Football

Week 0 ACC Football Players of the Week

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference Football Players of the Week have been recognized following their standout performances in the opening week of the 2024 college football season. The selections are determined by a vote of a select media panel. The following are this week’s honorees:
 
QUARTERBACK – Haynes King, Georgia Tech, QB, Longview, Texas
King accounted for 200 yards of total offense to lead Georgia Tech to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Florida State at the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday, August 24. His 200 yards included 146 yards on 11-of-16 passing for a 68.8 completion percentage and 54 yards on 15 rushing attempts. The second-year Yellow Jacket led an efficient offensive effort that saw Georgia Tech score on 4-of-7 possessions, which included three touchdowns and the game-winning field goal. The offense put together scoring drives of 14, 11 and 12 plays, which took 7:53, 6:22 and 6:33 off the game clock, respectively. The final game-winning drive milked the final 6:33 off the clock and allowed the Yellow Jackets to kick the game-winning field goal with no time remaining. King made a crucial play by completing a 12-yard pass to Eric Singleton Jr., setting up the game-winning field goal.
 
RUNNING BACK – Jamal Haynes, Georgia Tech, RB, Loganville, Georgia
In the 2024 college football season opener, Haynes rushed for a game-high 75 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries in Georgia Tech's 24-21 win over No. 10 Florida State. The running back, who averaged 6.8 yards per carry for the game, scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards out. He also had two receptions for 16 yards, including a crucial 16-yard pickup on 3rd-and-7 that kept the Yellow Jackets' game-winning field-goal drive alive.
 
RECEIVER – RJ Maryland, SMU, TE, Southlake, Texas
In SMU’s first football game as an official member of the ACC, Maryland turned in the best performance of his Mustang career, finishing with career bests in catches (eight) and receiving yards (162) to go with the game-winning touchdown reception in the 29-24 win at Nevada last Saturday. His 162 receiving yards were the most by an SMU player since Rashee Rice’s 180 yards at Tulsa on October 29, 2022. Maryland has 14 touchdown receptions in his career at SMU, which is tied for the most in program history for a tight end.
 
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN – Weston Franklin, Georgia Tech, C, Jesup, Georgia
Franklin was the anchor of an offensive line that paved the way for Georgia Tech to rush for 190 yards and didn't surrender a sack in a 24-21 win over No. 10 Florida State in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday. Franklin and the offensive front helped the Yellow Jackets average 5.3 yards against Florida State's highly touted defensive line, including putting together scoring drives of 14, 11 and 12 plays, which milked 7:53, 6:22 and 6:33 off the clock, respectively. The 6:33 drive culminated with the Jackets' game-winning 44-yard field goal with no time remaining. 
 
LINEBACKER – Kyle Efford, Georgia Tech, LB, Dacula, Georgia
Efford recorded a team-high 10 tackles in Georgia Tech's 24-21 victory over No. 10 Florida State. The anchor of the Georgia Tech defense, Efford and the Yellow Jackets limited Florida State to just 291 yards of total offense, 110 fewer than the 401.6 yards per game that the Seminoles averaged in 2023. The defense also surrendered just 98 rushing yards on 31 carries, an average of 3.2 yards per rush, including just 40 yards on 26 carries, an average of 1.5 yards per attempt after the Seminoles' first possession of the game. 
 
DEFENSIVE BACK – Shyheim Brown, Florida State, S, Lake City, Florida
In Florida State’s season opener last week in Dublin, Ireland, Brown recorded a career-high and game-high 13 tackles, including nine solo stops, versus Georgia Tech. His previous career-high was eight total tackles. He also added a tackle-for-loss of 10 yards.  
 
SPECIALIST – Ryan Fitzgerald, Florida State, K, Coolidge, Georgia
The veteran placekicker connected on field goals of 59 and 52 yards in the first half, becoming the third player in FSU history with multiple 50-yard field goals in a game and the second FSU kicker to make two 50-yard field goals in the same half. He is the first ACC player with multiple 50-plus yard field goals in the same game since 2020 and became just the sixth FBS player in the last five years to kick two in the first half of a game. Fitzgerald's 59-yard field goal was the longest in a conference game in ACC history, the second-longest overall by a Florida State kicker and the third-longest overall in ACC history. With seven points in the season-opening contest, Fitzgerald ranks ninth in FSU history with 306 career points.

ACC Football Notes
  • The ACC is the Conference of Quarterbacks, with the return of full-time starters Thomas Castellanos at Boston College, Cade Klubnik at Clemson, Haynes King at Georgia Tech, Preston Stone at SMU, and Kyron Drones at Virginia Tech, and transfers Maalik Murphy at Duke, DJ Uiagalelei at Florida State, Tyler Shough at Louisville, Cam Ward at Miami, Grayson McCall at NC State, and Kyle McCord at Syracuse among others.
    • ACC had 13 quarterbacks named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award preseason watch list, the most of any conference.
    • ACC had 10 quarterbacks named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list, no other conference had more.
    • ACC had eight quarterbacks named to the Davey O’Brien Award preseason watch list, no other conference had more.
    • ACC has the top-ranked group of quarterback transfers in 2024 by CBS Sports.
    • 13 QBs in the league enter the 2024 season with over 20 career touchdown passes and 3,500 career passing yards.
    • Eight quarterbacks from ACC schools are projected to start Week 1 in the 2024 NFL season — 25 percent of NFL teams.
    • Since 2018, the ACC has had at least one quarterback drafted in the first round in five different drafts — the only conference to do that.
  • The ACC’s non-conference schedule continues to be the most challenging in the country.
    • 26 games against Power 4 opponents, including Notre Dame, the most of any conference.
    • Nine non-conference games against teams ranked in the final 2023 Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the most of any conference.
    • 10 non-conference games against teams in ESPN’s 2024 Way-Too-Early Top 25, the most of any conference.
  • ACC Features Elite Coaching Leadership
    • Six ACC head coaches were named to the 2024 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List, as announced by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and the Peach Bowl, no other conference had more.
    • Two of the three active coaches to win a national title reside in the ACC - Dabo Swinney led Clemson to national titles in 2016 and 2018. North Carolina’s Mack Brown won a national title at Texas in 2005.
  • The 20th ACC Football Championship Game will kick off in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.