Zaire Franklin has won the Atlantic Coast Conference linebacker of the week award, the conference announced on Monday. Against Connecticut, Franklin had 14 tackles, including a key stop of Huskies quarterback Bryant Shirreffs at the 1-yard line on fourth down late in the fourth quarter to preserve Syracuse’s lead.

Franklin also dove and tipped a pass to cornerback Cordell Hudson on the latter’s interception, which Hudson returned 22 yards for a touchdown.

Last week, safety Daivon Ellison was the co-winner for the conference’s defensive back of the year award. Syracuse (2-2, 0-1 ACC) has relied on Franklin in the middle of the defense all season, but Saturday proved to be his biggest output this year. He had just 18 tackles coming into the game and the 14 he accrued against UConn now account for 43.8 percent of his tackles this season. In the 31-24 win over the Huskies, Syracuse’s defense allowed the second least points it has this season.