Ja’Corey Brooks Named 1st Team All-ACC; 12 Honored by League

Mark BlankenbakerDecember 3, 2024

The University of Louisville football program had 12 Cardinals recognized with 13 All-ACC honors, the conference office announced on Tuesday.

Wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks was the lone player on the first team, while running back Isaac Brown, defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte and cornerback Quincy Riley were second-team honorees. Quarterback Tyler Shough, offensive linemen Monroe Mills, Michael Gonzalez and Pete Nygra, defensive lineman Ramon Puryear, linebacker Stanquan Clark, cornerback Corey Thornton, placekicker Brock Travelstead were named honorable mention. Brown was also tabbed honorable mention as an all-purpose performer.

Brooks has become one of the nation’s top wide receivers this season in his lone season with the Cards. In 12 games, he has caught 61 passes for 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns, while averaging 16.61 yards per receptions. He ranks 15th in the FBS with nine touchdowns and is 19th in the FBS with 1,013 receiving yards. Brooks ended the regular season second in the conference receiving yards, third in touchdown receptions and eighth in receptions.

A transfer from Alabama, Brooks tallied five 100-yard receiving performances, including setting a new career high with nine catches for 104 yards against Stanford and tallied eight receptions for 120 yards versus Boston College. He caught three passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns against SMU, including a career long 86-yard reception, which was tied for the seventh-longest passing play in school history.

A true freshman, Brown recorded the second-most rushing yards by a freshman in the nation with 1,074 yards and 11 scores. He became the first true freshman in Louisville history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and set the school’s freshman rushing record, surpassing Lamar Jackson’s previous mark of 960 yards set during the 2015 season. Brown logged five 100-yard rushing game during his true freshman season when he rushed for 178 yards and two scores in the win over Kentucky. He became the only true freshman running back with two 150-yard rushing games in a season.

An All-ACC preseason honoree, Gillotte recorded 47 quarterback pressures this season in 12 starts, according to PFF. The senior was credited with 43 tackles and leads the team with 10.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He had his best game of the season against Pitt where he was credited with 3.0 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.

Playing in 10 games, Riley has been credited with 33 tackles and is tied for the team lead with a pair of interceptions. The fifth-year senior is fifth in the country with 15 passes defended.

Competing in a deep conference for quarterbacks, Shough had a great season in his lone season at Louisville, throwing for 3,195 yards and 23 touchdowns in 12 starts. He completed 62.7 percent of his passes and tossed just six interceptions. The seventh-year senior threw multiple touchdown throws in eight games and had four 300-yard games.

Mills started 10 games at tackle, while Gonzalez and Nygra were the only two linemen to start all 12 games. As a unit, the Cards allowed only 15 sacks all season and rushed for an average of 183.3 yards per game.

Puryear played in his 66th game to extend his program record for games played and became the first player in program history to score three fumble return touchdowns in his career, and is the first player in program history to score three defensive touchdowns in a season.

Taking over at linebacker, Clark was second on the team in tackles with 72 this year, including a career best 13 stops in Louisville’s first win at Clemson .

Thornton played in 12 games after coming over from UCF, recording 34 tackles and a pair of interceptions.

Travelstead made 18 of 25 field goal attempts this season, the fourth most field goals made in a season. The senior was perfect on 53 extra point attempts this season, tied for the fifth most extra points made in a season and tied for third most in a season without a miss.