The 2011 ACC football season is an NCAA football season that will be played from September 1, 2011, to January 4, 2012. The Atlantic Coast Conference consists of 12 members in two divisions. The Atlantic division consists of Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina State and Wake Forest. The Coastal division consists of Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. The division champions will meet on December 3 in the 2011 ACC Championship Game, located in Charlotte, North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium.
Preseason
Preseason Poll The 2011 ACC Preseason Poll was announced at the ACC Football Kickoff meetings in Pinehurst, North Carolina on July 25. Virginia Tech was voted to win Coastal division while Florida State was voted to win the Atlantic division and the conference. Montel Harris of Boston College was voted the Preseason ACC Player of the Year.
Atlantic Division poll Florida State – 420 (65 first place votes) Clemson – 286 (4) North Carolina State – 270 Boston College – 224 (2) Maryland – 211 Wake Forest – 80
Coastal Division poll Virginia Tech – 421 (66) Miami – 328 (4) North Carolina – 287 Georgia Tech – 226 (1) Virginia – 132 Duke – 96
Predicted ACC Championship Game Winner Florida State–50 Virginia Tech–18 Clemson–2 Boston College–1
Preseason ACC Player of the Year Montel Harris, BC – 26 E. J. Manuel, FSU – 14 Luke Kuechly, BC – 12 David Wilson, Virginia Tech – 8 Danny O'Brien, Maryland – 4 Andre Ellington, CLEM – 3 Lamar Miller, MIA – 2 Sean Spence, MIA – 1 Brandon Jenkins, FSU – 1
Preseason All Conference Teams
Offense Position Player School Wide receiver Conner Vernon Duke Dwight Jones North Carolina Tight end George Bryan NC State Tackle Blake DeChristopher Virginia Tech Andrew Datko Florida State Guard Brandon Washington Miami Omoregie Uzzi Georgia Tech Center Tyler Horn Miami Quarterback EJ Manuel Florida State Running back Montel Harris Boston College Andre Ellington Clemson
Defense Position Player School Defensive end Brandon Jenkins Florida State Quinton Coples North Carolina Defensive tackle Tydreke Powell North Carolina Brandon Thompson Clemson Linebacker Luke Kuechly Boston College Sean Spence Miami Kenny Tate Maryland Cornerback Chase Minnifield Virginia Jayron Hosley Virginia Tech Safety Ray-Ray Armstrong Miami Eddie Whitley Virginia Tech
Specialist Position Player School Placekicker Will Snyderwine Duke Punter Dawson Zimmerman Clemson Specialist Greg Reid Florida State
Coaches During the offseason, two ACC schools, Maryland and Miami, hired new head coaches. Maryland bought out the last year of 10 year coach, Ralph Friedgen's contract. They hired Randy Edsall who had been the head coach at UConn for 12 years. Miami fired their head coach of 4 years, Randy Shannon, at the conclusion of the Hurricanes' regular season. They in turn hired coach Al Golden, who was the 5 year head coach of Temple. In an unexpected turn of events, on July 27, 2011, UNC chancellor Holden Thorp announced that UNC's board of trustees decided to dismiss Butch Davis as the head coach of the football team. The announcement came a week before the start of fall training camp. The firing was cited as being due to the investigations by the NCAA into academic fraud, impermissible benefits, and talking to agents in the 2010 season. The next day on the 28th, Everett Withers, the defensive coordinator of the past 3 years, was named as the interim head coach.
NOTE: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school ACC record Boston College Frank Spaziani 4 16–11 16–11 9–7 Clemson Dabo Swinney 4 19–15 19–15 13–8 Duke David Cutcliffe 4 56–53 12–24 5–19 Florida State Jimbo Fisher 2 10–4 10–4 6–2 Georgia Tech Paul Johnson 4 133–52 25–15 16–8 Maryland Randy Edsall 1 74–70 0–0 0–0 Miami Al Golden 1 27–34 0–0 0–0 North Carolina Everett Withers 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 NC State Tom O'Brien 5 100–70 25–25 14–18 Virginia Mike London 2 28–13 4–8 1–7 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer 25 240–118–4 198–95–2 46–10 Wake Forest Jim Grobe 10 100–96–1 67–63 34–51
ACC vs. BCS opponents The Atlantic Coast Conference had a losing season vs. BCS opponents in 2011 with a record of 8 wins and 13 losses. In rivalry games vs. BCS opponents the ACC went 1–4 with the only win coming from the Florida State Seminoles over the Florida Gators. The ACC also had three teams play Notre Dame in 2011 and recorded a 0–3 record against the Fighting Irish.
