Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Jaelan Phillips and punter Lou Hedley were named the ACC Players of the Week at their positions on Monday.
Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Jaelan Phillips earned his second straight ACC Player of the Week award at his position and was joined by Punter Lou Hedley on Monday. Phillips was named the ACC DL of the Week after his second straight dominant performance with eight tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Phillips performance held Virginia Tech more than 117 yards below its season rushing average in the 25-24 Miami victory. The Hokies had 160 yards rushing on 41 carries and finished with 362 yards of total offense. Phillips’ performance was one of the best in the five years since Manny Diaz has led the Miami defense.
Phillips was more dominant than his 10 tackle, 1.5 TFL, one sack, one pass breakup performance last week at North Carolina State. The redshirt junior now leads the Miami Hurricanes with five sacks, is fourth with 37 tackles and second with 10.5 TFLs this season. Phillips has continued to improve as the season goes on.
After taking the 2019 season off, Phillips gained over 20 pounds to play DE in the 4-3 Miami defense. Teaming with Quincy Roche off the edge Miami is sixth nationally with 68 TFLs in 2020. Roche is eighth nationally with 11 TFLs and Phillips ranks 12th. Phillps and Roche had to play extensive snaps with Miami missing five DL.
"DEFENSIVE LINEMAN – Jaelan Phillips, Miami, Jr., DE, Redlands, Calif.Named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week for the second week in a row following his performance in No. 12 Miami’s 25-24 win at Virginia Tech • Tied for the team lead with eight total tackles, including a career-best 4.5 tackles for loss with a career-high 2.5 sacks.The 4.5 tackles for loss are the most by a Hurricane in any game this season and the second-most by any Miami player since Manny Diaz’s arrival as defensive coordinator in 2016."
Congratulations, fellas! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Kp4J7TyZqc
— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) November 16, 2020
Hedley was named the ACC Specialist of the Week. A specialist can include kicker, punter, or return men. Hedley averaged 52.4 yards per punt, had six punts of at least 50 yards and three that landed inside the 20. Virginia Tech began four drives at their 20 yardline or worse. The last two Hokies drives started inside their 10.
"SPECIALIST – Lou Hedley, Miami, Jr., P, Mandurah, AustraliaNamed ACC Specialist of the Week for the second time this season after key contributions to Miami’s 25-24 win at Virginia Tech • Averaged 52.4 yards on his seven punts and placed three kicks inside the Hokies’ 20-yard line.Had a long punt of 58 yards, and his one punt that did not travel at least 50 yards was a 49-yard boot"
Hedley has been a critical part of the success the Miami football team has had in 2020. The Australian is fourth nationally and second in the ACC averaging 45.45 yards per punt and helped Miami rank fourth nationally in net punting. Miami will face the ACC punting leader, Presley Harvin of Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Georgia Tech ranks third nationally in net punting. Miami will be a big favorite against the Yellow Jackets, but field position will play a big part with the two elite punting units on the field. Hedley has stabilized punting for Miami after a couple of years of inconsistency.