Staff Report
ACC sports: www.theacc.com
More than 1,500 yards rushing, nine 100-yard games and 20 touchdowns. Was there any doubt that Ryan Williams was going to be named ACC Rookie of the Year?
“This something that is totally unexpected, but feels great,” Williams said upon getting the news today. “I have to give a lot of credit to the offensive line and the wide receivers and the fullbacks because they helped pave the way for a lot of the stats I got this year.”
Williams stepped in ably for Darren Evans, who rushed for 1,265 yards as a freshman in 2008 before going down in the preseason with a knee injury. Williams’ 128.2-rushing-yards-per-game average is fifth in ACC history, and at 1,538 yards he is within striking distance of the single-season conference mark of 1,790 yards set by UVa.’s Thomas Jones in 1999.
Williams’ 20 touchdowns has him just one behind the ACC record of 21 set by North Carolina’s Don McCauley in 1970.
Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly was named the league’s defensive rookie of the year. The 6-3, 220-pounder averaged 11.8 tackles per game, leading the ACC and ranking second nationally.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson was a repeat winner in the coach-of-the-year balloting. Georgia Tech (10-2) will play Clemson (8-4) in the ACC Championship Game Saturday night.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was the runner-up in the coach-of-the-year voting.
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