CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois outside linebacker Gabe Jacas was named the Panini Senior Bowl Defensive Player of the Week, the bowl announced Monday.
The preseason All-American helped lead the Fighting Illini to a 45-19 road victory at Duke on Saturday, highlighted by his strip sack of quarterback Darian Mensah that halted a Blue Devil second-quarter drive inside the Illinois red zone.
Jacas is the only player in the nation with a sack and a forced fumble in back-to-back games this season, having also posted a strip sack, one of two total sacks on the day, in the Illini's Week 1 victory over Western Illinois.
Through two games, Jacas has recorded six total tackles (five solo), 3.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, one pass breakup, and one quarterback hurry. He leads the Big Ten in both forced fumbles per game (1.0) and sacks per game (1.5), ranking second and fifth in the nation, respectively. Jacas is now fifth in career sacks in Illinois program history with 19.0 entering Week 3.
The senior from Port St. Lucie, Florida, was named to this year's Senior Bowl preseason watch list after an All-Big Ten third team season a year ago. He was tabbed as a preseason All-American by ESPN, Athlon, and Phil Steele, and also appears on preseason watch lists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, and Lombardi Award.
No. 9-ranked Illinois is back home on Saturday to host Western Michigan in front of a sold-out crowd for FamILLy Day at Memorial Stadium (6 p.m. CT, FS1).
