Only three ACC teams played last weekend. And there were only two games to watch. So choosing the ACC Players of the Week really did not take a lot of research.
The Offense
Georgia Tech’s Haynes King is this week’s ACC quarterback of the week. Hey, there were three to choose from. He was 11 of 16 passing for 146 yards in the three-point win over Florida State. King had no touchdowns and no interceptions. He added 54 yards rushing for a total of 200 yards of offense.
The conference running back of the week is Jamal Haynes of Georgia Tech. He picked up 75 yards on just 11 carries in the win over the Seminoles in Ireland last weekend. That was good for just under seven yards per carry. He also scored touchdowns from two yards out and one yard. He also had two receptions, including one for 16 yards on third and seven for the Yellow Jackets. It kept the final drive alive resulting in GA Tech’s game-winning field goal.
RJ Maryland from SMU is the ACC’s top receiver of the week. By default, the tight end becomes SMU’s first-ever ACC player of the week for any position. Maryland had career-bests for receptions with eight, and receiving yards with 162 in the Mustangs’ 29-24 win at Nevada last weekend. He also had the game-winning touchdown.
Weston Franklin, the Georgia Tech Center, is the offensive line player of the week. This one was likely not that hard. The GA Tech offensive line dominated the front seven of Florida State. The Yellow Jackets had scoring drives of 14, 11, and 12 plays that combined to milk 20 minutes off the clock. The offensive line also gave up zero sacks all game.
The Defense
Kyle Efford of Georgia Tech is the conference linebacker of the week. He had a team-high 10 tackles in the win over Florida State. The defense gave up just 98 rushing yards for the game, an average of 3.2 yards per run.
Florida State’s Shyheim Brown is the ACC defensive back of the week. He had a game-high 13 tackles, including nine solo tackles and one tackle for a loss in the loss to GA Tech.
Ryan Fitzgerald of Florida State is the conference’s special teams player of the week. Yes, Georgia Tech’s Aidan Birr kicked the game-winning field goal. But the voters liked Fitzgerald’s 59 and 52 yards. He is only the third player in FSU history to have two field goals of 50+ yards in the same game. He is the first ACC player to accomplish that since 2020. The 59-yarder was the longest for a conference game in ACC history.
