The 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference football season was the 62nd season of college football play for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). It was played from August 2014 to January 2015. 2014 was first season of play in the ACC for former American Athletic Conference member Louisville, which replaced ACC charter member Maryland after their move to the Big Ten Conference. Although the Notre Dame football program is not a member of the ACC, it has an agreement to play five ACC schools per season in football starting in 2014. This is in return for access to the non-College Football Playoff ACC bowl line-up. The Irish are not eligible for the ACC Championship Game.
The Atlantic Coast Conference consisted of 14 members in two divisions. The Atlantic Division consisted of Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina State, Syracuse, and Wake Forest. The Coastal Division consisted of Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. The division champions, Florida State and Georgia Tech, met in December in the 2014 ACC Championship Game, played in Charlotte, North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium.
Preseason
Preseason Poll The 2014 ACC Preseason Poll was announced at the ACC Football Kickoff meetings in Greensboro, North Carolina on July 23. Miami was voted to win Coastal division while Florida State was voted to win the Atlantic division and the conference. Jameis Winston of Florida State was voted the Preseason ACC Player of the Year.
Atlantic Division poll Florida State – 780 (104 first place votes) Clemson – 660 (3) Louisville – 564 Syracuse - 368 North Carolina State – 326 Boston College – 301 Wake Forest – 136
Coastal Division poll Miami – 614 (26) Duke – 597 (33) Virginia Tech – 571 (23) North Carolina – 570 (27) Georgia Tech – 322 (1) Pittsburgh - 319 (2) Virginia – 142
Predicted ACC Championship Game Winner Florida State – 104 Clemson – 2 Virginia Tech - 2
Preseason ACC Player of the Year Jameis Winston, FSU - 99 Vic Beasley, CLEM - 6 Duke Johnson, MIA - 1 Jamison Crowder, DU - 1 Brenden Motley, VT - 1
Preseason All Conference Teams
Offense Position Player School Wide receiver Jamison Crowder Duke Rashad Greene Florida State DeVante Parker Louisville Tight end Nick O'Leary Florida State Tackle Cameron Erving Florida State Sean Hickey Syracuse Guard Tre' Jackson Florida State Laken Tomlinson Duke Center Andy Gallik Boston College Quarterback Jameis Winston Florida State Running back Duke Johnson Miami Karlos Williams Florida State
Defense Position Player School Defensive end Vic Beasley Clemson Mario Edwards Jr. Florida State Defensive tackle Luther Maddy Virginia Tech Grady Jarrett Clemson Linebacker Denzel Perryman Miami Kelby Brown Duke Stephone Anthony Clemson Cornerback Kendall Fuller Virginia Tech P. J. Williams Florida State Safety Anthony Harris Virginia Jeremy Cash Duke
Specialist Position Player School Placekicker Roberto Aguayo Florida State Punter A. J. Hughes Virginia Tech Specialist Ryan Switzer North Carolina
Coaches The conference had two new head coaches for the 2014 football season. Wake Forest hired Dave Clawson from Bowling Green one week after 13-year coach Jim Grobe resigned after his fifth straight losing season. Wake Forest athletic director, Ron Wellman, stated that their preference was to hire someone with experience coaching a private school. Clawson previously coached at FCS Fordham and Richmond before leading FBS Bowling Green to three bowl appearances and a conference title in the past five years. Louisville also changed coaches prior to the 2014 season. Former head coach Charlie Strong left the Louisville program following the 2013 season to take the head coaching position at Texas. Following his departure, Louisville rehired former head coach Bobby Petrino to a seven-year contract. Petrino formerly coached Louisville from 2003 to 2006 before leaving to coach at Arkansas. He spent his 2013 season as the head coach of Western Kentucky, where he led the team to an 8–4 record.
