UNC Football dominates ACC Players of the Week Awards

After defeating No. 25-ranked Miami on Saturday night, the UNC football program was well-represented in this week’s ACC Players of the Week Awards.

Not one… Not two… Not three…

But FOUR.

Yes, four UNC football standouts took home ACC Players of the Week honors for the team’s huge victory over Miami on Saturday night in Chapel Hill.

We’ll start with the man under center, Mr. Drake Maye. The Tar Heels quarterback isn’t a stranger to being named the conference’s quarterback of the week, as he won the award last week as well.

Maye completed 17 of his 33 passes for 273 yards, tying his season-high with four passing touchdowns in the process. He has thrown for at least 200 yards in all six games this season and in all 20 games as a starter for the UNC football program.

To no surprise, Omarion Hampton was named the conference’s running back of the week, as he did something that none of Miami’s previous opponents were able to do.

Hampton not only is the first player to rush for over 100+ yards against the Hurricanes’ defense, but he fell just shy of the 200-yard mark. It marked his second 100-yard game this season and the fourth of his young Tar Heels career.

Another non-surprise was Tez Walker earning the wide receiver of the week honors. Walker joined Tar Heel legend Hakeem Nicks as the only two players in UNC football history to record 130+ receiving yards in a single game against a top-25 opponent.

Walker found the endzone on three different occasions, becoming the first Tar Heel to accomplish the feat since Josh Downs did so during the 2022 season.

Last (but certainly not least) Cedric Gray was named the conference’s co-linebacker of the week. He shares the award with Duke’s Tre Freeman.

Gray once again was a huge factor in the UNC football program’s success on the defensive side of the football. Overall, the senior linebacker recorded 10 total tackles, a tackle-for-loss, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup, and an interception. He became the first Tar Heel to recover a fumble and make an interception in a game since 2021.

After one of the Tar Heels’ biggest victories in quite some time, it’s only fitting that these four standouts earned conference honors for their respective performances.

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