TEMPE -- Sun Devil Football junior Tyler Johnson was named the Pac-12's Defensive Lineman of the Week in recognition of his performance against UCLA this past weekend.
Johnson is thriving in his new role, wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks through his first two games playing defensive end.
With his 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks against UCLA, Johnson became the first Sun Devil with four tackles for loss since Tashon Smallwood against New Mexico State in Aug. 31, 2017. He was the first Sun Devil with three sacks in a game since Koron Crump vs. Washington State on Oct. 22, 2016.
The junior now has two-career multi-sack games, both coming against the Bruins.
Johnson generated seven total pass pressures in the game – the second-most of any player in the Pac-12 and the seven-most of any player in the nation for Week 14.
In two games this season, Johnson is averaging 3.2 tackles for loss per game, which is good for the national lead. Despite playing in just two games, Johnson is in the Top-50 nationally in total tackles for loss with 6.5.
Johnson is also the nationally leader in sack per game at 2.0 and has for total on the season.
The Sun Devils as a team are eighth in the country in team tackles for loss (8.5 per game) and fourth in the country in sacks (4.0 per game), leading the Pac-12 in both.
It was the first career Pac-12 Player of the Week accolade for Johnson.
New this season, all weekly Pac-12 football awards will be presented by Nextiva, the Pac-12's Official Communications Partner. At the conclusion of the season, Nextiva will also present Pac-12 annual performance awards, including Offensive Player of the Year, Freshman Offensive Player of the Year, Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.
The Sun Devils return to action on Friday (5 p.m. MT) when they take on Arizona in the annual Territorial Cup matchup. The game will be available on ESPN and heard on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
Johnson is thriving in his new role, wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks through his first two games playing defensive end.
With his 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks against UCLA, Johnson became the first Sun Devil with four tackles for loss since Tashon Smallwood against New Mexico State in Aug. 31, 2017. He was the first Sun Devil with three sacks in a game since Koron Crump vs. Washington State on Oct. 22, 2016.
The junior now has two-career multi-sack games, both coming against the Bruins.
Johnson generated seven total pass pressures in the game – the second-most of any player in the Pac-12 and the seven-most of any player in the nation for Week 14.
In two games this season, Johnson is averaging 3.2 tackles for loss per game, which is good for the national lead. Despite playing in just two games, Johnson is in the Top-50 nationally in total tackles for loss with 6.5.
Johnson is also the nationally leader in sack per game at 2.0 and has for total on the season.
The Sun Devils as a team are eighth in the country in team tackles for loss (8.5 per game) and fourth in the country in sacks (4.0 per game), leading the Pac-12 in both.
It was the first career Pac-12 Player of the Week accolade for Johnson.
New this season, all weekly Pac-12 football awards will be presented by Nextiva, the Pac-12's Official Communications Partner. At the conclusion of the season, Nextiva will also present Pac-12 annual performance awards, including Offensive Player of the Year, Freshman Offensive Player of the Year, Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.
The Sun Devils return to action on Friday (5 p.m. MT) when they take on Arizona in the annual Territorial Cup matchup. The game will be available on ESPN and heard on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.