As the ACC season rounds into some form for the second half of the season, we see some familiar names on the ACC Players of the Week list:
Quarterback of the Week
Stop us if you’ve heard this before. Cam Ward of Miami is the conference Quarterback of the Week. He was also so honored two weeks ago. In the Canes’ 52-45 win at Louisville, Ward went 21 of 32 for 319 yards with four touchdowns. The Miami offense put up 538 total yards of offense. Ward now leads the nation in multiple passing categories. The Hurricanes are now 7-0 overall and 3-0 in ACC play.
Running Back of the Week
Bhayshul Tuten set a Virginia Tech single-game record with 266 yards on the ground last weekend. The Hokies beat Boston College 42-21. Even more impressive than the total number for Tuten was that he did it on only 18 carries for an average of just under 15 yards per carry. Oh, and he also had four touchdowns in the game.
Receiver of the Week
If Ward is going to throw for all those yards, there has to be someone on the other end catching the ball, right? That gets us to Samuel Brown from Miami as the Receiver of the Week. He had three catches for 125 yards in the win at Louisville.
Offensive Lineman of the Week
Under the same theory as the quarterback/receiver, if there is a running back with big yards, there certainly is an offensive line opening the holes for him up front. VA Tech tackle Xavier Chaplin anchored the offensive line that allowed Tuten to run for 266 yards, and the offense as a whole to rush for 368 yards. Chaplin also had a pass-blocking grade of 83.7
Defensive Lineman of the Week
Antwaun Powell-Ryland had a record-setting weekend for Virginia Tech in the win over Boston College. Powell-Ryland became the first player in school history to have three or more games with at least four sacks in his career. He had four sacks in the win over BC. He leads the nation in sacks with 11.
Linebacker of the Week
Duke beat Florida State for the first time in school history. Ozzie Nicholas had a team-leading nine tackles in the win. He also had two interceptions. One of them he returned for 30 yards. He also had a forced fumble.
Defensive Back of the Week
Another Blue Devils player gets rewarded for the win over Florida State. Cornerback Chandler Rivers had an interception that he returned 36 yards for the pick-six. It gave Duke the early lead, and they hung on to that lead for the rest of the game, beating FSU for the first time ever.
Specialist of the Week
Ironically, as we have discussed Duke’s win over FSU for the last two players, we go to the Seminoles for this one. Kick returner Samuel Singleton had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the opening play of the second half. He had a total of 165 kickoff return yards.
Rookie of the Week
North Carolina State quarterback CJ Bailey completed 25 of 36 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns. The Wolfpack came back from 13 points down to win 24-23 at Cal.
