THE FLATS – Georgia Tech defensive end Keion White (Garner, N.C./Garner H.S./Old Dominion) added to his list of accolades for his performance in last Saturday’s win over No. 13/11 North Carolina when he was named the Bednarik Award Player of the Week on Tuesday. The Bednarik Award Player of the Week honors college football’s top defensive performer.
White earned the recognition by turning in perhaps the most dominant performance by an Atlantic Coast Conference defensive lineman this season to help key Georgia Tech’s 21-17 win the Tar Heels.
The redshirt senior registered three sacks, four tackles for loss and seven total tackles in the Yellow Jackets’ victory, becoming the only ACC player and one of just eight NCAA Division I FBS players to record as many as three sacks, four TFL and seven tackles in a game this season. He is the first Yellow Jacket to accomplish the feat since current Los Angeles Charger Jeremiah Attaochu did it against Georgia in 2013.
Making White’s performance even more impressive is that it helped Georgia Tech stymie one of the nation’s top offenses in North Carolina, and its quarterback, Heisman Trophy candidate Drake Maye. Led by White, Tech sacked Maye six times and recorded 12 total TFL as a team while holding UNC to season lows for points (17), total offense (365 yards) and passing yards (202), which were 23 points, 140 total yards and 139 passing yards below the Tar Heels’ season averages coming in.
On Monday, White was named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week for the first time in his career.
White and the Yellow Jackets (5-6, 4-4 ACC) close out the regular season on Saturday when they travel to archrival and top-ranked Georgia (11-0, 8-0 SEC). Kickoff for “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” is set for noon at UGA’s Sanford Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Competitive Drive Initiative
In a unified endeavor, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Georgia Tech athletics and the Alexander-Tharpe Fund have come together to accelerate funding for student-athlete scholarships with the launch of the Competitive Drive Initiative. The initiative kicks off with the Accelerate GT Match Program, where any new gift to the A-T Fund’s Athletic Scholarship Fund made through Dec. 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Georgia Tech Foundation, up to $2.5 million. Should Accelerate GT reach its $2.5 million fundraising goal, the matching gift would result in a $5 million impact for Georgia Tech athletics. To learn more and to contribute online, visit atfund.org/accelerate.
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