ACC Players of the Week: Week 12

While Thomas won Player of the Week last week due to his versatility, this week he took it because he didn’t allow NC State to get their passing offense started. Thomas’ impact on the field was shown during the last three minutes of the first half in which he had two interceptions. NC State got a fumble recovery late in the half while only down by three and had an amazing opportunity to swing the momentum their way going into the half. Those plans were spoiled as Thomas got the interception and took it 60 yards to the house. NC State got the ball back off of the Miami kickoff and as they started to string together a potential scoring drive Thomas got yet another interception and completely shut down any hope NC State had of scoring. 

With Thomas roaming the field NC State QB CJ Bailey was only able to pick up 120 yards and had zero touchdowns. Thomas is the biggest factor for this Miami defense with three INTs in the past two games. As Miami tries to make a push toward the playoff look for Thomas to make massive plays for the Hurricane defense.

Taylor Can’t Stop Scoring

No. 19 Virginia (9-2, 6-1) is almost guaranteed to go to the ACC Championship as they have to take down a weak Virginia Tech (3-7, 2-4) team to close out their season. Going into this week the Cavaliers had a lot to prove after a sloppy loss to Wake Forest (7-3, 4-3). They were 5.5-point underdogs going into their game at ACC Championship hopeful Duke (5-5, 4-2). They continued to prove that they can compete taking down the Blue Devils 34-17.

Taylor had an amazing performance showing out with 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. His incredible speed and ability to fake out defenders helped him break off for huge runs. Specifically, he was tossed the ball in the third quarter and faked out two defenders and won the foot race for a 78 yard TD. The Virginia RB room continues to show out so if they go into the ACC Championship watch for the run game to be a big factor.

Final Thoughts

As we get closer to the end of the regular season and performances from athletes like Taylor and Thomas set the gap from teams who aren’t competing to teams who are fighting to go to the playoff. Whether its breaking off for a 78-yard run or having two back-to-back INTs, if these players keep playing like they did on Nov. 15, both teams could very well go to the playoff.