Akers, Aguayo Earn Preseason ACC Honors

Noles picked to finish second in ACC Atlantic

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sophomore running back Cam Akers and placekicker Ricky Aguayo were named to the preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference team Tuesday, with Akers finishing fourth in voting as the league player of the year. On Monday, the ACC announced its preseason team voting, with the Seminoles projected to finish second in the ACC Atlantic Division while receiving one vote to win the ACC title.

Akers rushed for 1,024 yards in 2017 to break Florida State’s freshman rushing record previously held by Dalvin Cook and post the ninth-best single-season rushing total in program history. Akers was named third-team All-ACC after his true freshman campaign, which saw him average 5.3 yards per carry with seven touchdowns and grab 16 receptions for 116 yards and one score. The Clinton, Mississippi, native posted four 100-yard rushing games, including a 199-yard, two-touchdown performance in a victory over Syracuse. His 199 yards were the second-highest single-game rushing total by an FSU freshman and ranked 14th on the program’s all-time single-game performance list.

Aguayo connected on 18-of-21 field goals as a sophomore, including a career long of 51 yards in the win at Wake Forest. The Mascotte, Florida, native converted 42 PATs and tallied 96 total points and was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2017. Aguayo led the ACC with an .857 field goal percentage and tied for fifth in the league in scoring.

Boston College running back AJ Dillon earned the preseason player of the year honor, securing 45 of the 148 votes cast and narrowly edging out Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins (37). NC State quarterback Ryan Finley received 37 votes to finish third, ahead of Akers.

Behind new head coach Willie Taggart, the Seminoles (789 points) finished second in Atlantic Division voting, trailing Clemson (1,031) and ahead of NC State (712, 2 first place votes), Boston College (545), Louisville (422), Wake Forest (413) and Syracuse (232).

In the Coastal Division, Miami (998, 122 first-place votes) led Virginia Tech (838), Georgia Tech (654), Duke (607), Pitt (420), North Carolina (370) and Virginia (257).

Overall, Clemson earned 139 votes to win the league, followed by Miami (5), NC State (2), Florida State (1) and Virginia Tech (1).

FSU will face the top two projected teams in the Coastal Division in the first half of the season, hosting Virginia Tech for a nationally-televised game on Labor Day Sept. 3 before heading to Miami to face the Hurricanes on Oct. 6.

2018 All-ACC Preseason Football Team

(Total votes in parenthesis)

Offense

WR – Jaylen Smith, Louisville (90)

WR – Kelvin Harmon, NC State (71)

WR – Hunter Renfrow, Clemson (62)

TE – Tommy Sweeney, Boston College (106)

AP – Greg Dortch, Wake Forest (64)

OT – Mitch Hyatt, Clemson (130)

OT – Chris Lindstrom, Boston College (72)

OG – Parker Braun, Georgia Tech (83)

OG – Phil Haynes, Wake Forest (65)

C – Justin Falcinelli, Clemson (56)

QB – Ryan Finley, NC State (102)

RB – AJ Dillon, Boston College (112)

RB – Cam Akers, Florida State (94)

Defense

DE – Clelin Ferrell, Clemson (122)

DE – Austin Bryant, Clemson (80)

DT – Christian Wilkins, Clemson (122)

DT – Dexter Lawrence, Clemson (119)

LB – Joe Giles-Harris, Duke (103)

LB – Shaquille Quarterman, Miami (98)

LB – Kendall Joseph, Clemson (84)

CB – Mark Gilbert, Duke (79)

CB – Michael Jackson, Miami (68)

S – Jaquan Johnson, Miami (103)

S – Lukas Denis, Boston College (64)

Special Teams

PK – Ricky Aguayo, Florida State (119)

P – Sterling Hofrichter, Syracuse (33)

SP – Anthony Ratliff-Williams, North Carolina (97)

ACC Player of the Year

1. AJ Dillon, RB, Boston College – 45
2. Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson – 42
3. Ryan Finley, QB, NC State – 37
4. Cam Akers, RB, Florida State – 13
5. Greg Dortch, WR, Wake Forest – 3
6. Joe Giles-Harris, LB, Duke – 2
   TaQuon Marshall, QB, Georgia Tech – 2
7. Zach Allen, DE, Boston College – 1

Eric Dungey, QB, Syracuse – 1

Olamide Zaccheaus, HB, Virginia – 1