EJUAN PRICE NAMED ACC DEFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE WEEK
11/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
PITTSBURGH—Pitt senior defensive end Ejuan Price, who had one of the most dominant performances of the 2015 college football season in the Panthers' win over Louisville, has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Defensive Lineman of the Week.
Price was an unblockable force in Pitt's 45-34 triumph over the Cardinals. The senior collected 10 tackles, six tackles for loss and five quarterback sacks. His sack total was the highest by a Bowl Subdivision player this year and fell one shy of the national record. He is the first Pitt player with at least 4.5 sacks in a game since 1987.
Price (Rankin, Pa./Woodland Hills) spearheaded a defensive effort that limited Louisville to minus-one yard on the ground, the first time Pitt held an opponent to negative yards rushing since 2002.
Price's Louisville performance was also recognized on ESPN College Football Final on Saturday night with a Helmet Sticker from Joe Tessitore.
This has been a resurgent season for Price, who was limited to only six games the past three years due to three different injuries. An unknown at the start of fall camp, he is now a driving force behind one of the country's most productive defenses.
Price is fourth in the nation and first in the ACC with an average of 1.05 sacks per game. He has 11.5 total sacks, the most by a Pitt player since 2000. He has compiled 18 tackles for loss on the year, ranking sixth nationally in that category and second in the ACC (1.6 TFLs/game).
This is Price's second ACC defensive lineman award this season. He was previously honored for his Notre Dame performance (eight tackles, two sacks and a 32-yard fumble return for a touchdown).
The Panthers have had at least one ACC weekly award winner in 10 of their 11 games this season.
Pitt (8-3, 6-1 ACC) hosts Miami (7-4, 4-3) this Friday at Heinz Field. The game will kick off at noon and be nationally televised by ESPN2.
The Panthers' 2015 ACC Players of the Week:
PK Chris Blewitt: ACC Specialist of the Week (Georgia Tech)
WR Tyler Boyd: ACC Receiver of the Week (Iowa and Syracuse)
LB Mike Caprara: ACC Linebacker of the Week (Duke)
LB Matt Galambos: ACC Linebacker of the Week (Virginia and Syracuse)
LB Nicholas Grigsby: ACC Linebacker of the Week (Youngstown State)
NT Tyrique Jarrett: ACC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week (Akron)
CB/KR Avonte Maddox: ACC Specialist of the Week (Youngstown State)
RB Qadree Ollison: ACC Rookie of the Week (Youngstown State and Syracuse)
DE Ejuan Price: ACC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week (Notre Dame and Louisville)
FS Terrish Webb: ACC Co-Defensive Back of the Week (Virginia Tech)
SS Jordan Whitehead: ACC Rookie of the Week (Virginia, Notre Dame and Duke)
—PITT—