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 Steve Addazio 2 20–17 7–6 4–4 Clemson Dabo Swinney 7 51–23 51–23 33–12 Duke David Cutcliffe 7 75–73 31–44 15–33 Florida State Jimbo Fisher 4 45–10 45–10 26–6 Georgia Tech Paul Johnson 7 155–71 48–32 31–17 Louisville Bobby Petrino 5 83–30 41–9 0–0 Miami Al Golden 4 49–49 22–15 13–11 North Carolina Larry Fedora 3 49–29 15–10 9–7 NC State Dave Doeren 2 26–13 3–9 0–8 Pittsburgh Paul Chryst 3 13–13 13–13 3–5 Syracuse Scott Shafer 2 7–6 7–6 4–4 Virginia Mike London 5 42–36 18–31 8–24 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer 27 264-132–4 224–109–2 62–18 Wake Forest Dave Clawson 1 90–80 0–0 0–0
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 Wk15 FinalBoston College AP RV RV C RV RV CFP Not released Clemson AP 16 23 23 22 RV RV RV 24 21 22 19 18 RV 23 19 18 15C 16 24 24 24 RV RV 25 22 20 21 19 17 RV 24 19 18 15 CFP Not released 21 21 19 22 21 18 17Duke AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 22 19 25 RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV 23 RV RV RV RV 24 20 19 25 RV RV RV CFP Not released 24 22 21 Florida State AP 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 5 C 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 6 CFP Not released 2 2 3 3 3 4 3Georgia Tech AP RV RV 22 RV RV 24 17 16 12 10 8 C RV RV RV 23 RV RV RV 23 16 15 12 9 7CFP Not released 24 22 18 16 11 12Louisville AP RV 25 21 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 21 20 24C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 23 20 20 24CFP Not released 25 24 22 21 21Miami AP RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV CFP Not released North Carolina AP 23 21 RV RV C 23 23 25 25 RV CFP Not released NC State AP RV C RV RV CFP Not released Pittsburgh AP RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV CFP Not released Syracuse AP C CFP Not released Virginia AP RV RV RV RV C RV CFP Not released Virginia Tech AP RV RV 17 RV C RV RV 19 RV CFP Not released Wake Forest AP C CFP Not released
Notre Dame partnership
Starting in 2014, Notre Dame is scheduled to play five games against ACC opponents annually. Each ACC team will play Notre Dame at least once during a three-year period. Due to scheduling constraints however, the 2014 Notre Dame team will only play four ACC opponents, but will play six in 2015 to even out the schedule.
Bowl games
Bowl eligibility
Bowl eligible Boston College Clemson Duke Florida State Georgia Tech Louisville Miami NC State North Carolina Pittsburgh Virginia Tech
Bowl ineligible Syracuse Wake Forest Virginia
Bowl Results
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)ACC teamOpponentScoreAttendanceQuick Lane BowlDecember 26Ford Field • Detroit, MIESPN4:30 p.m.North CarolinaRutgersRUT 21–4023,876Bitcoin St. Petersburg BowlDecember 26Tropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FLESPN8:00 p.m.NC StateUCFNCSU 34–2726,675Military Bowl Presented by Northrop GrummanDecember 27Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MDESPN1:00 p.m.Virginia TechCincinnatiVT 33–1734,277Hyundai Sun BowlDecember 27Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, TXCBS2:00 p.m.Duke#15 Arizona StateASU 31–3634,780Duck Commander Independence BowlDecember 27Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LAABC3:30 p.m.MiamiSouth CarolinaUSC 21–2438,242New Era Pinstripe BowlDecember 27Yankee Stadium • New York, NYESPN4:30 p.m.Boston CollegePenn StatePSU 30–31 (OT)49,012Russell Athletic BowlDecember 29Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium • Orlando, FLESPN5:30 p.m.#17 ClemsonOklahomaCLEM 40–640,071Belk BowlDecember 30Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NCESPN6:30 p.m.#21 Louisville#13 GeorgiaUGA 14–3745,671Lockheed Martin Armed Forces BowlJanuary 2Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TXESPN12:00 p.m.PittsburghHoustonHOU 34–3537,888College Football Playoff bowl gamesCapital One Orange BowlDecember 31Sun Life Stadium • Miami Gardens, FLESPN8:00 p.m.#12 Georgia Tech#7 Mississippi StateGT 49–3458,211Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern MutualJanuary 1Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CAESPN5:10 p.m.#3 Florida State#2 OregonORE 59–2091,322
Postseason
All-conference teams The following players were selected to the All-ACC teams for 2014.
