(San Francisco, CA) Sun Devil Football’s Dashaun Mallory was named the Pac-12 Defensive Lineman of the Week, the conference announced on Monday afternoon.
If you were to look up the definition of game-wrecker in the dictionary, you would find a picture of Dashaun Mallory on the field at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. He put together a performance for the ages, helping Arizona State pick up their third win of the season. He became the fourth Sun Devil to win Pac-12 Player of the Week, joining Leif Fautanu (OL), B.J. Green (DL), and Dario Longhetto (ST) who took home the award after the win over Washington State.
In their final Pac-12 road trip, Arizona State relied on a dominant defensive performance and gritty offensive effort to defeat UCLA Bruins, 17-7, Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.
Cam Skattebo accounted for both Sun Devil touchdowns on the night, throwing a 25-yard touchdown to Elijah Badger and rushing for his eighth rushing touchdown of the year. The California native accounted for 61 yards on the ground, threw for 25-yards, compiled 50 punting yards, and even caught three passes back in his home state as his Hornung Award Campaign continues.
Elijah Badger tied a career high 12 receptions with 116 yards on the night and the second time he’s tallied double-digit receptions in a game this year along with it being the redshirt junior’s second career game with 100 or more receiving yards. Badger hauled in his third receiving touchdown of the season.
But it was defensive lineman Deshaun Mallory that delivered arguably the biggest performance, as he was everywhere on the field for the ASU defense. He totaled a season high nine tackles, two pass breakups and contributing 0.5 sacks on the night on his way to winning Pac-12 Defensive Lineman of the Week. Chris Edmonds also had seven tackles and Caleb McCullough forced a fumble lead that the ASU defense recovered. UCLA ended the night 0-for-4 on fourth down, with three of those stops by the Sun Devils coming on fourth and one in clutch moments.
This is the second time a Sun Devil has won Pac-12 Defensive Lineman of the Week, with B.J. Green also earning the recognition following ASU’s win over Washington State. Mallory and Green has combined to produce incredible numbers for players that spend most of their time lining up on the interior of the defensive line. The duo has accounted for 76 total tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and four pass breakups to go along with a plethora of quarterback hurries. Since 1983, Sun Devils have won a total of 150 Pac-10/12 Player of the Week Honors. Click here for a full list of recipients.
Dashaun Mallory – Defensive Lineman of the Week
Nobody had a bigger impact in Arizona State’s 17-7 short-handed road win over UCLA than Dashaun Mallory. The Sun Devil defensive lineman was all over the field, delivering one of the best performances in program history for an interior defensive lineman. He finished with nine total tackles, six of which were solo. He added 0.5 sack and 0.5 tackle for loss to go along with two pass breakups. Mallory accounted for the most solo tackles in the nation by an interior defensive lineman and tied for the most overall tackles at the position in the country. He was credited with the second-most “stops” in Week 11 by PFF, spending most of his evening in the backfield of the Bruins. Mallory’s presences prevented UCLA from getting into a rhythm on offense. ASU’s defense shut out the Bruins at the half, which was only the second time a team had accomplished that feat. UCLA managed to score only seven points thanks to the efforts of Mallory and company, the fewest points the Bruins have scored in a home game since Sept. 25, 2010.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Connor Smith
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