Joe Dineen Jr., named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Back in a big way, Kansas redshirt-junior linebacker Joe Dineen Jr., returned to the field for the first time in nearly a year after missing the majority of the 2016 campaign with an injury, leading the Jayhawks to a 38-16 win over Southeast Missouri State. Dineen posted a game-high 15 tackles in the win on his way to being named the Big 12 Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week.
 
Dineen, who was honored by the conference office for the first time in his KU career, was just one tackle shy of his career-high as he collected a Big 12 leading 15 total stops, including 11 solo hits. In addition, he recorded a career-high tying 2.5 tackles-for-loss.
 
Dineen’s 15 tackles mark the fifth time in his Jayhawk career he has tallied 10 or more tackles in a game and he was part of a KU defense that held SEMO to just 3.4 yards per play, the lowest average per play for a Jayhawk opponent since 2008.
 
Dineen is the first Jayhawk to pick up weekly conference honors on defense since his teammate Dorance Armstrong Jr., was selected for the award on Nov. 21, 2016 following KU’s win over Texas. A total of three Jayhawks were honored by the conference office in 2016 (Armstrong, Matthew Wyman [ST, Nov. 21] Cole Moos [ST, 10/17]).
 
The Jayhawks will continue their non-conference slate on Saturday, Sept. 9 by welcoming Central Michigan to Memorial Stadium for a 3 p.m. kickoff. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net, but single-game tickets and multi-game flex packs are available. For more information on tickets, visit KUTickets.com.
 
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