GREENSBORO, N.C. – Georgia Tech sophomore Vad Lee has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Back of the Week, and Florida State freshman Jameis Winston earned his second ACC Rookie of the Week honor after their standout play at quarterback led their teams to wins on Saturday.
Lee threw a career-high four touchdown passes and rushed for another score to lead Georgia Tech to a 38-14 road win at Duke in its ACC opener. Lee led a Yellow Jacket offense that piled up 469 total yards. Winston completed his final 13 passes and finished 15-of-18 with a pair of touchdown throws in the Seminoles’ 62-7 rout of Nevada.
Other honorees include Georgia Tech’s Shaq Mason as ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week and Pitt’s Tyler Boyd as ACC Receiver of the Week. Virginia Tech’s James Gayle was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week, while Maryland’s Marcus Whitfield was named the ACC Linebacker of the Week and Terrapin cornerback Dexter McDougle earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors. Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo was tabbed as the ACC Specialist of the Week.
OFFENSIVE BACK – Vad Lee, So., QB, Georgia Tech
In his return to his hometown, Lee was responsible for all five touchdowns in Georgia Tech’s 38-14 win at Duke. The sophomore passed for four touchdowns – the most by a Yellow Jacket since 2006 – and rushed for another. He rushed 22 times for 76 yards and completed 8-of-16 passes for 125 yards with one interception, helping the Yellow Jackets accumulate 469 yards of total offense.
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN – Shaq Mason, Jr., OG, Georgia Tech
Mason paced an offensive line that allowed zero sacks and helped the Yellow Jackets churn out 344 rushing yards and 125 passing yards in Saturday’s 38-14 ACC win over Duke. Mason, who had 16 knockdowns Saturday, leads the only offensive line in the nation that has not allowed a sack this season.
RECEIVER –Tyler Boyd, Fr., WR, Pitt
Boyd fit a season’s worth of highlights into just his second collegiate game with 134 receiving yards on six catches (22.3 yards per catch average) and a touchdown in Saturday’s 49-27 win over New Mexico. He also rushed for a 33-yard touchdown. With Pitt down to its last play of the first half, Boyd hauled in a desperation pass to the back of the end zone by jumping over a defender and getting one foot down for a 34-yard touchdown and 35-6 lead. Boyd currently ranks third in the ACC and 16th nationally with an average of 173 all-purpose yards per game.
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN –James Gayle, Sr., DE, Virginia Tech
Gayle had a heavy hand in limiting the high-powered East Carolina offense, recording three tackles (2.5 of which were for loss and two of which were sacks) and two quarterback hurries as the Hokies beat the Pirates 15-10. Gayle's final sack was a big one as he stripped ECU quarterback Shane Carden to force a safety and essentially ice the game.
LINEBACKER – Marcus Whitfield, Sr., LB, Maryland
Whitfield had a career-best three sacks as part of a six-sack day by the Terrapin defense in Saturday night’s 32-21 win at Connecticut. His final sack forced a safety as UConn quarterback Chandler Whitmer try to avoid pressure and was hit with intentional grounding. He is the first Terrapin to record three or more sacks in a game since Shawne Merriman tallied three against North Carolina on Nov. 2, 2002.
DEFENSIVE BACK – Dexter McDougle, Sr., CB, Maryland
McDougle had a career-high two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown on Saturday to key a 32-21 road win at Connecticut. His touchdown return was 49 yards. McDougle also led the team with seven solo tackles. McDougle is the first Terrapin to return an interception for a touchdown since A.J. Hendy did it against NC State on Nov. 26, 2011.
SPECIALIST – Roberto Aguayo, Fr., PK, Florida State
The heir to NCAA and ACC all-time scoring leader Dustin Hopkins, Aguayo remained perfect on the season on both field goals and PATs. He converted field goal of attempts from 23 and 33 yards in the win over Nevada and is now 4-of-4 on the season. Aguayo capped his career-best 14-point performance by converting all eight of his PAT attempts and is 13-of-13 on the season. He is the first FSU kicker to convert his first 17 combined kick attempts since Derek Schmidt (1984), who set the record with 29 consecutive made kicks to start his career.
ROOKIE – Jameis Winston, Fr., Florida State, Fr.
Winston completed his final 13 pass attempts of the day after a first-half interception to finish 15-of-18 for 214 yards, with two touchdown throws in Florida State’s 62-7 win over Nevada. Winston led the Seminoles to 45 unanswered points from 3:21 left in the first half until 58 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Winston led a streak of six consecutive touchdown drives, which included his two touchdown throws and was capped by his 10-yard scoring run with 4:41 left in the third quarter for a 45-7 lead.
