Freddie Burden lone Georgia Tech selection on coaches’ All-ACC team
It has been a good week for Georgia Tech center Freddie Burden.
The senior from Statesboro was named to the All-ACC third team Thursday. The team was selected by the coaches. Earlier this week, he was recognized as the only center selected on ESPN.com’s 25-man All-ACC team.
Burden, who has already graduated with a degree in business administration, followed in the footsteps of his late father, Willie Burden, who was an All-ACC selection in 1972 and 1973 at N.C. State and played seven seasons in the Canadian Football League.
Burden was the only Georgia Tech player on the team. No one else received the requisite eight points necessary to be included on the list of honorable mention choices.
Burden is a three-year starter on the offensive line and has started 11 of the team’s 12 games. He missed the Virginia Tech game because of an injury. He helped the Georgia Tech offense average 257.4 yards rushing per game, the best in the ACC and No. 10 in the country.
Burden (6-foot-4, 299 pounds) was named the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week in a 38-7 win over Vanderbilt. Georgia Tech ran for 289 yards, and Burden took eight defenders to the ground in that game.
Burden has been the steadying influence on the young offensive line. By the end of the season, the players starting to his left — guard Parker Braun and tackle Jahaziel Lee — were both true freshmen.
The Georgia Tech offense has rushed for more than 200 yards in eight games this year and three times amassed 300-plus yards on the ground. Their season high was 374 yards in a loss at North Carolina.
B-back Dedrick Mills tied for third in the voting for ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year. That honor went to quarterback Deondre Francois from Florida State.
The overall ACC Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year was Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Defensive Player of the Year was Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware. The Coach of the Year was Justin Fuente of Virginia Tech.
Practice resumes
The Yellow Jackets practiced Tuesday for the first time since beating Georgia in the season finale. Much of time was spent getting back to basics rather than dialing in for TaxSlayer Bowl game against Kentucky.
“It was a good start,” head coach Paul Johnson said. “It seems like it’s been forever since we were out there, so it was good to be back out there. We just started right back into everyday drills.”
The Yellow Jackets will be without B-back Marcus Marshall, who announced his plans to transfer and will not participate in the bowl game. That means Mills will play most of the snaps there, with some assistance from backup Marcus Allen.
Ticket sales
Tickets for the TaxSlayer Bowl are available online at RamblinWreck.com. Tickets are $85 for the lower level and $125 for the club level. The game is Dec. 31 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.
This story was originally published December 8, 2016 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Freddie Burden lone Georgia Tech selection on coaches’ All-ACC team."