NOTE:. Games with a * next to the home team represent a neutral site game Date Visitor Home Significance Winning teamSeptember 1 Wake Forest Syracuse SyracuseSeptember 3 Northwestern Boston College NorthwesternSeptember 10 Rutgers North Carolina North Carolina Stanford Duke Stanford Virginia Indiana Virginia September 17 Oklahoma Florida State Oklahoma Ohio State Miami Miami West Virginia Maryland Maryland–West Virginia football rivalry West Virginia Auburn Clemson Auburn–Clemson football rivalry Clemson Kansas Georgia Tech Georgia Tech September 22 NC State Cincinnati Cincinnati September 24 Kansas State Miami Kansas State October 8 Louisville North Carolina North Carolina November 5 Notre Dame Wake Forest Notre Dame November 12 Maryland Notre Dame Notre Dame November 19 Miami South Florida Miami Boston College Notre Dame Holy War Notre Dame November 26 Florida State Florida Florida–Florida State football rivalry Florida State Georgia Georgia Tech Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate Georgia Clemson South Carolina Battle of the Palmetto State South Carolina Vanderbilt Wake Forest Vanderbilt
Rankings
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 FinalBoston College AP C BCS Not released Clemson AP RV 21 13 8 8 8 6 11 9 7 18 21 14 22C RV RV RV 22 15 8 8 8 6 12 10 8 17 21 14 22BCS Not released 7 5 11 9 7 17 20 15Duke AP C RV BCS Not released Florida State AP 6 5 5 11 23 23 RV RV 23 25 25 23C 5 4 5 14 24 22 RV RV 22 RV 24 25 23BCS Not released 25 Georgia Tech AP RV RV 25 21 13 12 20 RV 22 20 RV 25 RV RV C RV RV RV 24 21 13 12 19 RV 23 19 23 21 RV RV BCS Not released 22 23 21 23 Maryland AP RV RV RV RV C RV RV BCS Not released Miami AP RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV BCS Not released North Carolina AP RV RV C RV RV RV 25 RV RV RV RV RV BCS Not released NC State AP RV RV C RV BCS Not released Virginia AP RV RV 24 RV RV RVC RV RV RV 25 RV RV RVBCS Not released Virginia Tech AP 13 11 13 13 11 21 19 16 15 12 10 9 6 5 17 21C 13 11 12 11 10 17 17 14 15 11 9 7 4 3 11 17BCS Not released 12 12 12 10 8 5 5 11Wake Forest AP RV RV C RV RV BCS Not released
Bowl Games Bowl Game Date Stadium City Television Matchup/ResultAttendance Payout (US$) per team BCSAllstate Sugar BowlJanuary 3, 2012 Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans ESPN Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20 64,512$17,000,000 Discover Orange Bowl January 4, 2012 Sun Life Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida ESPN West Virginia 70, Clemson 33 67,563$17,000,000 Non-BCSAdvocare V100 Independence Bowl December 26, 2011 Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana ESPN2 Missouri 41, North Carolina 24 41,728$1,100,000 Belk Bowl December 27, 2011 Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, North Carolina ESPN NC State 31, Louisville 24 58,427$1,000,000 Champs Sports Bowl December 29, 2011 Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium Orlando, Florida ESPN Florida State 18, Notre Dame 14 68,305$2,125,000 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl December 30, 2011 LP Field Nashville, Tennessee ESPN Mississippi State 23, Wake Forest 17 55,208$1,700,000 Hyundai Sun Bowl December 31, 2011 Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas CBS Utah 30, Georgia Tech 27 48,123$1,900,000 Chick-fil-A Bowl December 31, 2011 Georgia Dome Atlanta ESPN Auburn 43, Virginia 24 72,919$3,350,000
Postseason
All-conference teams
First Team
Offense Position Player School Wide receiver Sammy Watkins Clemson Chris Givens Wake Forest Tight end Dwayne Allen Clemson Tackle Blake DeChristopher Virginia Tech Zebrie Sanders Florida State Guard Austin Pasztor Virginia Omoregie Uzzi Georgia Tech Center Dalton Freeman Clemson Quarterback Tajh Boyd Clemson Running back David Wilson Virginia Tech Giovani Bernard North Carolina Placekicker Dustin Hopkins Florida State Specialist T. J. Graham NC State
Defense Position Player School Defensive end Andre Branch Clemson Quinton Coples North Carolina Defensive tackle Joe Vellano Maryland Matthew Conrath Virginia Linebacker Luke Kuechly Boston College Sean Spence Miami Zach Brown North Carolina Cornerback David Amerson NC State Chase Minnifield Virginia Safety Matt Daniels Duke Josh Bush Wake Forest Punter Shawn Powell Florida State
Second Team
Offense Position Player School Wide receiver Dwight Jones North Carolina Conner Vernon Duke Tight end George Bryan NC State Tackle Oday Aboushi Virginia James Hurst North Carolina Guard Jaymes Brooks Virginia Tech Jonathan Cooper North Carolina Joe Looney Wake Forest Center Tyler Horn Miami Quarterback Logan Thomas Virginia Tech Running back Lamar Miller Miami Andre Ellington Clemson Placekicker Chandler Catanzaro Clemson Specialist Sammy Watkins Clemson
Defense Position Player School Defensive end Brandon Jenkins Florida State James Gayle Virginia Tech Defensive tackle Brandon Thompson Clemson Nikita Whitlock Wake Forest Linebacker Terrell Manning NC State Julian Burnett Georgia Tech Steve Greer Virginia Cornerback Jayron Hosley Virginia Tech Kyle Fuller Virginia Tech Safety Eddie Whitley Virginia Tech Lamarcus Joyner Florida State Punter Alex King Duke
ACC Individual Awards
ACC Player of the Year RB David Wilson- Virginia Tech
Offensive Player of the Year RB David Wilson- Virginia Tech
Defensive Player of the Year LB Luke Kuechly- Boston College
Rookie of the Year WR Sammy Watkins- Clemson
Offensive Rookie of the Year WR Sammy Watkins- Clemson
Defensive Rookie of the Year CB Merrill Noel- Wake Forest
Coach of the Year Mike London- Virginia
Brian Piccolo Award RB Giovani Bernard- North Carolina
Jim Tatum Award WR Danny Coale- Virginia Tech
National Awards
Butkus Award LB Luke Kuechly- Boston College
John Mackey Award TE Dwayne Allen- Clemson
Lombardi Award LB Luke Kuechly- Boston College
Jack Tatum Award CB David Amerson- NC State
References