First Team Position Player Class Team First Team Offense QB Jameis Winston So Florida State RB James Conner So Pittsburgh Duke Johnson Jr Miami WR Rashad Greene Sr Florida State Jamison Crowder Sr Duke Tyler Boyd So Pittsburgh TE Nick O'Leary Sr Florida State T Cameron Erving Sr Florida State T. J. Clemmings Sr Pittsburgh G Laken Tomlinson Sr Duke Tre' Jackson Sr Florida State C Andy Gallik Sr Boston College First Team Defense DE Vic Beasley Sr Clemson Mario Edwards Jr. Jr Florida State DT Eddie Goldman Jr Florida State Grady Jarrett Sr Clemson LB Denzel Perryman Sr Miami David Helton Sr Duke Stephone Anthony Sr Clemson CB Kendall Fuller So Virginia Tech P. J. Williams Jr Florida State S Gerod Holliman So Louisville Jalen Ramsey So Florida State First Team Special Teams PK Roberto Aguayo So Florida State P Wil Baumann Sr NC State SP Jamison Crowder Sr Duke
Second Team Position Player Class Team Second Team Offense QB Marquise Williams Jr North Carolina RB Zach Laskey Sr Georgia Tech Dalvin Cook So Florida State WR Phillip Dorsett Sr Miami Mike Williams So Clemson Artavis Scott Fr Clemson TE Clive Walford Sr Miami T Ereck Flowers Jr Miami Jamon Brown Sr Louisville G Shaq Mason Sr Georgia Tech Josue Matías Jr Florida State C Cameron Erving Sr Florida State Second Team Defense DE Dadi Nicolas Jr Virginia Tech Eli Harold Jr Virginia DT Adam Gotsis Jr Georgia Tech Tylor Harris Jr Wake Forest LB Terrance Smith Jr Florida State Lorenzo Mauldin Sr Louisville Henry Coley^ Sr Virginia Quayshawn Nealy^ Sr Georgia Tech CB Garry Peters Sr Clemson Maurice Canady Jr Virginia S Jeremy Cash Jr Duke Quin Blanding Fr Virginia Second Team Special Teams PK Ian Frye Jr Virginia P Alex Kinal Jr Wake Forest SP Tyler Boyd So Pittsburgh
Third Team Position Player Class Team Third Team Offense QB Justin Thomas So Georgia Tech RB Kevin Parks Sr Virginia Jon Hilliman Fr Boston College WR DeAndre Smelter Sr Georgia Tech DeVante Parker Sr Louisville Ryan Switzer So North Carolina TE Bucky Hodges Fr Virginia Tech T Sean Hickey Sr Syracuse Bobby Hart^ Sr Florida State Seth Betancourt^ Sr Boston College Takoby Cofield^ Sr Duke G Landon Turner Jr North Carolina Matt Rotheram Sr Pittsburgh C Matt Skura Jr Duke Third Team Defense DE Sheldon Rankins Jr Louisville Ken Ekanem So Virginia Tech DT Corey Marshall Jr Virginia Tech Connor Wujciak Jr Boston College LB Reggie Northrup Jr Florida State Cameron Lynch Sr Syracuse Max Valles So Virginia CB Ronald Darby Jr Florida State Charles Gaines Jr Louisville S Anthony Harris Sr Virginia Jamal Golden Jr Georgia Tech Third Team Special Teams PK Ross Martin Jr Duke P Justin Vogel So Miami SP DeVon Edwards So Duke
^ indicates that there was a tie in the voting
ACC Individual Awards
ACC Player of the Year RB James Conner - Pittsburgh
Rookie of the Year QB Brad Kaaya - Miami
Coach of the Year Paul Johnson - Georgia Tech
Offensive Player of the Year RB James Conner - Pittsburgh
Offensive Rookie of the Year QB Brad Kaaya - Miami
Brian Piccolo Award RB Duke Johnson - Miami
Jacobs Blocking Trophy T Cameron Erving - Florida State
Defensive Player of the Year DT Vic Beasley - Clemson
Defensive Rookie of the Year S Quin Blanding - Virginia
Jim Tatum Award LB David Helton - Duke
National Awards
John Mackey Award TE Nick O'Leary- Florida State
Jim Thorpe Award S Gerod Holliman- Louisville
Campbell Trophy LB David Helton- Duke
References