Devin Leary, Emeka Emezie earn ACC Player of the Week honors

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Published Oct 5, 2020

Devin Leary, Emeka Emezie earn ACC Player of the Week honors

Justin H. Williams • TheWolfpackCentral

Staff Writer

@JustinHWill

NC State Wolfpack football players redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary and senior wide receiver Emeka Emezie earned ACC Player of the Week honors for their performances in the 30-29 road win over No. 24 Pittsburgh Saturday.

Leary was named ACC Quarterback of the Week in his first start of the season, which included an eight-play, 79-yard game-winning touchdown drive with 1:44 remaining and no timeouts. The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder finished the contest completing 28 of 44 passes for 336 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Emezie earned Co-Receiver of the Week honors after he caught the 13-yard game-winning touchdown pass from Leary with 23 seconds remaining. He led the Wolfpack in receptions (7), targets (12), receiving yards (101) and tied for the team-high in receiving touchdowns (2).

“Devin was nails," NC State head coach Dave Doeren said after the game. "He did a great job reading coverage and putting the ball where it needed to be... We've been waiting for him to become the guy and we've always known what his arm was. This team believes in him. You can see it in the locker room, they rally around him.

"He's just calm, poised and he's got a really, really good arm. He's a tough kid and he really played a heck of a football game. I'm very proud of him and happy for him.”

Leary was also named to the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Great Eight List and earned a Manning Award Star of the Week for his career performance Saturday.

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“It was awesome for Emeka,” Doeren said. “He was struggling these past couple weeks just because his role wasn't too big yet and he just kept fighting, kept working, kept practicing. [Wide receivers coach] George McDonald does a good job with him.

“I was really happy for him to make that play and he's earned it by continuing to work hard. That was a big play for us in that drive.”

Redshirt junior center Grant Gibson and junior running back Ricky Person Jr. earned ACC Player of the Week honors in week two following the Pack's 45-42 win over Wake Forest.