Three Tigers Honored by the ACC

Clemson, S.C.—Clemson players Kelly Bryant, Taylor Hearn and Will Spiers were all honored by the ACC Sports Media Association as league players of the week on Monday. Bryant was selected as ACC Back of the Week, Hearn as the top offensive lineman and Spiers as the Special Teams Player of the Week for their efforts in Clemson’s 47-21 victory over 14th ranked Louisville.

This is the first time since the 2014 Syracuse game that Clemson has had three ACC Player of the Week selections for the same game.   It was the first selection for Bryant, but the 18th time in the last seven years a Clemson quarterback has been named ACC Back of the Week. Tajh Boyd was named nine times between 2011-13 and Deshaun Watson was an eight-time selection from 2014-16.

Bryant completed 22-32 passes fro 316 yards and a touchdown and added 26 yards rushing and two scores. He guided a Clemson offense that did not commit a turnover and gained 613 yards of total offense, the third most yards in Clemson history against a top 25 team and the fifth highest total for a road game. Bryant completed a 79 yard scoring pass to Ray-Ray McCloud, the longest pass by a Clemson quarterback since 2013.  

Hearn won ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors for the second time in his career. He was also selected for the Auburn game in 2016.   He had five knockdown blocks and graded 92 percent for his 77 plays, helping the Tigers to 297 yards rushing.

Spiers was named the ACC Special Teams Player of the Week for the first time as he was playing just his third career game. He had a 51.8 average on four punts, tied for the third best average in Clemson history and best by a Tiger since 1983. Spiers was a major reason Louisville’s average starting field position was its own 19-yard-line as three of his four punts were downed inside the 20.