Virginia Tech defensive tackle Kemari Copeland was named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week on Monday.
The redshirt junior had three sacks in the Hokies' 42-34 double overtime win over Cal on Friday night and was the first Tech defensive tackle to hit that mark since his position coach, J.C. Price, had four sacks vs. Miami in 1995.
Copeland finished with seven tackles in all, the second-most on the team behind linebacker Kaleb Spencer's nine. It was his best performance at the FBS level to date after spending his freshman year at Army and his sophomore season at Iowa Western Community College at the JUCO level, where he posted 38 tackles, nine sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss.
The Virginia Beach native, who starred at Kellam High School, only played in four games last season due to injury (torn tricep). He bounced back well, though, and hit the ground running in his first offseason under new defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes. Excitement surrounded him entering the season, and after posting three TFLs and a sack through the first six games, Friday was his coming-out party.
He shot out of a cannon on the Golden Bears' first play from scrimmage and sacked quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele for a 14-yard loss. His second sack came on a JKS intentional grounding call while his third was for a nine-yard setback in the second half on a crucial third-and-7.
"Incredible worker," fellow defensive tackle Kelvin Gilliam said of Copeland. "It's just been a blessing to play right beside him. This is a guy that has been through so much adversity, the injury he had last year, so he's worth all the things that he's about to get, every penny that he's going to have in the near future."
Copeland is the second Tech player to earn conference honors this season, joining kicker John Love. He's also the program's first defensive tackle to earn league accolades since DaShawn Crawford in 2019.