GREENSBORO, N.C. – Clemson consensus All-America quarterback Deshaun Watson joins NCAA champion Molly Seidel as the ACC’s top male and female athletes for the 2015-16 academic year, as voted upon by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA).
Watson, who earned the 63rd Anthony J. McKevlin Award as the conference’s premier male athlete, led Clemson to a 14-1 record, the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship, and an appearance in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. He became the first quarterback in FBS history to throw for at least 4,000 yards and rush for at least 1,000 in the same season.
“This is a great honor, especially when you consider in 63 years Deshaun is just the second athlete across all sports to receive this award,” said Clemson Head Football Coach Dabo Swinney. “He had a special season, and is very deserving. I am just as proud of him of the way he handles himself and represents our school and our conference.”
The ACC Athlete of the Year awards are given in memory of distinguished journalists from the region. McKevlin was a sports editor in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Garber, of the Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Journal, was a pioneer as one of the first female sports journalists in the nation.
Not only did Watson lead Clemson to 14 victories, an ACC Championship, an Orange Bowl win and a spot in the national championship game, he became the first Clemson player to win both the Davey O’Brien and Manning Award winner as the nation’s best quarterback, and won the Archie Griffin Award, presented annually to the most valuable player in college football by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.
Watson, a Heisman Trophy Finalist, was named a first-team All-American by the AFCA, Associated Press, CBS Sports, ESPN, FWAA, and USA Today. He totaled 5,209 yards of total offense for the 2015 season to break Tajh Boyd’s single-season school record for total offense.
Watson also collected ACC Player of the Year and ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors as selected by both the media and the head coaches as well as first-team All-ACC accolades. The Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game MVP set championship game records with 420 yards of offense and five total touchdowns (three passing, two rushing), leading the Tigers to the title with a 45-37 win over North Carolina. It was the most total offense by any FBS player in a conference title game. He was also named the Capital One Orange Bowl Offensive MVP after rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown and threw for 187 more and a touchdown in the Capital One Orange Bowl against Oklahoma.
In the national title game against Alabama, Watson set a National Championship Game record with 478 yards of total offense, including a passing total of 405 yards and four touchdowns.
Watson received 28 votes from ACSMA members to lead the McKevlin Award balloting. Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon, who was the first player in ACC Men’s Basketball history to be named ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, placed second with 13 votes, followed by Duke lacrosse standout Myles Jones and Wake Forest baseball player Will Craig with three votes each.
Watson is the second Tiger to receive the honor, and the first since baseball All-American Kris Benson earned the honor in 1996.
—Staff Reports
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