Press Release Courtesy Travis Etienne
Etienne, Simpson Collect ACC Weekly Honors
CLEMSON, S.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that running back Travis Etienne (Running Back of the Week) and offensive lineman John Simpson (Offensive Lineman of the Week) have earned ACC Player of the Week honors for their performances in Clemson’s 55-10 win against NC State on Saturday.
With the selections, Clemson has now collected a total of 472 ACC weekly honors since 1978. Clemson has earned a total of 15 weekly honors from the ACC this season.
Etienne’s selection marks the seventh of his career and his third of the season. Etienne joins C.J. Spiller (nine) as the only Clemson running backs to earn at least seven career ACC Player of the Week honors across all categories.
Against NC State, Etienne rushed 14 times for 112 yards with two rushing touchdowns and caught three passes for 31 yards with a receiving touchdown. In the process, he tied the school record for consecutive 100-yard rushing games with his fifth straight 100-yard performance, matching the marks set by Kenny Flowers in 1985 and by Raymond Priester in 1996-97. His second rushing touchdown of the game was his 50th career rushing touchdown, as he joined James Conner and Lamar Jackson as the only players in ACC history to reach 50 career rushing touchdowns.
Simpson’s honor is his third of the season, joining back-to-back selections following performances against Texas A&M and Syracuse in September. He joins Stacy Long (1989), Thomas Austin (2008) and Mitch Hyatt (2017 and 2018) as the only players in school history to collect three ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week selections in a single season.
Simpson graded out at 90 percent with four knockdowns against NC State, according to Clemson’s coaching staff. He also scored the first touchdown of his football career at any level on a one-yard touchdown run, becoming the first Clemson offensive lineman to score a touchdown since Brandon Thomas in 2011. Simpson and the Clemson offensive line have helped Clemson exceed both 200 rushing yards and 200 passing yards in five consecutive games for the first time on record.
