Mesidor, Miami’s quiet sack machine, named Walter Camp National Defensive Player of Week
He’s not an in-your-face kind of guy — unless you’re on the opposing team.
But soft-spoken University of Miami edge rusher Akheem Mesidor has gained national attention as an on-field terror.
Mesidor, a 6-3, 280-pound starting defensive end from Canada, was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week on Sunday after totaling eight tackles, including 3 1/2 sacks, in Miami’s 20-14 win Saturday at Virginia Tech.
A third-year sophomore and West Virginia transfer, Mesidor is the third Atlantic Coast Conference player in the past three seasons to have 3 1/2 sacks in one game, and the first since Virginia’s Charles Snowden did it in October 2020 against North Carolina.
The only other FBS player this season with at least eight tackles and 3 1/2 sacks in a game was Houston’s Derek Parish against Texas Tech.
The last player to have at least 3 1/2 sacks in a road game? Former Miami star and current Buffalo Bills end Greg Rousseau, with four against Florida State on Nov. 2, 2019.
“We always thought he was a good player,’’ UM coach Mario Cristobal told WQAM’s Joe Rose early Monday. “We were recruiting him on the other side of the country when we were over there as well.. Absolutely relentless. He plays with toughness. He’s a great guy to put one of those iso-cams on him and watch that guy go.
“He just doesn’t stop. If he gets banged up, nicked up he doesn’t care. He just keeps going. That type of attitude, that type of play has got to permeate the locker room.’’
The Canes (3-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) meet Duke at Hard Rock Stadium at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and are now seventh in the nation in sacks and 16th in tackles for loss. Mesidor, who missed one game with a nagging foot injury, has five sacks registered in three games — Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
Mesidor, who has 19 tackles and hasn’t missed on any this season, according to Pro Football Focus, played on the inside his first two seasons at West Virginia, where he totaled 70 tackles, 14 1/2 tackles-for-loss and 9 1/2 sacks. Mesidor said after UM’s latest victory that the Hurricanes had a very good week of practice.
“In practice we harp on just affecting the quarterback heavy,’’ Mesidor said. “It all came down to preparation and practice. We prepared properly, I prepared properly and as a whole defense we just dominated.’’
Mesidor then posed the idea of the UM players attacking future practices even more intensely.
“Everything that we worked on this week showed up today,’’ he said Saturday. “All that we did good today, what if we stepped up our preparation, stepped up our practice tempo and eveything else? What can we get next week?”
Cristobal, offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will be available Monday afternoon in their weekly news conference on campus.
