First-Team Defense for Week 4 in college football
Which defensive players made the first-team Team of the Week for Week 4?
EDGE – Ali Fayad, Western Michigan
In limiting the San Jose State offense to just 3 points, Ali Fayad and his front-seven mates had quite the afternoon. They held the Spartans to just 2 yards per carry and consistently pressured the San Jose State passing attack.
Fayed got in on the action with 5 total pressures, including 2 sacks and 3 tackles for loss. It was a dominant afternoon off the edge, but he wasn’t the only Bronco to land on our Team of the Week.
DT – Siaki Ika, Baylor
It was Siaka Ika who kicked off the Week 4 slate with a social media image that stole the nation’s hearts. He then proceeded to dominate at the point of attack for the Baylor defensive front. Iowa State could do nothing on the interior as Ika faced and defeated double team after double team.
Ika’s splash play came when he put his massive arms in the throwing lane and tipped a pass that was ultimately intercepted. He may have officially finished the day with only 1 tackle, but that’s not indicative of his impact on the game.
DT – Ralph Holley, Western Michigan
The big man in the middle, Ralph Holley joins Fayed as another Western Michigan defensive lineman on our Team of the Wee. He recorded 2.5 sacks and 3 total tackles for loss, but that wasn’t his only big impact. Holley overpowered and overmatched the SJSU offensive line for a handful of more pressures.
Holley plugged rushing gaps and single-handedly changed the offensive game plan for San Jose State.
EDGE – Jacub Panasiuk, Michigan State
This was a performance for the ages for Jacub Panasiuk, who is no stranger to dominant outings. Wreaking havoc off the edge, Panasiuk was credited with 2 sacks and 2 tackles for loss — but that sells him incredibly short.
Panasiuk routinely defeated tackles and quickly sped into the backfield to harass Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez. He had at least a dozen quarterback pressures in total, getting to Martinez on more than a third of his dropbacks.
LB – Devin Lloyd, Utah
Devin Lloyd was fantastic for the Utes on Saturday afternoon. He patrolled the middle of the field against Washington State’s short-area passing attack, rarely allowing a first down. Lloyd was also particularly stout at limiting the Cougars’ rushing attack, stopping WSU’s attempts at getting to the outside.
Lloyd finished the game with 8 total tackles, including a sack, but his presence in the backfield was impressive — both in the run game and on blitzes.
LB – Shaka Heyward, Duke
The only way to limit Kansas’ offensive plan is to limit QB Jason Bean on the ground. Shaka Heyward and the Blue Devils defense did just that with constant pressure on the Jayhawks signal-caller. Duke’s dominant LB finished the day with 9 total tackles and an interception while keeping an eye on Bean.
Spying on Bean, Heyward helped limit him to just 54 rushing yards on 15 carries. Bean’s longest rush of the day was just 12 yards as Heyward and the Blue Devils kept him in check.
LB – Jack Campbell, Iowa
A literal tackling machine, Jack Campbell carried the Hawkeyes to victory on Saturday. While Iowa’s offense struggled, Campbell did everything he could to help limit the damage against the Colorado State offense.
Checking in with 18 total tackles on the day, Campbell also had quite the afternoon in coverage. He recorded 2 pass breakups in the middle of the field and was truly the game’s most valuable player.
CB – Brandon Sebastian, Boston College
A game-sealing interception was the highlight-reel moment for Brandon Sebastian, but he did much more than make a pick against Missouri. Helping secure the upset victory, Sebastian skied to a fade route in the end zone in overtime, locking in the victory for the Eagles on the game’s final play.
Sebastian had 7 total tackles while limiting yards in his coverage area all game long. No long passes went by Sebastian as he utilized his long frame and terrific athleticism to stop the Tigers’ aerial assault.
CB – Davon Ferguson, Bowling Green
Helping to secure the upset victory on the road against Minnesota, Davon Ferguson was impressive on Saturday. Perfectly timing blitz after blitz, Ferguson sacked Minnesota QB Tanner Morgan twice and posted 5 total tackles.
