Clemson Football: Travis Etienne deservedly wins ACC Player of the Year
Clemson football running back Travis Etienne was announced as the ACC Player of the Year for a second-straight season Wednesday morning.
The ACC announced Wednesday morning that two Clemson football players were named as the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year for the conference.
RB Travis Etienne was named the conference’s overall player of the year and the offensive player of the year. Clemson football LB Isaiah Simmons was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Both Etienne and Simmons were deserving of their honors and, ultimately, Etienne finished just a little ahead in the voting due to his explosive ability, impressive statistics and record-breaking season.
For the season, Etienne has rushed 168 times for 1,386 yards (8.3 YPC) and 16 touchdowns. That impressive 8.3 yards per carry mark leads the nation and proves just how efficient the running back has been during this season.
In addition to having a solid junior season, Etienne also broke the ACC career record for total touchdowns and rushing touchdowns.
Though Etienne has played just three seasons with Clemson football, he is currently ranked No. 3 on the Tigers’ all-time career rushing board (3,810 yards). He surpassed CJ Spiller a few weeks ago and is now just behind James Davis (3,881 yards) and Raymond Priester (3,966 yards). For those of you counting along, that means the running back is just 72 yards away from passing Davis and 157 yards away from holding the record.
In terms of the award, Etienne has now been named the ACC Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons.
Prior to the announcement, we ran a poll on Twitter for Clemson football fans- and fans of the ACC in general- to vote on who the ACC Player of the Year should be. Isaiah Simmons received 45 percent of the votes, Travis Etienne came in second with 32 percent and Trevor Lawrence received 22 percent.
The truth is you couldn’t have gone wrong with either selection.
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Etienne has clearly been the most explosive player in the ACC this season and is one of the top running backs- if not the best- in the nation. Isaiah Simmons is clearly in a league of his own when it comes to defensive players in the conference and he’s only competing with Ohio State DE Chase Young for the top spot overall in terms of defensive players.