On Monday, Virginia Tech defensive end Antwaun Powell-Ryland was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week after his four-sack performance in Saturday's 30-13 victory over Wake Forest. He's the fifth Hokie to earn league honors this season, joining linebacker Keli Lawson, punter Peter Moore, quarterback Kyron Drones and running back Bhayshul Tuten, who did so twice.
A junior from Portsmouth, Va., Powell-Ryland had a career day against the Demon Deacons, finishing with six tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He became the second Virginia Tech player since 1987 and the first since J.C. Price, his defensive line coach, to record four sacks in a game.
He's also the third player in that span with at least one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, multiple tackles for loss and multiple sacks in a game, joining Cody Grimm (2009, NC State) and Corey Moore (1999, Clemson).
"APR, he’s an exciting player," star linebacker Keonta Jenkins said of Powell-Ryland after the win. "I know we talked right before coming out of halftime about what we needed to do. And I think we were low on the sacks, and we tried to turn it into a battle of 'who's going to get to the quarterback first.' I think he ended up coming out on top. APR, very exciting player, he taught me a couple things with pass rushing and getting to the quarterback, and I like seeing that guy make plays."
Three of Powell-Ryland's four sacks came on the final drive of the game when Wake Forest was pressing, as did his forced fumble. Early in the second quarter, he jumped on the ball after Lawson stripped quarterback Michael Kern.
It was an explosive outing for Powell-Ryland after a few quiet weeks, though. He had just one sack in the previous four games, which was a strip sack on Pitt quarterback Phil Jurkovec in the win. He started the season with two sacks against Old Dominion and four TFLs in the first two games but couldn't sustain production. Saturday was a step in the right direction for him and the Virginia Tech defensive line, which recorded seven sacks, their most in a game since October 2020 at Duke.
Powell-Ryland, who transferred from Florida in the offseason, is on pace for 12 sacks this year. He has seven through seven games. Should he reach 10, he'd be the first Hokie with double-digit sacks since Darryl Tapp in 2005. Few Tech players accomplished that feat since Frank Beamer took over in 1987; only Corey Moore and Cornell Brown, who each did it twice, did so outside of Tapp.