Myles Murphy Named ACC Rookie of the Week

CLEMSON, S.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that defensive end Myles Murphy has earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors for his performance in Clemson’s 45-10 win at Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Clemson has now earned a total of 541 weekly honors since 1968. Murphy's selection this week gives Clemson 16 Player of the Week honors this season.

The Rookie of the Week honor is the first of Murphy's career and the third by a Clemson player this season. Fellow true freshman D.J. Uiagalelei earned Rookie of the Week selections following Clemson's games against Boston College and Notre Dame.

Against Virginia Tech, Murphy tied a season high with seven tackles, including a forced fumble that led to a Clemson touchdown two plays later. In doing so, he became the first Clemson true freshman in the Dabo Swinney era to record three forced fumbles in a season as well as the first Clemson freshman (true or redshirt) with three forced fumbles in a season since redshirt freshman Ed McDaniel in 1988.

– Full release from the ACC

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference 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 16-member media panel. The following are this week’s honorees:

QUARTERBACK – Dennis Grosel, Boston College, Jr., QB, Wiloughby, Ohio

Tied a 38-year-old BC single-game record originally set by Doug Flutie with 520 passing yards in Saturday’s 43-32 road loss at Virginia • Set a career high with 32 pass completions and matched his career high with three touchdown passes • Surpassed his previous career high of 229 passing yards in a single game with 251 yards in the first half alone • Grosel’s 520 yards passing were the most ever allowed by Virginia in a game and the most by an Eagles quarterback since Chris Crane’s 428 at NC State in 2008.

CO-RUNNING BACK – Kyren Williams, Notre Dame, R-Fr., RB, St. Louis, Mo.

Eclipsed the 1,000-yards rushing mark for the season with 110 in the No. 2 Fighting Irish’s 45-21 win over Syracuse • First Notre Dame player since Josh Adams in 2017 to reach 1,000 yards rushing for a season • Leads all FBS freshmen in rushing touchdowns (12), total touchdowns (13) and total rushing yards (1,011) • Ranks eighth among all FBS players nationally in rushing TDs, ninth in total TDs and fifth in rushing yards.

CO-RUNNING BACK – Sean Tucker, Syracuse, Fr., RB, Owings Mills, Md.

Became the first player to rush for more than 100 yards against Notre Dame this season with 113 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries • Led the way for Syracuse’s offense, which registered a season-high 229 yards on the ground and 414 yards of total offense • Also caught two passes for 46 yards, the second-most yardage by Orange receiver in Saturday’s game.

RECEIVER – Javon McKinley, Notre Dame, Gr., WR, Corona, Calif.

Caught seven passes for 111 yards and three touchdowns in No. 2 Notre Dame’s 45-21 win over Syracuse • The three touchdown receptions marked a career-high and were his first three touchdowns of this season • McKinley scored two of his three TDs in the first half, marking the first time he has scored multiple touchdowns in a single half • Joined Ben Skowronek (versus Pitt) as the second Irish player to post a three-touchdown receiving game this season• McKinley and Skowronek are the only two players in Notre Dame history to record three touchdown catches versus a Power 5 opponent.

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN – Ryan Swoboda, Virginia, Jr., RT, Windermere, Fla.

Graded out at a near-perfect 96 percent in pass protection (allowing no sacks) in Saturday’s 43-32 win over Boston College • Added a run-blocking score of 86 percent to grade out at 91 percent overall • His four “flat back” blocks helped the Cavalier offense generate a season-high 262 rushing yards and a season-high 549 yards of total offense.

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN – Quincy Roche, Miami, Sr., DE, Randallstown, Md.

Showed no rust after three weeks off, as he led the Hurricanes’ defense in Saturday night’s 48-0 win over Duke • Three of his six total tackles were for loss • Finished with 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to earn the right to wear the turnover chain for the third time this season • Roche is the FBS’ active leader in career sacks and tackles for loss.

LINEBACKER – Payton Wilson, NC State, So., LB, Hillsborough, N.C.

Despite suffering dislocations of both shoulders in the first half of Saturday’s 23-13 win over Georgia Tech, led NC State with 11 tackles while playing a season low 53 snaps • Registered 2.5 tackles for loss • Made two third-down tackles and helped on another third-down stop with a quarterback hurry.

DEFENSIVE BACK – Clarence Lewis, Notre Dame, Fr., CB, Edison, N.J.

True freshman led the Irish with 12 tackles in Saturday’s win over Syracuse, the most by a Notre Dame player in a single game since Julian Love’s 12 versus USC in 2018 • Ten of Lewis’ tackles were solo stops • Also broke up a pass and forced a fumble • Pass breakup came on third down to force a Syracuse punt • Helped Notre Dame limit Syracuse to 15 first downs.

CO-SPECIALIST – Christopher Dunn, NC State, Jr., PK, Lexington, N.C.

With three field goals in NC State’s 23-13 win over Georgia Tech, now holds the school career record for field goals (56) • Scored 11 total points while connecting on field goals from 40, 20 and 39 yards • Ranks 10th in ACC history with 1.55 FGs per game (56 in 36 games) • His .862 career field goal percentage is the fourth-best mark ever for an ACC player.

CO-SPECIALIST – Porter Wilson, Duke, R-Fr., P, Fairlawn, Ohio

Punted seven times for 312 yards (44.6-yard average) in Saturday night’s loss to Miami • Six punts were downed inside the Miami 20 yard line, and the seventh was a 52-yarder that resulted in a touchback • Four of his punts covered more than 50 yards.

ROOKIE – Myles Murphy, Clemson, Fr., DE, Marietta, Ga.

Tied a season high with seven tackles in Saturday night’s 45-10 win at Virginia Tech, including a forced fumble that led to a Clemson touchdown two plays later • Became the first Clemson true freshman in the Dabo Swinney era to record three forced fumbles in a season and the first Clemson freshman (true or redshirt) with three forced fumbles in a season since redshirt freshman Ed McDaniel in 1988.