Pac-12 Week 13 Awards: Paul Grattan, Mitchell Agude Win Players of the Week
Not only did the Bruins cap off the regular season with a win, but they also tacked on a few awards in the process.
The Pac-12 announced its weekly honors Monday, and UCLA football (8-4, 6-3 Pac-12) left guard Paul Grattan Jr. won Offensive Lineman of the Week and edge rusher Mitchell Agude won Defensive Lineman of the Week following their team's win over Cal on Saturday. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was nominated for Offensive Player of the Week, safety Quentin Lake was a nominee for Defensive Player of the Week and kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira was nominated for Special Teams Player of the Week.
The five candidates were the Bruins' most in a single week all season.
Grattan is the second UCLA player to win Offensive Lineman of the Week this season and first since right tackle Alec Anderson won it Week 1 against LSU. With Grattan anchoring the interior Saturday against the Golden Bears, the Bruins rushed for 282 yards and boasted two 100-yard rushers in Thompson-Robinson and running back Zach Charbonnet.
It marked the eighth time UCLA rushed for 200-plus yards and Grattan started in all eight of those contests, each of which ended in a victory for the blue and gold.
In addition to opening wide open holes for Charbonnet, Thompson-Robinson and receiver Kazmeir Allen, Grattan was also a key piece of keeping Thompson-Robinson's jersey clean all night. For the third time this season, the Bruins did not allow a single sack, and they gave up just two sacks in the entire month of November.
Agude, however, made sure there were still some sacks tallied Saturday night.
The edge rusher is UCLA's first defensive player to win a conference award, whether it's Defensive Player of the Week, Defensive Lineman of the Week or Freshman of the Week. Agude had five tackles, 1.0 sack, 1.0 tackle for loss and a quarterback hit Saturday against the Golden Bears.
With Agude leading the charge in bringing the pressure, Cal quarterback Chase Garbers posted his worst outing of the season with 125 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a 72.6 passer rating. Augde also assisted in stopping the run, holding the Golden Bears – who rushed for 352 yards on 10.2 yards per carry Week 12 against Stanford – to just 92 yards and 2.9 yards per carry Saturday.
Agude is the first Bruin to win Pac-12 Defensive Lineman of the Week since the conference started giving out the award ahead of the 2019 season.
While Grattan is out of collegiate eligibility, Agude still has one year remaining and notably was not honored as part of Saturday's Senior Day festivities.
Grattan and Agude's weekly conference award wins marked the sixth and seventh by a Bruin so far this season.
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