CLEMSON – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that cornerback Elliot Washington II (ACC Defensive Back of the Week) and punt returner Bryant Wesco Jr. (ACC Specialist of the Week) have earned ACC weekly honors for their performances in Clemson’s 24-10 victory at Cal on Friday.

The selections push Clemson’s number of ACC weekly honors this season to five. The Tigers have now garnered a total of 597 ACC weekly awards since 1968.

Washington’s selection is the first of his career. He becomes the 54th different Clemson defensive back to earn the honor all-time and the 10th to do so in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure, joining DeAndre McDaniel (three), Jonathan Meeks, Xavier Brewer, K’Von Wallace, Andrew Booth Jr., Mario Goodrich, Nate Wiggins, Khalil Barnes and Ricardo Jones.

Last week, Washington recorded a career-high two interceptions as he and Clemson’s defense held Cal to 145 passing yards, including a career-low 119 yards for Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. After totaling two career interceptions at his previous institution, Washington now has three interceptions for Clemson in the Tigers’ last five quarters of competition.

Wesco’s selection is the first of his career in any category. Previously, each of Clemson’s nine most recent ACC Specialist of the Week honors had been garnered by kickers or punters. Wesco becomes the first Clemson return specialist to earn an ACC Specialist of the Week award since 2014, when Adam Humphries earned the honor for his performance against Louisville. 

Against Cal, Wesco recorded a 65-yard go-ahead punt return touchdown, Clemson’s first punt return touchdown since Amari Rodgers’ 58-yarder at Boston College on Nov. 10, 2018. Wesco was the only player in the ACC to score a special teams return touchdown last week.

Including selections by Nolan Hauser in each of the previous two weeks, Clemson has now earned ACC Specialist of the Week honors in three straight weeks for the first time in school history. The three selections for the 2026 season match the 1990, 2009 and 2014 campaigns (three each) for the second-most ACC Specialist of the Week honors in a season in school history, trailing only the 1997 season (five).

This week, Clemson hosts No. 4 Miami (Fla.) at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 3. The prime-time contest is slated for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC. Information on tickets for the contest can be found at ClemsonTigers.com/FootballTickets. 

Courtesy of Clemson Athletics Communications

Photo courtesy of Clemson Athletics Communications