2011 Atlantic Coast Conference football season

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^[1] in the 2011 ACC Championship Game, located in Charlotte, North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium.

2011 ACC football season
League	NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport	Football
Duration	September 1, 2011 – January 4, 2012
Number of teams	12
Regular season
Season MVP	David Wilson
Atlantic champions	Clemson Tigers
Coastal champions	Virginia Tech Hokies
ACC Championship Game
Champions	Clemson Tigers

2011 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 22 Clemson x$		6	–	2					10	–	4
Wake Forest		5	–	3					6	–	7
No. 23 Florida State		5	–	3					9	–	4
NC State		4	–	4					8	–	5
Boston College		3	–	5					4	–	8
Maryland		1	–	7					2	–	10
Coastal Division
No. 21 Virginia Tech x%		7	–	1					11	–	3
Virginia		5	–	3					8	–	5
Georgia Tech		5	–	3					8	–	5
Miami (FL)		3	–	5					6	–	6
North Carolina		3	–	5					7	–	6
Duke		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: Clemson 38, Virginia Tech 10
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

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.^[2]

Atlantic Division poll

1. Florida State – 420 (65 first place votes)
2. Clemson – 286 (4)
3. North Carolina State – 270
4. Boston College – 224 (2)
5. Maryland – 211
6. Wake Forest – 80

Coastal Division poll

1. Virginia Tech – 421 (66)
2. Miami – 328 (4)
3. North Carolina – 287
4. Georgia Tech – 226 (1)
5. Virginia – 132
6. Duke – 96

Predicted ACC Championship Game Winner

1. Florida State–50
2. Virginia Tech–18
3. Clemson–2
4. Boston College–1

Preseason ACC Player of the Year

1. Montel Harris, BC – 26
2. E. J. Manuel, FSU – 14
3. Luke Kuechly, BC – 12
4. David Wilson, Virginia Tech – 8
5. Danny O'Brien, Maryland – 4
6. Andre Ellington, CLEM – 3
7. Lamar Miller, MIA – 2
8. Sean Spence, MIA – 1
9. 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

^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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 Team
September 1	Wake Forest	Syracuse		Syracuse
September 3	Northwestern	Boston College		Northwestern
September 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

See also: 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football 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	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Final
Boston College	AP
	C
	BCS	Not released
Clemson	AP		RV		21	13	8	8	8	6	11	9	7	18	21	14	22
	C	RV	RV	RV	22	15	8	8	8	6	12	10	8	17	21	14	22
	BCS	Not released							7	5	11	9	7	17	20	15
Duke	AP
	C						RV
	BCS	Not released
Florida State	AP	6	5	5	11	23	23				RV	RV	23		25	25	23
	C	5	4	5	14	24	22				RV	RV	22	RV	24	25	23
	BCS	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	RV
	C								RV			RV	RV	25	RV	RV	RV
	BCS	Not released
Virginia Tech	AP	13	11	13	13	11	21	19	16	15	12	10	9	6	5	17	21
	C	13	11	12	11	10	17	17	14	15	11	9	7	4	3	11	17
	BCS	Not released							12	12	12	10	8	5	5	11
Wake Forest	AP							RV	RV
	C							RV		RV
	BCS	Not released

Bowl Games

Bowl Game	Date	Stadium	City	Television	Matchup/Result	Attendance	Payout (US$) per team
BCS
Allstate Sugar Bowl	January 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-BCS
Advocare 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

^[8]

ACC Individual Awards

ACC Player of the Year[9] RB David Wilson- Virginia Tech

Offensive Player of the Year[9] RB David Wilson- Virginia Tech

Defensive Player of the Year[10] LB Luke Kuechly- Boston College

Rookie of the Year[11] WR Sammy Watkins- Clemson

Offensive Rookie of the Year[11] WR Sammy Watkins- Clemson

Defensive Rookie of the Year[12] CB Merrill Noel- Wake Forest

Coach of the Year[13] Mike London- Virginia

Brian Piccolo Award[14] RB Giovani Bernard- North Carolina

Jim Tatum Award[15] WR Danny Coale- Virginia Tech

National Awards

Butkus Award[16] LB Luke Kuechly- Boston College John Mackey Award[17] TE Dwayne Allen- Clemson

Lombardi Award[18] LB Luke Kuechly- Boston College

Jack Tatum Award[19] CB David Amerson- NC State