Wake Forest Athletics
Skinner, Swank Take Home ACC Weekly Honors
11/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 13, 2006
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Two Florida natives on the Wake Forest football team helped the Deacons to a 30-0 win against Florida State in Tallahassee on Saturday. On Monday, they were rewarded with weekly honors from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Riley Skinner and sophomore punter/placekicker Sam Swank were selected as the ACC's Rookie and Specialist of the Week, respectively, the league announced on Monday. Swank earns the award for the fourth time this season and Skinner becomes a two-time winner.
Skinner, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., who once won a high school state championship at Doak Campbell Stadium, completed 68 percent of his passes there Saturday against the Seminoles. He went 13-of-19 for 138 yards a touchdown, an 18-yard strike to John Tereshinski. Skinner completed 60 percent of his passes for the seventh straight game. Skinner had a turnover-free contest and he has not thrown an interception on the road this season.
Skinner leads the ACC in passing efficiency (145.8), completion percentage (68.6) and interception rate (1 per 53 passes). Skinner and Texas' Colt McCoy are the only two freshmen quarterbacks nationally to have won eight games as the starting quarterback this season.
Swank, a native of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., made three of four field goal attempts against Florida State, including a long of 51 yards. It was Swank's fifth field goal of at least 50 yards this season. No other kicker in the country has more than three. Swank is 5-of-7 from beyond 50 yards this season.
Against Florida State, Swank also punted six times for an average of 40.7. Two of the punts were downed inside the 20 and none of the six were returned. Only eight of Swank's 45 punts (18 percent) have been returned, a figure that ranks second in the country. Swank has keyed the Deacons to a net punting average of 38.3 to rank 8th nationally.
Five different Deacons have combined to earn 11 weekly ACC honors this season. Offensive tackle Steve Vallos was the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week following Wake Forest's season-opening win against Syracuse. Quarterback Riley Skinner was the ACC Rookie of the Week after the wins against Duke and Florida State. Center Steve Justice was the ACC's Offensive Lineman of the Week after the Ole Miss and Boston College victories. Josh Gattis was selected as the ACC's Defensive Back of the Week after the NC State and North Carolina games. Sam Swank earned ACC Specialist of Week honor four times, following the Liberty, Clemson, NC State and Florida State wins.
The 14th-ranked Demon Deacons (9-1, 5-1 ACC) host 19th-ranked Virginia Tech on Saturday at Groves Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2.
