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NEW YORK, N.Y. – The John Mackey Award has named Bucky Hodges of Virginia Tech as the John Mackey Tight End of the Week. The Atlantic Coast Conference redshirt-junior set a career high in catches (7) while scoring two touchdowns and tallying 66 receiving yards in a 37-16 win over Miami, FL.

Hodges’ first touchdown made it 13-3 and his second touchdown early in the third quarter sealed the deal putting VT up 23-9. This outstanding performance and win put Virginia Tech back in the Top 25.

The Virginia Beach native's seven receptions pushed his career total to 110 and into ninth place on the school’s all-time receptions list passing Marcus Davis (105 from 2009-12), while his 66 receiving yards pushed his career total to 1,379 and into 15th place on the school’s all-time receiving list passing Justin Harper (1,338 from 2004-2007), Dyrell Roberts (1,363 from 2008-12) and David Clowney (1,373 from 2003-2006).

Hodges' two TD catches - the fourth and fifth of the season - were also the 17th and 18th of his career and he is now tied for third on the school’s all-time list. He passed Josh Morgan (2004-07), who had 16, and matches Jarrett Boykin (2008-2011), Ricky Scales (1972-1974) and Andre Davis (1998-2001). It was also the second time this year and fourth time in his career with a multi-TD game.

The 18 career TD receptions also passes Florida State’s Nick O’Leary (2011-14) for the second-most ever by a tight end in ACC history. Virginia’s Heath Miller (2002-04) owns the conference’s record with 20. Hodges' 110 career receptions also puts him seventh on the ACC’s all-time list for receptions for TEs in league history and his 1,379 career yards puts him eighth on that list

Honorable mentions for this week's John Mackey Tight End of the Week are Cole Hikutini of Louisville, OJ Howard of Alabama and Hayden Plinke of UTEP.

The 2016 John Mackey recipient will be announced on December 7, 2016 and then presented live on December 8, 2016 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on ESPNU. Other key dates include the 2016 Mackey Semi-finalists on November 14, 2016 and the 2016 Mackey Finalists on November 22, 2016. All future announcements can be found at www.johnmackeyaward.com, on our official Twitter account: @JohnMackeyAward and also on our official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JohnMackeyAward.

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 Tight End of the Week acknowledgment does not have a direct bearing on the final John Mackey Award selection process.

The John Mackey Tight End of the Week honor will run until the announcement of the eight Semi-Finalists. The John Mackey Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast over 722 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit http://www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.

The Friends of John Mackey is responsible for the administration of the John Mackey Award and the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. Please visit www.johnmackeyaward.com for all Mackey Award related information.

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