Laiatu Latu had two goals in mind back in July: Lead the nation in sacks and earn first-team All-American honors. Since then, he’s let his play speak for itself.
It turns out the UCLA star edge rusher may have set the bar too low as the Bruins head into the final game of the regular season Saturday against California at the Rose Bowl.
Latu’s back-to-back sacks last Saturday against USC quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams had the nation’s attention. Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was among the many who took notice as the Bruins stuffed the rival Trojans in a 38-20 win at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“That one sack that he had in the red zone, they doubled him,” Bruins head coach Chip Kelly said while reviewing the victory and Latu’s performance prior to Monday’s practice. “They put the tackle on him and the running back on him and he split the two of ‘em and made an unbelievable play on Caleb. You know, it was just a Latu play that only Latu can make.”
The performance earned Latu, who made a game-high seven tackles, the Pac-12 defensive lineman of the week award for a second time this season. He and Utah’s Jonah Elliss are the only two players to earn the honor twice this season.
It was Latu’s third multi-sack game of the season and seventh with multiple tackles for a loss. That bumped his season totals to 13 sacks and 20 1/2 TFLs, which rank tied for second and tops in the nation among FBS players, respectively.
Latu’s target of 15 sacks he set before the season at Pac-12 Media Day in Las Vegas is well within reach. He now may have to make room in his trophy case a season after earning comeback player of the year honors.
No longer is a neck injury suffered at Washington that momentarily stopped his career one of the first thoughts that come to mind — albeit it’s still inspirational all the same. Latu now has the Lombardi Award among the host of honors in his sights after he was named one of four finalists last Wednesday for the annual recognition given to the nation’s top lineman, offense or defense.
The others include Elliss, Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt and Georgia tight end Brock Bowers.
Earlier this month, Latu also was named a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award given annually to the nation’s most outstanding defensive player in college football.
Latu and Elliss will be among the contenders for Pac-12 defensive player of the year, too.
