Football’s Young Named Pac-12 Defensive Player Of The Week
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State University senior linebacker Chris Young has been named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after leading a defensive effort that helped the Sun Devils clinch the Pac-12 South Division title with a 38-33 road win over UCLA Nov. 23.
Young was the game’s leading tackler with 13, including 12 solo and three sacks for a total loss of 27 yards.
Young made one of the biggest defensive plays of the season for the Sun Devils as he sacked UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley for a loss of 13 yards on the Bruins’ third-and-six from the seven-yard line on their second-to-last drive in the fourth quarter. Young’s sack forced a 38-yard field-goal attempt by kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn, who missed and preserved the Devils’ five-point lead.
A Sun Devil has now won conference defensive player of the week honors in consecutive weeks and Young is the fifth ASU football student-athlete to earn Pac-12 Player of the Week honors this season, which is the most since five Sun Devils were honored during the 2009 season.
2013 ASU Pac-12 Players Of The Week
Chris Young (D), Nov. 25
Robert Nelson (D), Nov. 18
Taylor Kelly (O), Nov. 4
Zane Gonzalez (ST), Oct. 21
Alden Darby (D), Sept. 30
Athlon Sports also named Young the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.
Young has led the Sun Devils in tackles in six games this season, including three straight, and his 13 against the Bruins were the second most of his career.
Young also sacked Hundley for a loss of seven yards on the first play of the Bruins’ final drive in the fourth quarter and made the game-ending tackle with five seconds left on a 16-yd pass from Hundley to Jordan Payton on fourth-and-35.
Running back Marion Grice, defensive lineman Davon Coleman, linebacker Carl Bradford and Young each earned College Football Performance Awards honors.
Grice amassed 268 all-purpose yards, including 95 rushing yards, 72 receiving yards and 101 kick return yards, has now collected 100-plus all-purpose yards in 13 consecutive games. He is the only player in the country with 400+ yards rushing, receiving and in a kick/punt return category.
Bradford had eight tackles and a sack, and returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter, and Coleman registered five tackles and 2.5 sacks.
The Sun Devils host Arizona in its final regular season game of the year on Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. MT at Sun Devil Stadium. The contest will air on the MidFirst Bank Sun Devil IMG Sports Network on 92.3 KTAR-FM and will also be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.