All-ACC football includes four Tar Heels, two Wolfpack players on first team
North Carolina landed four football players on the Associated Press All-ACC first team, with three coming from the Tar Heels’ potent offense, while N.C. State had two defensive players selected for that team.
UNC running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, who helped the Tar Heels lead the ACC in rushing at 249.1 yards per game, were both first team selections on the squad, which was announced Monday.
Carter led the ACC both in total rushing yards (1,245) and yards per game (113.2) and yards per carry (7.98). He scored nine touchdowns. Williams scored 19 touchdowns while rushing for 1,140 yards, averaging 7.26 yards per carry.
They were joined by UNC wide receiver Dyami Brown and Tar Heels linebacker Chazz Surratt as first-team selections.
Brown, a unanimous first-team selection, led the ACC in receiving yards (1,099) and caught 55 passes, averaging 19.98 yards per catch, with eight touchdown receptions.
Surratt finished the season with 91 tackles.
N.C. State’s first-team selections were linebacker Payton Wilson and defensive tackle Alim McNeill.
Wilson leads in the ACC in total tackles with 108, including 11.5 for losses. He also intercepted two passes.
Overall, second-ranked Clemson and fourth-ranked Notre Dame received the most awards.
The Tigers, who beat the Fighting Irish in Saturday’s league championship game for a sixth straight title, had a league-high 10 selections in results released Monday after voting by 14 sports writers who cover the conference. That list included quarterback Trevor Lawrence as the offensive player of the year and freshman defensive end Myles Murphy in a tie for league newcomer of the year with Miami quarterback D’Eriq King, a redshirt senior who transferred from Houston.
The Fighting Irish was second with nine selections. That included linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah as the league’s defensive player of the year, while Brian Kelly was voted coach of the year after leading Notre Dame to a 10-0 regular season.
Clemson and Notre Dame are headed to the College Football Playoff, giving the ACC two playoff teams for the first time.
Lawrence completed 69.2% of his passes this season, throwing for 2,753 yards while participating in nine of Clemson’s 11 games. He’s thrown 22 touchdown passes with only four interceptions.
All-ACC football team
The 2020 Associated Press All-Atlantic Coast Conference team, as selected by a panel of 14 sports writers who regularly cover the league for newspapers or broadcast outlets. Players at all positions are listed alphabetically with name, school, height, weight, class and hometown; “u-” denotes unanimous selections:
First team
Offense
QB — Trevor Lawrence, Clemson, 6-6, 220, jr., Cartersville, Georgia
RB — Javonte Williams, North Carolina, 5-10, 220, jr., Wallace, North Carolina
RB — Michael Carter, North Carolina, 5-8, 199, sr., Navarre, Florida
OT — Liam Eichenberg, Notre Dame, 6-6, 302, gr., Cleveland
OT — Christian Darrisaw, Virginia Tech, 6-5, 314, jr., Upper Marlboro, Maryland
OG — Aaron Banks, Notre Dame, 6-6, 330, sr., Alameda, California
OG — Tommy Kraemer, Notre Dame, 6-6, 317, gr., Cincinnati
C — Jimmy Morrissey, Pittsburgh, 6-3, 305, r-sr., Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
TE — Hunter Long, Boston College, 6-5, 253, r-jr., Exeter, New Hampshire
u-WR — Dyami Brown, North Carolina, 6-1, 185, jr., Charlotte, North Carolina
WR — Amari Rodgers, Clemson, 5-10, 210, sr., Knoxville, Tennessee
All-purpose player — Khalil Herbert, Virginia Tech, 5-9, 212, gr., Fort Lauderdale, Florida
K — Jose Borregales, Miami, 5-10, 205, r-sr., Miami
Defense
DE — Rashad Weaver, Pittsburgh, 6-5, 270, r-sr., Fort Lauderdale, Florida
DE — Jaelan Phillips, Miami, 6-5, 266, r-jr., Redlands, California
DT — Alim McNeill, North Carolina State, 6-2, 320, jr., Raleigh, North Carolina
DT — Bryan Bresee, Clemson (tie), 6-5, 300, fr., Damascus, Maryland
DT — Miles Fox, Wake Forest (tie), 6-1, 286, gr., Lawrenceville, Georgia
