GREENSBORO,
N.C. (theACC.com) – The ACC Football Players of the Week have been
recognized following their standout performances in last weekend’s games.
The selections are determined by a vote of a 15-member media
panel. The following are this week’s honorees:
QUARTERBACK – Kenny Pickett,
Pitt, Jr., QB, Oakhurst, N.J.
Threw for 359 yards and accounted for three total touchdowns,
including a three-yard run on the opening possession of overtime that proved to
be the difference in Pitt’s 34-27 win over North Carolina • Ran for two scores
and threw a 74-yard touchdown pass • Completed 25 of 41 passes with no
interceptions and rushed for 53 yards on 12 carries • Totaled 412 of the
Panthers’ season-high 498 yards • Two-time ACC Quarterback of the Week in 2019.
RUNNING BACK – Travis Etienne,
Clemson, Jr., RB, Jennings, La.
Named ACC Running Back of the Week for the fourth time this
season and second week in a row • Rushed 16 times for 121 yards and a
touchdown, and also caught three passes for 37 yards in Saturday’s 52-3 win
over Wake Forest • Took sole possession of the school record for consecutive
100-yard rushing games with his sixth in a row, surpassing five-game streaks by
Kenny Flowers (1985) and Raymond Priester (1996-97).
RECEIVER – Dazz Newsome, North
Carolina, Jr., WR, Hampton, Va.
Registered career highs with 11 catches and 170 receiving
yards and scored his seventh touchdown of the season in the Tar Heels’ loss at
Pitt on Thursday night • The 11 catches are the most by a Tar Heel receiver
since Ryan Switzer had 13 against NC State in 2016 • Newsome has now surpassed
100 receiving yards in three of his last four games.
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN – Dakota
Davis, Syracuse, So., RG, Mount Airy, Md.
Graded out the highest of Syracuse’s starting front five in
the Orange’s 49-6 win at Duke • Did not allow a sack and collected a team-high
five knockdowns in 56 snaps to help the Orange earn its first ACC win of the
season • Opened holes for two 100-yard rushers, as both Moe Neal and Jarveon
Howard finished with 115 yards on the ground • Paved the way for an Orange
offense that averaged 6.7 yards per play against the Blue Devils and set season
highs for both rushing yards (286) and rushing touchdowns (4).
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN – Jaylen
Twyman, Pitt, So., DT, Washington, D.C.
Led Pitt’s potent pass rush in the overtime win over North
Carolina with 2.5 sacks for losses totaling 15 yards • Had an additional
quarterback pressure • Biggest play came in overtime when he dropped UNC QB Sam
Howell for a five-yard loss, pushing the Tar Heels into a fourth-and-16 that
they could not convert, ending the game • Has 9.5 sacks on the year, the most
by a Pitt interior defensive lineman since Aaron Donald had 11 during his
All-America senior season in 2013 • Ranks seventh nationally (second in the
ACC) with an average of 0.95 sacks per game.
CO-LINEBACKER – Dorian
Etheridge, Louisville, Jr., LB, Charleston, W. Va.
Made his first career interception in the second quarter of
Saturday night’s 34-20 road win at NC State • Finished the game with a
season-high 11 tackles • Helped the Cardinals hold the Wolfpack to 134 yards
rushing and 377 yards of total offense.
CO-LINEBACKER – Lakiem
Williams, Syracuse, Sr., MLB, Tacoma, Wash.
Posted his third consecutive double-digit tackle game, making
a team-best 14 stops in the Orange’s 49-6 victory at Duke • Added 2.5 tackles
for loss, one sack and one quarterback hurry to help Syracuse secure its first
conference win of the season • Keyed a defense that held the Blue Devils
without a touchdown and limited them to 279 yards of offense on 85 plays (3.3
avg.), while forcing three turnovers that led to 21 Syracuse points • Williams
ranks fourth in the ACC in tackles per game (9.1).
DEFENSIVE BACK – Hamsah
Nasirildeen, Florida State, Jr., S, Concord, N.C.
Named ACC Defensive Back of the Week for the third time in
four weeks • Led FSU with 11 tackles and had an 80-yard interception return for
a touchdown in Saturday’s win over Alabama State that secured bowl eligibility
• Defensive touchdown was the first of his career and first for the Seminoles
this season • Second ACC player this year with 10-plus tackles and an
interception return for a touchdown in the same game • Has 33 tackles over the
past two games and leads FSU with 96.
SPECIALIST – AJ Reed, Duke,
Jr., PK, Prattville, Ala.
Converted field goals of 31 yards and a career-best 51 yards
versus Syracuse • Became the sixth player in Duke history to record multiple
field goals of 50-or more yards in a season • Only ACC kicker with three field
goals of 49-or-more yards in 2019 • His .846 field goal percentage is tops
among league kickers with at least one made field goal of 50-or-more yards •
One of only two kickers in the ACC with multiple field goals of 50–or-more
yards this season.
ROOKIE – Sam Howell, North
Carolina, Fr., QB, Indian Trail, N.C.
Five-time ACC Rookie of the Week tossed three touchdown
passes in the overtime loss at Pitt to give him 29 for the season, the
third-most in ACC history by a freshman • Threw for 322 yards to move past T.J.
Yates for the most passing yards by a UNC freshman quarterback with 2,794 yards
• Howell and Ohio State’s Justin Fields are the only two FBS quarterbacks who
have thrown multiple touchdown passes in 10 consecutive games this season.
Pickett, Etienne Headline Week 12 Football Players of the Week
