Duke's Kevin O'Connor earns weekly ACC nod after dominant performance

Duke’s defense had one of its best games in a while on Saturday, holding Stanford to 237 total yards and a single touchdown in a 35-7 win.

A major reason was the play of defensive end Kevin O’Connor, who recorded two tackles for a loss, two sacks and forced a fumble in the victory. For his performance, O’Connor has been named the ACC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week.

O’Connor’s first sack of the day, and of his career, came in the first quarter when he got to Stanford quarterback Davis Warren. The second was even bigger: the redshirt junior got to Warren again, this time forcing a fumble that Kendall Johnson recovered on the Cardinal 35-yard line. 

The Blue Devils scored six plays later to stretch the lead to 14-0.

This is the fifth time that a Duke player has been named ACC Player of the Week at their position in just three weeks, with Nate Sheppard earning the running back award in the first two weeks, Nick Del Grande named the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week after Week 2 and Bryce Davis winning the award for defensive line play in Week 1. 

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This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Duke's Kevin O'Connor earns weekly ACC nod after dominant performance