern
Regalado, Marco	Washington State	Director of On-Campus Recruiting		W, 31-24Oregon State
Restrepo, Xavier	Miami (FL)	WR		BYE
Reveles, Miguel	La Verne	Offensive Coordinator		L, 51-7Redlands
Rivas, Eddie	Texas State	OL	Total Offense- 400 yds.	W, 33-21South Alabama
Rivas- Sandoval, Cesar	Southeastern University	Head Coach		L, 34-10Ave Maria
Rodriguez, Anthony	Portland State	TE	1 rec., 2 yds.	L, 42-35Idaho
Rodriguez, Chris	Kentucky	RB	16 CAR, 147 YDS, 1 TD 1 rec., 3 yds., 1 TD	W, 42-21LSU
Rodriguez, Drew	Towson St.	QB coach		W, 21-14Stony Brook
Rodriguez, Jacob	Virginia	RB	1 rush, 1 yard2 rec., 13 yds.	W, 34-33Louisville
Rodriguez, Joel	FIU	OL coach		L, 45-33Charlotte
Rodriguez, Juan	Fresno State	TE		BYE
Rodriguez, Justin	UTSA	RB	NO STATS	W, 52-46Western Kentucky
Rodriguez, Malcolm	Oklahoma St.	LB		BYE
Rodriguez, Oscar	Akron	Assoc. HC/ ILB		W, 35-20Bowling Green
Rodriguez, Robert	Arizona St.	DL coach		W, 28-10Stanford
Rojas, Manny	Delaware	Def. Coordinator		L, 22-15Rhode Island
Rubio, Cruz	Cal Poly	LS	NO STATS	L, 45-7Montana State
Sanchez, Angel	Montana Tech	CB	1 tackles, 2 Pass Breakups	L, 27-23College of Idaho
Santa Cruz, Victor	Hawaii	Defensive Ends coach		BYE
Santana, Bryce	New Mexico	DE	NO STATS	W, 31-7San Diego State
Santana, JuanCarlos	Tulsa	WR	1 rec., 11 yds.	W, 35-29Memphis
Segura, Justin	NM State	DL	NO STATS	L, 55-28Nevada
Silva, Cesar	Fresno State	K		BYE
Small, Seth	Texas A&M	K	FG- 2/2, PAT- 2/2	W, 41-38Alabama
Sori-Marin, Mariano	Minnesota	LB		BYE
Soto, Anthony	Lenoir-Rhyne	Offensive Coordinator/ /OL		W, 38-31Tusculum
Steele, Chris	USC	CB	1 tackle, 1 pass defended	L, 42-26Utah
Umana, Orlando	Ole Miss	OL	611 total yards	W, 52-51Arkansas
Velazquez, Alonzo	Wyoming	OL	Total Offense- 257 yds.	L, 24-14Air Force
Ybarra, Austin	Montana Tech	LB	NO STATS	L, 27-23College of Idaho