Ferguson did a great job of limiting receivers in his coverage as well, and the Falcons allowed just 59 yards to Minnesota’s passing attack.
CB – Rejzohn Wright, Oregon State
Going up against the Air Raid offense is never an easy task for defensive backs. They’re likely to give up some yards, so a bend-don’t-break mantra needs to be applied. But Rejzohn Wright hardly even gave up any yards — and he barely had to bend.
Limiting receivers in his coverage, Wright also came down with an impressive interception on USC QB Kedon Slovis. He was heavily targeted but didn’t give up a touchdown in his area.
S – Dy’vonne Inyang, UTEP
Securing one of the game’s biggest plays, it was Dy’vonne Inyang’s interception off Terry Wilson that maintained the Miners’ lead. His pick also led to what would’ve been a go-ahead field goal (had it been converted). Inyang intercepted Wilson inside of New Mexico territory, setting up UTEP with a short field. Though they missed the field goal, the UTEP defense needed little help in holding onto the victory.
Inyang had a handful of tackles and most of them happened at or around the line of scrimmage.
S – Bennett Williams, Oregon
It looks like we may have found the next Oregon defensive back to steal our hearts after Bennett Williams dominated against Arizona. Williams recorded an interception to start a dominant first quarter for the Ducks, but he wasn’t done.
After a solid drive by the Oregon offense, Williams did his part on defense. He intercepted Arizona QB Jordan McCloud, returning it 68 yards for a touchdown to increase the Ducks’ lead to 22 points midway through the fourth quarter.
FLEX – Cam Hart, Notre Dame
Spurning the Fighting Irish’s dominant fourth quarter, Cam Hart recorded his second interception of the afternoon, shut down a Wisconsin drive, and helped lead to 3 points for Notre Dame. Hart recorded 2 interceptions on the afternoon and was solid in outside coverage all game.
Though he didn’t return one of his interceptions for a touchdown, Hart did his part by not allowing a single completion to his side of the field. As stated on the broadcast, he truly locked down the outside.
Punter – Lucas Dean, UTSA
In order to go to 4-0 and defeat a previously undefeated Memphis team, the Roadrunners were going to have to be sound in all three facets of the game. While UTSA’s offensive and defensive units played well in the second half, the special teams unit was consistent all game long.
Lucas Dean booted 5 punts and averaged more than 50 yards per kick. Most importantly, he knocked 3 punts inside the Memphis 20-yard line (including 2 inside the 10). He didn’t allow much room for the dynamic Calvin Austin to return his punts, either. Hart got enough air under his punts to cause 2 fair catches and 2 others that were downed with no chance of return.
Second-Team Defense
EDGE: Lorenzo Dantzler, UTSA
DI: Haskell Garrett, Ohio State
DI: Kevin Atkins, Fresno State
EDGE: Arron Mosby, Fresno State
LB: Micah McFadden, Indiana
LB: JJ Russell, Memphis
LB: Drake Thomas, NC State
CB: Bryquice Brown, Georgia State
CB: Josh Turner, FIU
CB: Kyler Gordon, Washington
S: Xavier Henderson, Michigan State
S: Richard Dames, FIU
Flex: Jack Kiser, Notre Dame
Punter: Michael Turk, Oklahoma
Honorable Mention Defense
EDGE: Nick Herbig, Wisconsin
DI: Judge Culpepper, Toledo
DI: Thomas Booker, Stanford
EDGE: Cody Roscoe, Syracuse
LB: Blaze Alldredge, Missouri
LB: Josh Ross, Michigan
LB: Darien Butler, Arizona State
CB: Coco Azema, Northwestern
CB: Ja’Quan McMillian, ECU
CB: Kei’Trel Clark, Louisville
S: Trey Dean III, Florida
S: Delarrin Turner-Yell, Oklahoma
Flex: Damone Clark, LSU
Punter: Isaac Power, Baylor