As the UNC football team rolled to its first victory of the season Saturday night in a 48-23 blowout of Illinois, a pair of Tar Heels did enough to earn ACC Player of the Week honors at their positions.
Senior center Lucas Crowley took home the conference’s Offensive Lineman of the Week Award for his outstanding contributions to the winning cause.
Crowley had nine knockdown blocks–known as pancakes–graded out at 87 percent and did not allow a sack. UNC also ran for four touchdowns behind its stout offensive line against the Illini.
On the other side of the ball, sophomore linebacker Andre Smith was flying around everywhere Saturday night making play after play after play–earning himself the ACC Linebacker of the Week award.
Three of his career-high 14 tackles this past week came on third down and forced Illinois to punt. He also had a pass breakup while in coverage that helped the Tar Heel secondary limit their opponents to a measly 127 yards through the air.
Both Crowley and Smith are expected to be key contributors down the stretch run for UNC, so it must be a bright sign for head coach Larry Fedora to know they’re each already playing at a very high level.
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