Safety Jake Pope Named UNLV Rebels On SI Defensive Player of the Week For Week 12

The UNLV Rebels football team has bounced back from two straight losses and has now won two games in a row. One of the big reasons for their recent success is the turnaround of their play on defense. In Week 12, they knocked off the Utah State Aggies by a score of 29 - 26. Over the past two games, this defense has now given up just 36 total points. In their two losses, they allowed 96 total points. This has been a massive and much-needed improvement for the Rebels' defense. It was a key victory over the Aggies, which moved UNLV to 4 - 2 in the Mountain West Conference and kept them in the mix to earn a spot in the Mountain West Championship game.

The improved defensive performance has undoubtedly been a team effort, which makes singling out just one player an extremely difficult task. UNLV got a ton of huge individual performances on defense in this game. Nevertheless, we have to narrow it down to just one. We are going with safety Jake Pope as our official UNLV Rebels On SI Defensive Player of the Week. Just because this was a tough decision doesn't mean it's not well deserved. Quite the opposite, actually. Pope undeniably had a monster game. He made nine tackles in this game with four of them being solo. The junior transfer also racked up 1.5 sacks in this game. That was enough to earn him this honor for Week 12.

Others Earning Consideration

It seems linebacker Marsel McDuffie is in the mix every week, and Week 12 is no exception. He made 10 tackles with five of them being solo, and tracked down the quarterback for a sack in this one. Their defensive quarterback had another great game against Utah State.

Defensive lineman Tunmise Adeleye continued his strong play against the Aggies. He made four tackles (three solo) and got to the quarterback twice for two sacks. The sophomore has now gotten to the quarterback in four straight games, racking up five sacks and 17 tackles during that span, bringing his sack total for the year up to six. His impact on the Rebels' defense cannot be overstated.

There were a few other performances that are worth mentioning. Chief Borders came away with a sack, as did Ose Egbase. Defensive back Aamaris Brown hasn't grabbed a pick in a while now, but he still had a strong game and defended two passes. We could go on and on with all the defenders who played well, but we'll leave it at that for now.

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