The 2012 ACC football season was an NCAA football season that was played from September 1, 2012, to January 1, 2013. At the time, the Atlantic Coast Conference consisted 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 met on December 1 in the 2012 ACC Championship Game, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. This season also marked the 60th football season in the conference's history.
Preseason Preseason Poll The 2012 ACC Preseason Poll was announced at the ACC Football Kickoff meetings in Greensboro, NC on July 23. Virginia Tech was voted to win Coastal division while Florida State was voted to win the Atlantic division and the conference. Sammy Watkins of Clemson was voted the Preseason ACC Player of the Year.
Atlantic Division poll Florida State – 543 (72 first place votes) Clemson – 470 (17) North Carolina State – 402 (5) Wake Forest – 241 Boston College – 181 Maryland – 148
Coastal Division poll Virginia Tech – 558 (83) Georgia Tech – 421 (10) North Carolina – 341 (2) Virginia – 326 Miami – 245 Duke – 04
Predicted ACC Championship Game Winner Florida State–60 Virginia Tech–18 Clemson–13 Georgia Tech–3 NC State-1
Preseason ACC Player of the Year Sammy Watkins, CLEM - 25 Logan Thomas, VT - 21 E. J. Manuel, FSU - 19 Tajh Boyd, CLEM - 18 Mike Glennon, NCSU - 5 David Amerson, NCSU - 3 Giovani Bernard, UNC - 1 Bryn Renner, UNC - 1 Tanner Price, WF - 1 Kyle Fuller, VT - 1
Preseason All Conference Teams Offense Position Player School Wide receiver Conner Vernon Duke Sammy Watkins Clemson Tight end Matt Furstenburg Maryland Tackle James Hurst North Carolina Oday Aboushi Virginia Guard Omoregie Uzzi Georgia Tech Jonathan Cooper North Carolina Center Dalton Freeman Clemson Quarterback Tajh Boyd Clemson Running back Giovani Bernard North Carolina Andre Ellington Clemson
Defense Position Player School Defensive end Brandon Jenkins Florida State James Gayle Virginia Tech Defensive tackle Joe Vellano Maryland Nikita Whitlock Wake Forest Linebacker Kevin Reddick North Carolina Bruce Taylor Virginia Tech Steve Greer Virginia Cornerback David Amerson NC State Kyle Fuller Virginia Tech Safety Lamarcus Joyner Florida State Earl Wolff NC State
Specialist Position Player School Placekicker Dustin Hopkins Florida State Punter Dalton Botts Miami Specialist Greg Reid Florida State
Preseason Watch list
Player School Award Chris Pantale Boston Collage John Mackey Award Kevin Pierre-Louis Boston Collage Bronko Nagurski Trophy Brandon Jenkins Florida State Bronko Nagurski Trophy Lamarcus Joyner Florida State Bronko Nagurski Trophy Xavier Rhodes Florida State Bronko Nagurski Trophy Bjoern Werner Florida State Bronko Nagurski Trophy Alex Amidon Boston Collage Biletnikoff Award Willie Haulstead Florida State Biletnikoff Award EJ Manuel Florida State Maxwell Award EJ Manuel Florida State Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Brandon Jenkins Florida State Bednarik Award Lamarcus Joyner Florida State Bednarik Award Xavier Rhodes Florida State Bednarik Award Dustin Hopkins Florida State Lou Groza Award Brandon Jenkins Florida State Outland Trophy Lamarcus Joyner Florida State Outland Trophy Xavier Rhodes Florida State Outland Trophy Björn Werner Florida State Outland Trophy Lamarcus Joyner Florida State Jim Thorpe Award Xavier Rhodes Florida State Jim Thorpe Award Brandon Jenkins Florida State Lombardi Award Bjoern Werner Florida State Rotary Lombardi Award Bjoern Werner Florida State Butkus Award Nick Moody Florida State Butkus Award E.J. Manuel Florida State Davey O'Brien Award Brandon Jenkins Florida State Walter Camp Award
Coaches 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 5 20–19 20–19 12–12 Clemson Dabo Swinney 5 29–19 29–19 19–10 Duke David Cutcliffe 5 59–62 15–33 6–26 Florida State Jimbo Fisher 3 19–8 19–8 11–5 Georgia Tech Paul Johnson 5 141–58 34–19 21–11 Maryland Randy Edsall 2 76–80 2–10 1–7 Miami Al Golden 2 33–40 6–6 3–5 North Carolina Larry Fedora 1 34-19 0-0 0-0 NC State Tom O'Brien 6 108–75 33–30 18–22 Virginia Mike London 3 36–18 12–13 6–10 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer 26 250–121–4 208–98–2 53–11 Wake Forest Jim Grobe 11 101–100–1 68–67 38–51
Pre-season Coaches changes
Former Ohio State Offensive Coordinator, Jim Bollman, was hired as Boston College offensive line coach/running game coordinator. Sean Desai was hired from Miami as Boston College new Running backs coach/Special teams coordinator, Columbia's wide receivers coach Aaron Smith took the same position at Boston College.
