Virginia Places Seven on All-ACC Football Teams

Led by First-Team All-ACC cornerback Anthony Johnson, seven Cavaliers earned All-ACC honors

Seven Virginia football players earned All-ACC honors for the 2022 season, as announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday. 

Graduate cornerback Anthony Johnson earned a First-Team All-ACC selection after recording 51 tackles, two interceptions, and 12 pass breakups, which ranked second-most among defensive backs in the ACC. His average of 1.4 passes defended per game ranked eighth in all of FBS college football. 

At the other cornerback position, junior Fentrell Cypress II earned Second-Team All-ACC honors for the first time. He led the ACC in pass breakups with 14 and his 1.56 passes defended per game were 4th-most in the nation this season. 

Joining Cypress on the All-ACC Second Team are senior linebacker Nick Jackson and junior punter Daniel Sparks. Jackson earned an All-ACC selection for the third-consecutive season after leading Virginia in tackles for the third year in a row. He had 104 total tackles on the season and five sacks, including an eight-tackle, two-sack performance against Georgia Tech, which garnered him the ACC Linebacker of the Week award on October 31st. Jackson's 354 career tackles are tied for the 11th-most in the history of the UVA football program.

A transfer from Minnesota, Sparks averaged 46.8 yards per punt in 2022, matching the program single-season punting average record. He had three punts go for 60 or more yards in a single game against Pittsburgh, after which he was named the ACC co-Specialist of the Week. 

Keytaon Thompson earned an All-ACC selection for the second-straight year, as he was placed on the All-ACC Third Team. Thompson led UVA in receptions for the second season in a row with 53 catches for 579 yards. He averaged 72.4 receiving yards per game, which ranked sixth in the ACC, and 6.6 catches per game, which ranked second. 

Virginia had two defensive linemen earn honorable mentions on the All-ACC Football Teams. Senior Chico Bennett Jr. was twice named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week and led the Cavaliers with seven total sacks. Aaron Faumui also earned an honorable mention after amassing 39 tackles, four sacks, four quarterback hurries, and a team-high 8.5 tackles for loss. 

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