Louisville Football had a remarkable turnaround in 2019 after a dismal 2018 season. The new coaching staff helped to infuse the team with energy and passion. The players then took that and brought it to the field where they took a 2 win team to 7 wins and a bowl. While it took the whole team to achieve this feat, four players had integral roles in leading the team to 7 wins. Those four players where honored today by the ACC with All-ACC honors.
Junior OT Mekhi Becton, sophomore WR Tutu Atwell, redshirt freshman RB Javian Hawkins, and sophomore RB/KR Hassan Hall were the All-ACC honorees.
Just Announced: 4 Cards earn All-@ACCFootball accolades!
📝: https://t.co/bVbYYe0Z1y#GoCards pic.twitter.com/Nl5uR9aKcH
— Louisville Football (@UofLFootball) December 3, 2019
Becton was named First Team All-ACC Offensive Lineman. His run blocking helped get another honoree, Javian Hawkins, become Louisville’s first thousand yard back since 2010. Becton was given another ACC award just yesterday, the Jacobs Blocking Award.
Atwell was named a First Team All-ACC WR. He was an incredible weapon all year for Louisville. His speed was such that very few, if any, secondaries he faced could match up with it. Atwell found himself open behind even the most talented defenses Louisville faced. He had 61 receptions for 1129 yards and 12 TDs. He averaged a whopping 18.8 yards per catch. Expect more of the same, if not greater, production from the speedster come next season.
Hawkins was named Second Team All-ACC RB. This is quite the accomplishment since he was not even the projected starting RB at the beginning of fall camp. However, Hawkins combination of power, elusiveness, and speed helped him win the starting job and he set the all-time rushing record for a freshman at Louisville with 1420 yards. That broke the record once held by former Louisville great Victor Anderson. He still has one more game to add to his total. He also rushed for 8 TDs.
Hall was named Second Team All-ACC All Purpose and Third Team All-ACC Specialist. Hall complimented Hawkins well in the backfield, rushing for 497 yards and 5 TDs. He caught the ball out of the backfield as well, with 5 receptions for 51 yards. However, Hall’s greatest contribution was as a kick returner. He had 728 return yards, averaging 31.7 yards a return, and 1 TD. He was as dangerous a kick returner as anyone in the ACC.
For more information on the players and their honors, read the press release from UofL Athletics below.
*all stats courtesy of sports-reference.com and gocards.com
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT:
Four Louisville Football Players Earn All-ACC Accolades
Wide receiver Tutu Atwell and offensive tackle Mekhi Becton were named first team All-ACC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 3, 2019
LOUISVILLE, Ky .- The University of Louisville landed four players on the 2019 All-ACC football team, as announced Tuesday by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Sophomore wide receiver Tutu Atwell and junior offensive tackle Mekhi Becton were first-team honorees, while sophomore running back/kick returner Hassan Hall earned two accolades – second team all-purpose and third-team specialist. Redshirt freshman running back Javian Hawkins was a second-team selection.
Atwell accomplished an outstanding sophomore season, leading the Cardinals with 61 receptions for 1,129 yards, which is the seventh-best total in school history, and tied a school record with 12 touchdowns.
The 5-foot-9 wide out became the school’s first 1,000-yard receiver since Harry Douglas totaled 1,159 yards in 2007.
A native of Miami, Fla., Atwell led the ACC in receiving yards and touchdowns, while posting six 100-yard receiving games. He closed the season with a touchdown reception in five-straight games.
The winner of the 2019 Jacobs Blocking Trophy, Becton becomes the first offensive lineman in school history to be named first team All-ACC, and is the first lineman to earn first team accolades since Jamon Brown was named first team in the American Athletic Conference in 2014.
Becton, a 6-foot-8, 370-pound junior from Highland Springs, Virginia, has started 33 games at offensive tackle for the Cardinals and was named ACC “Offensive Lineman of the Week” on Oct. 7 after his performance in the 41-39 victory over Boston College. He graded out better than 80 percent in eight games and registered over 60 knockdown blocks to help the Cardinals finish the regular season at 7-5 and 5-3 in the ACC — a turnaround of five games from a year ago.
Hall, an Atlanta native, accounted for 1,276 all-purpose yards as a running back and one of the nation’s most explosive kick returners. The sophomore stands sixth in school history with 1,546 career kickoff return yards in only two seasons.
Averaging 106.3 all-purpose yards per game, Hall ranks fourth in the country and third in the ACC with a 31.7 return average and was one of only three kick returners in the league to return one for a touchdown. He returned a kickoff 100-yards on Oct. 12 in a 62-59 win over Wake Forest.
The sophomore recorded 728 kick return yards, which ranked fourth in the league and seventh nationally. As a running back, Hall was the team’s second-leading rusher with 497 yards and five touchdowns.
Hawkins, who only played four games in 2018, broke records in his first full season with the Cardinals.
Rushing for a UofL freshman record of 1,420 yards and eight touchdowns, Hawkins averaged 118.3 yards per game. His 1,420 yards rushing ranks fourth on the school’s single-season list and stands third in league history among freshmen.
He became the first 1,000-yard rusher since Lamar Jackson’s 2017 season, but was the first running back at UofL to accomplish the feat since Bilal Powell ran for 1,405 yards in 2010.
After 12 games, Hawkins ranks seventh in the country in rushing yards and first among freshmen nationally. The 5-foot-9 running back is second in the league in rushing yards, just 265 behind Boston College’s A.J. Dillon, who has rushed for 1,685 yards.
A native of Titusville, Fla., Hawkins registered seven 100-yards rushing games, including a career best 233 yards in a win over Syracuse on Nov. 23. It was the most rushing yards by a Cardinal since Anthony Allen rushed for 275 against Middle Tennessee on Sept. 6, 2007 and the seventh-most in program history.
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