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 14 12 11 10 17 15 16 14 14 10 10 11 12 15 14 11C 14 12 11 9 16 15 13 13 13 9 8 9 9 14 13 9BCS Not released 19 18 13 13 11 11 14 14Duke AP RV C RV RV BCS Not released Florida State AP 7 6 5 4 4 3 12 12 11 9 8 10 10 13 13 10C 7 6 6 4 4 4 11 10 10 7 6 6 5 12 12 8BCS Not released 14 12 9 10 10 10 13 12Georgia Tech AP RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV BCS Not released Maryland AP C BCS Not released Miami AP RV RV C RV RV BCS Not released North Carolina AP RV RV RV RV RV RV CIneligible for rankingBCS Not releasedIneligible for rankingNC State AP RV RV RV RV C RV RV BCS Not released Virginia AP C RV RV RV BCS Not released Virginia Tech AP 16 15 13 RV RV C 20 18 13 RV 25 RV BCS Not released Wake Forest AP C RV RV BCS Not released
Schedule
Index to colors and formattingACC member wonACC member lostACC teams in bold
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Week Eleven
Week Twelve
Week Thirteen
Championship Week
Bowl Games Bowl GameDateStadiumCityTelevisionMatchup/ResultAttendancePayout (US$) per team BCSDiscover Orange BowlJanuary 1, 2013Sun Life StadiumMiami Gardens, FLESPN Florida State 31, Northern Illinois 10 72,073 Non-BCSBelk BowlDecember 26, 2012Bank of America StadiumCharlotte, NCESPN Duke 34, Cincinnati 48 48,128Russell Athletic BowlDecember 28, 2012Florida Citrus Bowl StadiumOrlando, FLESPN Virginia Tech 13, Rutgers 10 48,127Franklin American Mortgage Music City BowlDecember 31, 2012LP FieldNashville, TNESPN NC State 24, Vanderbilt 38 55,801 Hyundai Sun BowlDecember 31, 2012Sun Bowl StadiumEl Paso, TXCBS Georgia Tech 21, USC 7 47,922Chick-fil-A BowlDecember 31, 2012Georgia DomeAtlanta, GAESPN Clemson 25, LSU 24 68,027
Weekly awards Following each week of games, Atlantic Coast Conference officials select the players of the week from the conference's teams.
