Jahmyr Gibbs' attention-grabbing debut was duly noted by the ACC and beyond. The Georgia Tech freshman running back received two honors Monday for his contributions in the Yellow Jackets' loss to Central Florida Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium, being named the ACC rookie of the week and to the honor roll for the Paul Hornung Award, which goes to the nation’s most versatile player.
Gibbs generated 219 all-purpose yards – 66 rushing, a team-high 60 receiving and 93 returning on kickoffs, including a 75-yard return on the game’s opening play. He became the first ACC player to record a 60/60/60 game in those categories since 2018 and the first Tech player since Orwin Smith in 2012, according to sports-reference.com. Gibbs scored two touchdowns – a nine-yard pass from quarterback Jeff Sims and a 33-yard run on lead blocks by guard Jack DeFoor and tight end Jack Coco.
Gibbs followed Sims in earning the conference’s selection as rookie of the week. Since the conference began honoring players of the week in 2004, it’s the first time that two separate Yellow Jackets players have shared the award in successive weeks since Rashaun Grant and Calvin Johnson in 2004. (Johnson won it again the following week. Also, Tobias Oliver earned it in back-to-back weeks in 2018.)
Also honored Monday was punter Pressley Harvin, who was named to the Ray Guy Award’s “Ray’s 4” list, which recognizes the four top punters in the week’s games. Harvin hit punts of 37, 56, 70 and 42 yards, none of which were returned or reached the end zone, for a punting and net punting average of 51.3 yards. The 70-yarder was a career long and the longest at Tech since 2007. He is averaging 47.1 yards per punt, which would lead FBS if he had enough punts to qualify for ranking.
