Heel Tough Blog: Xavier Lewis Named a Semifinalist for Prestigious Defensive Award
As the end of the regular season approaches, we are growing closer to the end-of-season awards being handed out and there are some Tar Heels who are in contention for them.
On Tuesday, one Tar Heels took the next step towards winning one of the most prestigious awards in the sport. The Maxwell Club revealed their list of eighteen semifinalists for the Bednarik Award, which is awarded annually to the best defensive player in college football, and Tar Heel defensive was one of those to make the list.
He becomes the first Tar Heel to be named a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award since Julius Peppers in 2001, who eventually won the award that season.
Lewis, a sophomore who began his career as a walk-on, is one of the best stories on this Tar Heel team this season. After a breakout performance in the opener where he finished with seven total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and five total quarterback pressures, things have evened out a little bit for him, but he’s still having an impressive season. In 516 played across the first nine games of the year, he has recorded 43 total tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks and 32 total quarterback pressures.
He will need a very strong finish to the season if he is wanting to make the list of finalists, but what he has already done this season has been impressive. With Melkart Abou Jaoude playing better in recent weeks and Leroy Jackson proving to be a threat in pass rush out of the middle, Lewis may get more opportunities than he did in the middle of the season where most of the attention was on him, but the team just needs him to keep steadily the way he has for most of the year.
The finalists for the award will be revealed on November 24th and the winner will be announced at the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards on December 10th or 11th.
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