Pac-12 Football Performance Awards presented by Nextiva – Week Five

SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 today announced its 2021 football season’s fifth weekly performance awards, presented by Nextiva. See below for Week Five’s recognitions across the Conference and keep track of the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year watchlist here:

OFFENSE:  Jayden Daniels, Jr., QB, Arizona State (San Bernardino, CA)

  • Led the Sun Devils to a 42-23 win over #20 UCLA, the second-largest margin of victory against an AP Top 25 team on the road in program history. Daniels did it with both his arm and legs, but excelled in the passing game.
  • Threw for 286 yards on an efficient 13-for-18 passing, throwing for a pair of touchdowns. It was his 9th game with 2+ scores through the air. It is his 12th career performance accounting for 2 or more touchdowns and the 9th time he eclipsed 250 yards through the air.
  • Accounted for 331 yards of offense, going over the 300-yard mark for the 8th time. He averaged 22 yards/completion, which set a new career high. He added 45 yards on the ground on only 6 carries.
  • Created explosive plays with his accuracy and arm strength, completing 4 passes of over 40 yards. As a result, he was PFF’s 21st highest graded player overall in FBS for the week, grading out at 87.6. The rating was 12th among all quarterbacks and was the best in the Pac-12 this week. His 15.1 yards per attempt were 2nd among FBS quarterbacks this week. Additionally, he had the 8th-highest NFL QBR in the FBS according to PFF.
  • 2nd time he has won the award and it is the first time an Arizona State player has won it since Daniels did in November 2019 as a freshman.  Daniels actually won both the Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week that week.

Also nominated for offense:  Tanner McKee, QB, Stanford;  B.J. Baylor, RB, Oregon State; Calvin Jackson Jr., WR, Washington State; Greg Dulcich, TE, UCLA; Keaontay Ingram, RB, USC

Check out the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year Watchlist, presented by Nextiva, to learn more. 

DEFENSE:  Avery Roberts, RS Jr., ILB, Oregon State (Wilmington, DE)

  • Posted a season-best 16 tackles to go along with one interception and half a sack in the Beavers’ 27-24 win over Washington Saturday. The win snapped the Beavers’ nine-game losing streak to the Huskies.
  • 16 tackles ties Roberts for the most by a Pac-12 player this season. The 16 are also the second most of his career.
  • 9 of his 16 tackles came in the second half.  Leads the Pac-12 with 51 tackles this season and is tied for 7th nationally.
  • 1st Oregon State player to win this award since Treston Decoud won it in September 2016.  He is the 3rd Beaver to win a Pac-12 weekly award this season though, with B.J. Baylor (Offensive) and Nathan Eldridge (Offensive Line) both winning last week.

Also nominated:  Darien Butler, LB, Arizona State; Drake Jackson, OLB, USC; Gabe Reid, OLB, Stanford; Armani Marsh, Safety, Washington State

SPECIAL TEAMS:  Parker Lewis, Soph., PK, USC (Phoenix, AZ)

  • Hit all 3 of his field goal attempts (30, 44 and a career-long 49 yards) and all 4 of his PATs and also had touchbacks on 7 of his 8 kickoffs at Colorado.
  • He is 9-of-9 on field goals and 16-of-16 on PATs in 2021.
  • 1st USC player to win this award since Marvell Tell won it in October 2018 and first USC kicker to win it since Chase McGrath in Week 1 of the 2018 season.

Also nominated:  Everett Hayes, PK, Oregon State; Cristian Zendejas, K, Arizona State; Ryan Sanborn, P, Stanford

OFFENSIVE LINE:  LaDarius Henderson, Jr., LG, Arizona State (Waxahachie, TX)

  • Provided a physical presence at the line of scrimmage in the victory over #20 UCLA. Henderson and the offensive line unit paved the way for an extremely balanced offensive attack that produced 42 points and 458 total yards (286 passing & 172 rushing).
  • Graded out at 84%, including two pancakes and one knockdown. He did not allow a single quarterback pressure and still has only allowed one all season.
  • Was effective as a pull blocker on run plays and also showed his athleticism when getting out to block on Ricky Pearsall’s 58-yard touchdown on a screen pass.
  • 3rd time an Arizona State player has won this award since its inception in 2019.  Dohnovan West won it in December 2020 and Cohl Cabral in September 2019.

Also nominated:  Walter Rouse, LT, Stanford; Brandon Kipper, OL, Oregon State; Andrew Vorhees, OL, USC; Liam Ryan, OT, Washington State

DEFENSIVE LINE:  Brennan Jackson, RS Jr., Edge, Washington State (Temecula, CA)

  • Totaled 4 tackles, 3 solo, with a sack for 10 yards and a pass breakup.
  • Helped WSU defense hold Cal to just 6 points, the lowest opponent total against WSU since shutting out San Jose State 31-0 in 2018.
  • Set the tone on the first play of the second half with a 10-yard sack as Cal went 3 and out and WSU scored on the next possession for the final margin of victory.
  • 1st Washington State player to win this award since its inception in 2019.

Also nominated:  D.J. Davidson, NT, Arizona State; Thomas Booker, DE, Stanford; Tuli Tuipulotu, DL, USC; Keonte Schad, DL, Oregon State

FRESHMAN:  Tanner McKee,  RS Fr., QB, Stanford (Corona, CA)

  • Was 20-of-36 for 230 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, adding 24 yards on the ground, in a 31-24, overtime win over #3 Oregon.
  • Led the Cardinal on an 11 play, 87 yard drive in the final 1:59 to tie the game on a 2-yard touchdown pass on a final, untimed down to force overtime.  Threw a 14-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-11 in overtime for the go-ahead score.  Stanford had a 0.1 percent chance of winning with 1:51 remaining in the game, according to ESPN’s win probability model. 
  • The win makes McKee the first freshman quarterback to defeat a top 5 team since Bo Nix led Auburn to a 48-45 win over #5 Alabama (Nov. 30, 2019). 
  • Thrown multiple touchdowns in all 4 of his starts this season.  The Cardinal have won 4 straight against AP top 3 teams, the longest active streak in FBS.
  • 2nd time McKee has won the award this season.  Also won in Week 2 after leading Stanford to a win at USC.

Also nominated for freshman:  Eric Gentry, LB, Arizona State; Michael Trigg, TE, USC; Semisi Saluni, OLB, Oregon State; De’Zhaun Stribling, WR, Washington State