ACC Football Players Of The Week

Oct. 23, 2000

OFFENSIVE BACK – Rod Gardner, WR, Clemson Clemson’s Rod Gardner, a 6-4, 215-pound senior from Jacksonville, Fla., had seven receptions for 182 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers’ win over North Carolina. Gardner established a school record for reception yards in a game, breaking the 23-year-old record of 163 held by Jerry Butler against Georgia Tech in 1977. Gardner also tied the Clemson record for touchdown receptions in the game with three.OFFENSIVE LINEMAN – Jared Moon, OC, Florida State For the second time this season, Moon, a 6-4, 300-pound senior, has been tabbed as the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week following his outstanding effort in the Seminoles 37-3 win over Virginia. Moon had four intimidation blocks, did not allow a sack and graded out at a team-best 93 percent as the FSU offense totaled 554 yards on the afternoon.DEFENSIVE LINEMAN – Nick Rogers, DE, Georgia Tech Georgia Tech junior defensive end Nick Rogers, a 6-2, 250-pound junior from East Point, Ga., had seven tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss and a caused fumble in Georgia Tech’s 45-10 win over Duke. Rogers’ two sacks resulted in minus-16 yards, and one of them caused a fumble that Tech recovered. He also had another tackle for a 10-yard loss and one quarterback pressure.DEFENSIVE BACK – Keith Adams, LB, Clemson Adams, a 5-11, 220-pound junior from College Park, Ga., had 15 tackles, nine first hits and six assists in Clemson’s 38-24 win at North Carolina. Adams also recorded his first career interception, caused a fumble and had two tackles for loss. The interception ended North Carolina’s hopes of victory. With Clemson leading by just seven points with four minutes left, he picked off a Ronald Curry pass and ran it back 27 yards to the North Carolina two-yard-line.SPECIALIST – Chance Gwaltney, PK, Florida State Gwaltney, a 5-10, 165-pound junior from Cairo, Ga., was a perfect three-for-three on field goals and four-of-four on PATs in Florida State’s 37-3 win over Virginia. In totaling his game-high 16 points, Gwaltney made good on field goal attempts from 22, 36 and 25 yards.ROOKIE – Willie Simmons, QB, Clemson Simmons came off the bench to lead Clemson to 38 points in 36 minutes of play. The 6-0, 190-pound freshman from Quincy, Fla., completed 10 of 18 passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns. The four touchdowns tied a Clemson single game record. Simmons took over with Clemson trailing 17-0, and led the Tigers to their eighth-straight win. It was just the third time in school history that Clemson had overcome a deficit of at least 17 points to gain victory.