No. 4 Texas A&M (6-0, 3-0 SEC) defeated Florida (2-4, 1-2 SEC) 34-17 behind another elite defensive performance, led by edge rushers Cashius Howell and Dayon Hayes, who earned prolific pass rush grades from Pro Football Focus. At the same time, Hayes’ sack-fumble ended the game, even though the Aggies were already up by seventeen points with just over a minute remaining.
This offseason, Hayes’ journey to College Station was littered with injuries during his four seasons at Pitt, coupled with just a handful of games during his one season at Colorado, where, if he stayed healthy, he would have likely led Deion Sanders’ squad in sacks and pressures. After a whole summer working with Texas A&M S&C coach Tommy Moffitt, Hayes is in the best shape of his career, and he’s coming off his best game as an Aggie.
Totaling three tackles, a sack, and three pressures, Hayes was perfectly utilized during his 22 pass rush snaps, providing consistent push to collapse the pocket and force Florida quarterback DJ Lagway out of the pocket during a majority of his second-half snaps.
Combined with Cashius Howell, who ended the game with his eighth sack of the season and four pressures, head coach Mike Elko has found the recipe to bring the pain in the second half of every game in conference play. Due to his efforts, Dayon Hayes was named SEC Defensive Line Player of the Week.
This is the second consecutive week an Aggie defender has earned the weekly award, further proving just how well this unit has performed through three games in conference play.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M senior DE named SEC Defensive Line Player of the Week
Reporting by Cameron Ohnysty, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
