LSU’s Tracy, Phillips named SEC Players of the Week

BATON ROUGE – A pair of first-time LSU starters made a big impact for the Tigers in the season-opening win over No. 8 Miami last night and as a result, kicker Cole Tracy and linebacker Jacob Phillips have picked up Southeastern Conference Player of the Week honors, the league office announced on Monday.

Tracy, a graduate transfer playing in his first game as a Tiger, earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Week Honors after going 4-for-4 on field goal attempts in his LSU debut. Among Tracy’s field goals included a school-record tying 54-yarder in the third quarter that extended the Tiger lead to 33-3.

For the game, Tracy made field goals of 54, 43, 21 and 21 yards as well as three point-after conversions on his way to scoring 15 points, the fourth-highest single-game point total for a kicker in school history.

Tracy’s 54-yard field goal tied the previous mark set twice – Wade Richey vs. Kentucky in 1996 and Ron Lewis at North Carolina in 1985. Tracy also became the first kicker in school history to kick four field goals in his LSU debut.

Phillips, a sophomore linebacker, earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording seven tackles, an interception and a quarterback hurry. Phillips returned his first career interception 45 yards for a TD in the second quarter to put the Tigers up 27-3.

In his first career start, Phillips helped pace a Tiger defensive unit that held the Hurricanes to 83 rushing yards and only 342 total yards. LSU also forced a pair of Miami turnovers and held the Hurricanes without a third-down conversion until midway through the third quarter.

LSU returns to action on Saturday, September 8 when the Tigers open the 2018 home slate against Southeastern Louisiana. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN2. Tickets for the game can be purchased at www.LSUtix.net.