News

Each Monday during the season, the ACC names its Players of the Week for the previous weekend’s games. Eight players win weekly honors for best performance by a back, receiver and lineman on offense, back, lineman and linebacker on defense, as well as top specialist and rookie.

Anyone can tell you who’s going to win the games or win the year-end awards. Here at the ACC Sports Journal, we’re taking it a step farther and giving you our projections for ACC Player of the Week.

Week 1: The biggest wins of the week are Florida State over Oklahoma State and Louisville over Miami. The Seminoles and Cardinals provide five of the eight winners. Pitt’s Challingsworth benefits from the attention paid to Tyler Boyd to have an impressive debut.

Week 2: A shootout at Troy gives Duke’s defense higher-than-usual tackle numbers and earns Crowder his first weekly award on offense. Blowout wins by Clemson, Miami and Louisville earn recognition, as do the Hokies in a losing effort at Ohio State. 

Week 3: New Louisville quarterback Will Gardner earns his first award in a win over Virginia. Back-to-back games against Florida A&M and Arkansas State should give Miami freshman Brad Kaaya a firm hold on the quarterback job. 

Week 4: Florida State wins the week’s biggest game—the annual showdown with Clemson. Jameis Winston becomes the first repeat weekly winner. Syracuse also gets some ACC award love with a strong performance against former league member Maryland. 

Week 5: Miami beats Duke in a key Coastal game, earning honors for Duke Johnson, Jon Feliciano, Tracy Howard, Stacy Coley, and Kaaya. Clemson’s win over a struggling UNC offense fills out the rest of the weekly slate. 

Week 6: Syracuse beats Louisville in a nationally-televised Thursday game. Florida State pounds Wake, and Clemson beats NC State. An unsettled UNC quarterback picture produces another defensive player of the week, this time Virginia Tech’s Brandon Facyson.

Week 7: NC State breaks through with a conference win, earning kicker Niklas Sade a weekly honor. Duke breaks a long losing streak against Georgia Tech with a Anthony Boone to Jamison Crowder passing explosion. 

Week 8: Florida State earns the headlines and the POW hardware again this week, on the strength of its win over Notre Dame. North Carolina wins a slugfest with Georgia Tech, thanks to rookie running back Elijah Hood.

Week 9:  Virginia Tech beats Miami and Pitt tops Georgia Tech in two key Coastal showdowns that produce six of the eight award winners. North Carolina’s offense starts to gel as Mitch Trubisky and Hood lead the youth movement. 

Week 10: Georgia Tech’s running attack shreds Virginia, earning honors for two running backs and a lineman. Florida State wins at Louisville and Miami beats UNC as repeat honors start to mount across the league. 

Week 11: WR Ermon Lane becomes the fifteenth different Seminole to win a Player of the Week award, while QB Jameis Winston earns his third of the year. Syracuse shuts down Duke’s offense, earning LB Dyshawn Davis and s Durell Eskridge honors. 

Week 12: Duke grinds out a win over Virginia Tech, thanks to guard Laken Tomlinson, hard-hitting safety Jeremy Cash, and kicker Ross Martin. NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett leads the Pack to a win over Wake Forest.

Week 13: Virginia Tech’s defense bullies Wake Forest, winning recognition for DT Corey Marshall and a second win for CB Brandon Facyson and Miami’s offense overwhelms Virginia. Pittsburgh quarterback Chad Voytik leads a win over Syracuse.

Week 14:  It’s ACC-SEC showdown week. Gardner leads Louisville over Kentucky, while Florida State caps an undefeated season against Florida. In a conference game, return man Ryan Switzer and rookie RB Elijah Hood help the Tar Heels break Wolfpack hearts again.