Merlin Robertson, Michael Turk earn Pac-12 weekly honors for ASU

Arizona State junior linebacker Merlin Robertson has been named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and ASU junior punter Michael Turk has been named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week.

Robertson had 10 total tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception in the Sun Devils’ 28-27 loss to No. 20 USC on Saturday.

The junior has some hype around him entering the season, as ESPN’s Mel Kiper in May listed him as a top-5 inside linebacker prospect for the 2021 NFL Draft and Todd McShay has him ninth. Robertson won Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2018 after becoming the first Sun Devil freshman to lead the team in tackles since 2001.

Turk had a monster day in southern California, averaging 51.6 yards for his five punts and pinning three of them inside the 20-yard line.

Turk is coming off a strange offseason in which he declared for the NFL Draft, stayed in it with an agent, didn’t get drafted but was then granted a very rare waiver to return to school. The process for that waiver took a month of Turk writing to the NCAA as to why he should be allowed back.

He was named a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award in 2019, given to the nation’s best punter, and made the preseason watchlist for the award this season.

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