NC State football well represented on All-ACC teams

Fresh off a 9-3 regular season that included a 6-2 mark in the ACC, NC State football players were recognized on the all-conference teams that were announced Tuesday morning.

Six players were recognized on the first team, tying the 2018 NC State football team for the most since 1992.

Sophomore left tackle Ikem Ekwonu, announced Monday as the winner of the ACC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy, leads the group. Ekwonu finished the regular season with 67 pancake blocks and 18 knockdowns and was a two-time ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week. The 6-foot-4, 320-pounder allowed just two sacks in 829 snaps. Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranks Ekwonu as the top run blocker in college football.

His teammate on the NC State offensive line, redshirt junior center Grant Gibson, was recognized third-team all-conference. Gibson had 40 pancake blocks on the year.

The other NC State offensive performer to be All-ACC was senior receiver Emeka Emezie, who was chosen to the second team. Emezie caught 60 passes for 802 yards and six touchdowns during the season, including two memorable late-scoring grabs in the dramatic 34-30 win over North Carolina last Friday evening.

On defense, three NC State football players were chosen to the first team, headlined by sophomore linebacker Drake Thomas. He had the second highest vote total of all defenders after finishing fourth in the ACC in tackles with 100. He led the team with 13.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions, one of which was a pick six. Thomas also tied for a team-best six sacks.

Junior safety Tanner Ingle made the first team after tallying 82 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, plus he had an interception and four pass breakups. Also chosen to the first team was redshirt junior defensive lineman Cory Durden. The Florida State transfer stepped up as nose tackle after redshirt freshman C.J. Clark went down with an injury and finished with 31 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and 3.5 sacks, and added seven quarterback hurries.

Sophomore running back Zonovan Knight was chosen first team as a specialist. He returned kickoffs for touchdowns for NC State against both Wake Forest and Syracuse and finished the year with an average of 34.4 yards on his 16 returns. That is the best mark of any Power Five returner.

Knight was also honorable mention All-ACC as a running back after carrying 140 times for 753 yards and three scores and making 21 receptions for 156 yards.

Redshirt junior punter Trenton Gill was first team after pinning 30 punts inside the 20, nine more than any other kicker in the ACC. He averaged 44.4 yards on his 65 punts during the season.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary, who set a NC State football record with 35 touchdown passes during the season, was honorable mention All-ACC and the fifth-highest vote-getter among quarterbacks behind Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman, Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong and UNC’s Sam Howell.

Also making honorable mention All-ACC from NC State was redshirt senior defensive end Daniel Joseph, redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Moore, junior nickel Tyler Baker-Williams and redshirt freshman corner Shyheim Battle.

Joseph had 46 tackles, including nine for loss and five sacks. Moore only played seven games before suffering a knee injury but had 43 tackles, including five for loss and a sack. He added three pass breakups, an interception and seven quarterback hurries.

Baker-Williams had 32 tackles, including three for loss, plus two interceptions and four pass breakups in 10 games. Battle added 28 hits (one for a loss), two interceptions and tied for team-high with six pass breakups.

NC State football will learn Sunday where it will go bowling this season, with the likely choices being San Diego for the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 28 against a Pac-12 opponent or Orlando for the Cheez-It Bowl on Dec. 29 vs. a foe from the Big 12.

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