Merlin Robertson, Michael Turk earn Pac-12 weekly honors for ASU
Nov 9, 2020, 4:27 PM
Linebacker Merlin Robertson #8 of the Arizona State Sun Devils intercepts a pass intended for tight end Jake Ray #18 of the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first half of a NCAA football game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Saturday, November 7, 2020. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
(Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
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.
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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.