Week Offensive Back of the Week Receiver of the Week Defensive Lineman of the Week Linebacker of the Week Defensive Back of the Week Specialist of the Week Player (s) Position (s) Team (s) Player (s) Position (s) Team (s) Player (s) Position (s) Team (s) Player (s) Position (s) Team (s) Player (s) Position (s) Team (s) Player (s) Position (s) Team (s)1 Bjoern Werner DE Florida State 3 Chris Thompson RB Florida State Cornellius Carradine DE Florida State Nick Clancy ILB Boston College 5 Alex Amidon WR Boston College 7 EJ Manuel QB Florida State 8 Telvin Smith LB Florida State 9 Christian Jones OLB Florida State Ronald Darby CB Florida State 11 Rashad Greene WR Florida State Cornellius Carradine DE Florida State 12 Nick Clancy ILB Boston College 13 Bjoern Werner DE Florida State Dustin Hopkins K Florida State
Postseason awards
All-conference teams
First Team
Offense Position Player School Quarterback Tajh Boyd Clemson Running back Giovani Bernard North Carolina Andre Ellington Clemson Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins Clemson Alex Amidon Boston College Tight end Brandon Ford Clemson Tackle Oday Aboushi Virginia Brandon Thomas Clemson Guard Jonathan Cooper North Carolina Omoregie Uzzi Georgia Tech Center Dalton Freeman Clemson Placekicker Dustin Hopkins Florida State Specialist Giovani Bernard North Carolina
Defense Position Player School Defensive end Bjoern Werner Florida State Cornellius Carradine Florida State Defensive tackle Joe Vellano Maryland Sylvester Williams North Carolina Linebacker Nick Clancy Boston College Kevin Reddick North Carolina Steve Greer Virginia Cornerback Xavier Rhodes Florida State Ross Cockrell Duke Safety Lamarcus Joyner Florida State Earl Wolff NC State Punter Will Monday Duke
Second Team
Offense Position Player School Quarterback EJ Manuel Florida State Running back Duke Johnson Miami Chris Thompson Florida State Wide receiver Conner Vernon Duke Michael Campanaro Wake Forest Tight end Eric Ebron North Carolina Tackle James Hurst North Carolina Cameron Erving Florida State Emmett Cleary Boston College Guard Tre' Jackson Florida State R.J. Matttes NC State Center Bryan Stork Florida State Placekicker Chandler Catanzaro Clemson Casey Barth North Carolina Specialist Duke Johnson Miami
Defense Position Player School Defensive end James Gayle Virginia Tech Kareem Martin North Carolina Defensive tackle Everett Dawkins Florida State Nikita Whitlock Wake Forest Linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield Maryland Christian Jones Florida State Jack Tyler Virginia Tech Cornerback David Amerson NC State Antone Exum Virginia Tech Safety Rashard Hall Clemson Walt Canty Duke Punter Tommy Hibbard North Carolina
Conferences awards
Defensive Player of the Year: Bjoern Werner, FSU Defensive Rookie of the Year: Ronald Darby. FSU
Players going pro
+ Name Position School Pro Team Acquired EJ Manuel QB Florida State Buffalo Bills 1R 16P Björn Werner DE Florida State Indianapolis Colts 1R 24P Xavier Rhodes CB Florida State Minnesota Vikings 1R 25P Cornelius Carradine DE Florida State San Francisco 49ers 2R 8P Menelik Watson OT Florida State Oakland Raiders 2R 10P Chris Thompson RB Florida State Washington Redskins 5R 21P Brandon Jenkins LB Florida State Washington Redskins 5R 29P Dustin Hopkins K Florida State Buffalo Bills 6R 9P Nick Moody LB Florida State San Francisco 49ers 6R 12P Vince Williams LB Florida State Pittsburgh Steelers 6R 38P Everett Dawkins DT Florida State Minnesota Vikings 7R 23P Nick Clancy LB Boston College Atlanta Falcons Undrafted free agent Emmett Cleary OT Boston College Indianapolis Colts Undrafted free agent Jim Noel DB Boston College Seattle Seahawks Undrafted free agent Chris Pantale TE Boston College New York Jets Undrafted free agent John Wetzel OT Boston College Oakland Raiders Undrafted free agent Lonnie Pryor FB Florida State Jacksonville Jaguars Undrafted free agent Rodney Smith WR Florida State Minnesota Vikings Undrafted free agent Anthony McCloud DT Florida State Minnesota Vikings Undrafted free agent
References