Release from Georgia State Sports Communications:
ATLANTA — Georgia State tight end Joel Ruiz has been named John Mackey Tight End of the Week by the John Mackey Award.
Ruiz, a junior from Kingsland, Ga., had a career-best game with seven receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns as Georgia State beat Abilene Christian 38-37.
Playing his first game for Georgia State after transferring from Presbyterian, Ruiz scored the Panthers’ first touchdown of 2014 on a 34-yard reception from quarterback Nick Arbuckle. Then he set up Georgia State’s next touchdown with a 19-yard catch down to the 2-yard line. In the fourth quarter, he caught a 9-yard touchdown to pull the Panthers within two points with 4:31 to play, and then on the game-winning drive, he hauled in a 12-yard completion on 4th-and-9 from the GSU 24.
Ruiz’s blocking helped Georgia State rush for 153 yards and compile a school-record 566 yards of total offense.
Honorable mentions for this week’s John Mackey Tight End of the Week include Austin Hooper of Stanford and Justin Sinz of Purdue.
The 2014 John Mackey recipient will be announced on December 10, 2014 and presented live on December 11, 2014 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on ESPNU. Other key dates include the announcement of the Midseason Watch List on October 13, 2014, the Mackey Semi-finalists on November 17, 2014 and the Mackey Finalists on November 24, 2014.
The John Mackey Tight End of the Week is an honor distinct and different from the annual John Mackey Award. This weekly honor was started in 2004 to draw attention to individual play by tight ends during the active season.
The Sports Inquirer 
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