ACC Football News & Notes

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ACC Football News & Notes

The back end of the conference season is upon us and the battles are on for division titles and bowl bids. It’s a great time of year as teams play big games to improve their standing.

The Clemson Tigers are still the beast of the league just in case you were not sure. Over the past two weeks, the Tigers have left no doubt in wins over Wake Forest and then ranked North Carolina State. Clemson has outscored their opponents by a combined 104-10 margin. Their 34-point victory last week over the Wolfpack tied for the second-largest margin of victory against an AP Top 25 team in school history.

Today was Trevor Lawrence’s first 300-yard game and likely not his last.

The @ClemsonFB true freshman showed out in prime time! 💪#ALLIN🐅 (@Trevorlawrencee) pic.twitter.com/wWo258GOFB

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) October 20, 2018

The Tigers are starting to show a pushing running game led by Tailback Travis Etienne. Over his last three straight games, he has rushed for three touchdowns in each game becoming the first Clemson player to do this in school history.

The Conference has shown balance this year with seven teams having five or more wins through the first eight weeks of the season. Only the Southeastern Conference has more.

Boston College’s Michael Walker has 2,284 career kickoff return yards. It ranks him sixth all-time. He has a chance to moved up to fourth place by seasons end. In the fifth position is Eric Blount of UINC (1988-91) at 2,313. In fourth is Florida States Kermit Whitfield (2013-16), with 2,369.

Two quarterbacks in the league have a chance to reach a lofty goal. Syracuse’s Eric Dungey and North Carolina State’s Ryan Finely could both crack the 10,000-yard mark in total offense this season. Dungey sits at 9,621 and is averaging 273.8 yards per game. Finely is at 8,668 per game, and is averaging 300.5 yards a game. Both are expected to pass the milestone by seasons end. Only seven players in league history have reached this mark.

QB Deondre Francois, of Florida State, was named Quarterback of the Week in the Seminoles comeback win over Wake Forest last Saturday. Francois was 29 of 40 for 353 yards and two scores. It’s was the second game, and third of his career, Francois had attempted 40 passes with zero interception.

Congrats to the #ACCFootball Players of the Week!

Quarterback: Deondre Francois (@FSUFootball)
Running Back: Antonio Williams (@TarHeelFootball)
Receiver: Jamal Custis (@CuseFootball)

Read more: https://t.co/DumLZhOEiz 🏈 pic.twitter.com/hcMMHxUtUi

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) October 22, 2018

Running Back of the week is North Carolina’s, Antonio Williams. In last Saturday double-overtime loss to Syracuse Williams rushed for a career-high 116 yards on 15 carries. He also had a season-long 58 yards run and finished the game with 7.7 yards per carry. He also showed some good hands with six catches for 38 yards.

Rookie of the week is Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. In the Tigers rout of the Wolfpack Lawrence recorded a career and team-high, in completions and attempts. Lawrence threw for 308 yards on 26-of-39 passing. Lawrence’s performance was Clemson first 300-yard passing day since September 7, 2017, at Louisville.