Wake Forest Athletics
Abbate, Randolph Pick Up Weekly ACC Awards
10/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 3, 2005
Greensboro, NC - Wake Forest senior quarterback Cory Randolph and sophomore linebacker Jon Abbate earned Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week awards at their respective positions, the league announced on Monday. Randolph shared the Offensive Back of the Week award with Virginia Tech's Marcus Vick.
Making his first start of the season at quarterback, Randolph led the Demon Deacons to a 31-27 victory against Clemson. Randolph went 20-of-25 passing for 222 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. The native of Lake City, Fla., also rushed for a touchdown. Trailing by three points with 2:31 to go, Randolph guided the offense 66 yards on eight plays, capped by a six-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Marion with 33 seconds left. On the final drive, Randolph completed his final five passes for 54 yards. Randolph had 20 starts at quarterback in his Wake Forest career, but had not taken a snap at quarterback this season.
Abbate intercepted two passes and made 13 tackles in Wake Forest's 31-27 win over Clemson. A native of Powder Springs, Ga., Abbate had 11 tackles by halftime, already the most by any Deacon player this season. Abbate's two interceptions came in the first quarter. He became the first Deacon player to pick off two passes in a quarter since 2002. After the game, he needed four stitches to patch up a cut on the bridge of his nose.
Vick accounted for 251 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in Virginia Tech's 34-17 win at West Virginia. Vick completed 15-of-17 passes for 177 yards and two scores and also ran for a career-high 74 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
Maryland center Ryan McDonald was tabbed the ACC's Offensive Lineman of the Week, North Carolina's Larry Edwards and Brandon Tate were the Defensive Back and Special Teams Players of the Week, respectively. Florida State quarterback Drew Weatherford earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors.
