By: Washington State Athletic Communications
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Washington State defensive lineman Hercules Mata'afa was named one of 15 players to watch for The Walter Camp Foundation's 2017 Player of the Year award, the fourth-oldest college football award in the country. WSU quarterback Luke Falk received the same recognition last season.
Mata'afa leads the Pac-12 Conference and is third in the country with 21.5 tackles-for-loss while his 9.5 sacks also pace the conference and are tied for fifth-most in the nation. The redshirt-junior from Lahaina, Hawaii has record multiple tackles-for-loss in eight of the 11 games this season and recently earned Lott IMPACT Trophy Player of the Week and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after making five tackles-for-loss with three sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in the win at Utah.