Virginia’s Mack wins Jim Tatum Award, Perkins and Taylor get weekly honors

The good news keeps rolling for Virginia Football following the Hoos big win over Virginia Tech. Three Virginia players — Bryce Perkins, Noah Taylor, and Jordan Mack — earned weekly and national awards for performances on and off the field.

Fourth year linebacker Jordan Mack was named the recipient of the Jim Tatum Award, the ACC announced on the conference’s network on Monday morning. The Jim Tatum Award is given to the ACC’s best football student-athlete, and Mack is the first Virginia recipient since tight end Tom Santi took it home in 2007. Mack, an education major with an emphasis on youth and social innovation, has a 3.47 GPA and will graduate a semester early later this month.

“Jordan’s work ethic, integrity and maturity are representative of the standard our players have established for the program,” Bronco Mendenhall said of Mack in the Virginia Sports press release. “He has developed into a leader on this team and accomplished that by earning the respect of his teammates because of his dedication to being a fantastic football player, and a great ambassador for our program and the University in our community. He is a no-nonsense player who loves the game of football and respects what it can do to transform young men into tomorrow’s leaders.”

Mack is also a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, better known as the “Academic Heisman.”

For weekly honors, the Cavaliers had a recipient on both sides of the ball. Bryce Perkins earned ACC Quarterback of the Week, while teammate Noah Taylor was tabbed the ACC Linebacker of the Week.

Perkins was absolutely fantastic against Virginia Tech, finishing with 475 yards of total offense. He went 20-for-33 for 311 yards and a touchdown in the air and added 164 yards and two touchdowns with he legs.

Taylor, like Perkins, was instrumental to Virginia ending The Streak. It felt like he was everywhere on the field, amassing two interceptions and six tackles to go with a sack. His only sack came on the opening defensive play of the game for the Hoos, but set the tone for the game.

With 4:47 left on the clock in the fourth quarter in a tie game, Taylor picked off Virginia Tech’s Hendon Hooker to give the Hoos a chance to take a late lead. Brian Delaney would go on to kick a 48-yard field goal that would prove to be the decisive score.