LB — Payton Wilson, North Carolina State, 6-4, 240, r-so., Hillsborough, North Carolina
LB — Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame, 6-2, 215, sr., Hampton, Virginia
LB — Chazz Surratt, North Carolina, 6-2, 225, gr., Denver, North Carolina
CB — Asante Samuel Jr., Florida State, 5-10, 184, jr., Sunrise, Florida
CB — Derion Kendrick, Clemson, 6-0, 190, jr., Rock Hill, South Carolina
S — Divine Deablo, Virginia Tech, 6-3, 226, r-sr., Winston-Salem, North Carolina
S — Kyle Hamilton, Notre Dame, 6-4, 219, so., Atlanta
P — Pressley Harvin III, Georgia Tech, 6-0, 255, sr., Alcolu, South Carolina
Second team
Offense
QB — Sam Howell, North Carolina, 6-1, 225, so., Indian Trail, North Carolina
RB — Kyren Williams, Notre Dame, 5-9, 195, so., St. Louis
RB — Travis Etienne, Clemson, 5-10, 205, sr., Jennings, Louisiana
OT — Robert Hainsey, Notre Dame, 6-5, 290, sr., Pittsburgh
OT — Jackson Carman, Clemson (tie), 6-5, 335, jr., Fairfield, Ohio
OT — Ikem Ekwonu, North Carolina State (tie), 6-4, 325, so., Charlotte, North Carolina
OG — Joshua Ezeudu, North Carolina, 6-4, 325, so., Lawrenceville, Georgia
OG — Ikem Ekwonu, North Carolina State, 6-4, 325, so., Charlotte, North Carolina
C — Jarrett Patterson, Notre Dame, 6-5, 305, jr., Laguna Hills, California
TE — Brevin Jordan, Miami, 6-3, 245, jr., Las Vegas
WR — Zay Flowers, Boston College, 5-11, 178, so., Fort Lauderdale, Florida
WR — Jaquarii Roberson, Wake Forest, 6-1, 182, r-jr., Murfreesboro, North Carolina
All-purpose player — Travis Etienne, Clemson, 5-10, 205, sr., Jennings, Louisiana
K — Alex Kessman, Pittsburgh, 6-3, 190, r-sr., Clarkston, Michigan
Defense
DE — Patrick Jones II, Pittsburgh, 6-5, 260, r-sr., Chesapeake, Virginia
DE — Chris Rumph II, Duke, 6-4, 235, r-jr., Gainesville, Florida
DT — Jared Goldwire, Louisville, 6-6, 305, sr., Tacoma, Washington
DT — Jarrod Hewitt, Virginia Tech, 6-1, 280, r-sr., Venice, Florida
LB — Isaiah McDuffie, Boston College, 6-1, 224, r-jr., Buffalo, New York
LB — Charles Snowden, Virginia, 6-7, 240, sr., Silver Spring, Maryland
LB — Baylon Spector, Clemson, 6-2, 230, gr., Calhoun, Georgia
CB — Andrew Booth Jr., Clemson, 6-0, 195, so., Dacula, Georgia
CB — Al Blades Jr., Miami (tie), 6-1, 192, jr., Fort Lauderdale, Florida
CB — Ifeatu Melifonwu, Syracuse (tie), 6-3, 213, r-jr., South Grafton, Massachusetts
CB — Nick McCloud, Notre Dame (tie), 6-1, 192, gr., Rock Hill, South Carolina
S — Nolan Turner, Clemson, 6-1, 205, r-sr., Vestavia Hills, Alabama
S — Bubba Bolden, Miami (tie), 6-3, 200, r-jr., Las Vegas
S — Paris Ford, Pittsburgh (tie), 6-0, 190, r-jr., Pittsburgh
P — Lou Hedley, Miami, 6-4, 220, r-jr., Mandurah, Australia
Coach of the year — Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Offensive player of the year — Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
Defensive player of the year — Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame
Newcomer of the year — (tie) D’Eriq King, Miami, qb, 5-11, 202, r-sr., Manvel, Texas; Myles Murphy, Clemson, de, 6-5, 275, fr., Marietta, Georgia
Voting panel: Rick Bozich, WDRB-TV, Louisville, Kentucky; Lauren Brownlow, WRAL.com, Raleigh, North Carolina; Bennett Conlin, The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Virginia; Matthew Connolly, The State of Columbia, South Carolina; Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach (Florida) Post; John Dell, The Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Journal; Jerry DiPaola, (Pittsburgh) Tribune Total Media; Eric Hansen, South Bend (Indiana) Tribune; Trevor Hass, Boston.com; Nate Mink, The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York; Jonas Pope, The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina/The Herald-Sun of Durham, North Carolina; Curt Weiler, Tallahassee (Florida) Democrat; Steve Wiseman, The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina/The Herald-Sun of Durham, North Carolina; Norm Wood, The Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 1:51 PM with the headline "All-ACC football includes four Tar Heels, two Wolfpack players on first team."