Utah LB Devin Lloyd, OL Braeden Daniels Earn Pac-12 Player Of The Week Honors
Nov 8, 2021, 2:35 PM
Utah Utes linebacker Devin Lloyd (0) gets past Stanford Cardinal center Drake Nugent (60) to score after Lloyd intercepted a pass from Stanford Cardinal quarterback Jack West (10) in Palo Alto, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – For the second straight week, a pair of Utah football players earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for their outstanding performances.
Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and offensive tackle Braeden Daniels earned Pac-12 Offensive Lineman of the Week honors after their performances in Utah’s 52-7 win over Stanford.
Lloyd earned his third Pac-12 weekly award of the season. The All-American had a career-high five tackles for loss, along with one sack, nine tackles, an interception that was returned for a touchdown and a pass breakup.
Lloyd’s five TFL’s were the most by a Utah player since 2016 and tied for fourth-most in program history. That mark was also the most by a Power-5 player and third-most in FBS this season.
#Pac12FB Defensive Player of the Week, presented by @Nextiva: Devin Lloyd. 🙌
Full release ➡️ https://t.co/VQG4nwynHw#GoUtes | @Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/4FP9w1Zb7h
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) November 8, 2021
Daniels earned his first Pac-12 Player of the Week honors after leading the offensive line to give Utah’s running backs the ability to rack up 441 rushing yards. That was the fourth-most rushing yards in a single game in school history. Three running backs reached 100 rushing yards, including Tavion Thomas (178), Micah Bernard (110) and T.J. Pledger (107).
#Pac12FB Offensive Lineman of the Week, presented by @Nextiva: Braeden Daniels. 🙌
Full release ➡️ https://t.co/VQG4nwynHw#GoUtes | @Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/iOGJGJMXKR
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) November 8, 2021
It’s the first time in school history that a trio of Utes rushed for over 100 yards in the same game.
Four Utes were nominated for Player of the Week awards, including Tavion Thomas (Offense), Britain Covey (Special Teams), Mika Tafua (Defensive Line) and Cole Bishop (Freshman).
Here are the other weekly award winners in the Pac-12:
- Offensive: Rachaad White, RB, Arizona State
- Special Teams: Kyle Ostendorp, P, Arizona
- Defensive Line: Kyon Barrs, DL
- Freshman: Jeffrey Bassa, LB/S, Oregon
Last week, Tavion Thomas (Offense) and Nick Ford (Offensive Line) earned Player of the Week honors. It’s the fifth week this season that two more Utah players earned Player of the Week in the same week. Utah had three players take awards in the same week once. That was on October 18 when Cam Rising (Offense), Devin Lloyd (Defense) and Nick Ford (Offensive Line) received recognition.
Utah will travel to Arizona to face the Wildcats on Saturday, November 13 at noon on the Pac-12 Network.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com, Co-Host of Faith, Family and Football podcast with Clark Phillips III and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports.
