Dec. 1, 2014
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Seven Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were named to the 2014 All-ACC Football teams, announced Monday by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA). Six of Tech’s seven All-ACC performers are first-time honorees.
Four players were named second-team All-ACC. Senior B-Back Zach Laskey and senior OG Shaquille Mason represented the Jackets on offense, while junior DT Adam Gotsis and senior LB Quayshawn Nealy were Tech’s defensive selections.
After missing three games due to injury, Laskey returned to the lineup to bolster Tech’s running game. He has a career-high 748 rushing yards and eight TDs in nine games, including two 100-yard games.
Mason, a 2013 first-team All-ACC selection, has been Tech’s highest-graded offensive lineman in every game. The Columbia, Tenn., native has been named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week three times this season.
Gotsis ranks second among Tech defensive linemen with 28 tackles (18 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks. He is also tied for the team lead with two blocked kicks.
Nealy, who has 84 tackles and 6.0 tackles for loss, is one of only six Power 5 players with multiple defensive touchdowns in 2014 (one interception, one fumble return). Nealy ranks eighth nationally with three fumble recoveries, while his eight career interceptions are tied for the most among active non-DBs in the nation.
Redshirt sophomore QB Justin Thomas, senior WR DeAndre Smelter, and junior DB Jamal Golden were named to the third team.
Thomas has emerged as one of the ACC’s best dual-threat quarterbacks. The first-year starter leads the Jackets with 861 rushing yards – the third-most by a Georgia Tech quarterback. He ranks 11th nationally in Total QBR (77.3), with 16 TD passes to just four interceptions. This season, he became the sixth Tech QB to rush for 1,000 yards in a career.
Smelter leads the Jackets in receptions (34), yards (715), and receiving TDs (7). Earlier this year, Smelter became the 21st 1,000-yard receiver in school history.
Golden ranks fourth in the ACC and 24th in FBS with 25.2 yards per kick return. He also ranks second in the ACC with four interceptions.
Seven players earned All-ACC honorable mention from ACSMA, including Golden as a return specialist. Also garnering honorable mention were senior B-Back Synjyn Days, redshirt junior OL Bryan Chamberlain, redshirt sophomore C Freddie Burden, freshman DE KeShun Freeman, sophomore LB P.J. Davis, and junior DB D.J. White.
No. 12 Georgia Tech will vie for the program’s 17th conference title Saturday against No. 2 Florida State in the 2014 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET on ABC in Charlotte, N.C. Georgia Tech has sold out of its #ACCFCG ticket allotment, but a limited number of tickets are still available by visiting http://buzz.gt/ACC14Champ (must use this link).
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GEORGIA TECH ALL-ACC HONOREES
Second Team (Points)
Zach Laskey, RB (69)
Shaquille Mason, OG (102)
Adam Gotsis, DT (48)
Quayshawn Nealy, LB (68)
Third Team (Points)
Justin Thomas, QB (35)
DeAndre Smelter, WR (72)
Jamal Golden, S (43)
Honorable Mention (Points)
Synjyn Days, RB (24)
Bryan Chamberlain, OT (40)
Freddie Burden, C (35)
Jamal Golden, Specialist (20)
KeShun Freeman, DE (23)
P.J. Davis, LB (25)
D.J. White, CB (40)
