2014 Atlantic Coast Conference football season explained

2014 ACC football season
Color:	013ca6
Color Text:	ffffff
League:	NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision)
Sport:	Football
Pixels:	150px
Duration:	August 2014 to January 2015
No Of Teams:	14
Season:	Regular season
Conf1:	Atlantic
Conf1 Link:	ACC Atlantic Division
Conf1 Champ:	Florida State
Conf2:	Coastal
Conf2 Link:	ACC Coastal Division
Conf2 Champ:	Georgia Tech
Finals:	ACC Championship Game
Finals Link:	2014 ACC Championship Game
Finals Champ:	Florida State
Finals Runner-Up:	Georgia Tech
Finals Mvp:	Dalvin Cook
Seasonslist:	List of ACC football seasons
Seasonslistnames:	ACC
Prevseason Link:	2013 Atlantic Coast Conference football season
Prevseason Year:	2013
Nextseason Link:	2015 Atlantic Coast Conference football season
Nextseason Year:	2015

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.^[1] 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.^{[2] [3]} The Irish are not eligible for the ACC Championship Game.^[4]

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.^[5]

Atlantic Division poll

1. Florida State – 780 (104 first place votes)
2. Clemson – 660 (3)
3. Louisville – 564
4. Syracuse - 368
5. North Carolina State – 326
6. Boston College – 301
7. Wake Forest – 136

Coastal Division poll

1. Miami – 614 (26)
2. Duke – 597 (33)
3. Virginia Tech – 571 (23)
4. North Carolina – 570 (27)
5. Georgia Tech – 322 (1)
6. Pittsburgh - 319 (2)
7. Virginia – 142

Predicted ACC Championship Game Winner

1. Florida State – 104
2. Clemson – 2
3. Virginia Tech - 2

Preseason ACC Player of the Year

1. Jameis Winston, FSU - 99
2. Vic Beasley, CLEM - 6
3. Duke Johnson, MIA - 1
4. Jamison Crowder, DU - 1
5. Brenden Motley, VT - 1

Preseason All Conference Teams

^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8] Following his departure, Louisville rehired former head coach Bobby Petrino to a seven-year contract.^[9] 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

See also: 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings.

Legend

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
align=center style="width:20px; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; background:white;"		RV	Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

	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	Wk 15	Final
Boston 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	15
C	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	17
Duke	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	3
Georgia 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	7
CFP	Not released		24	22	18	16	11	12
Louisville	AP	RV	25	21	RV	RV		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	21	20	24
C	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV			RV	RV	RV	RV	23	20	20	24
CFP	Not released	25			24	22	21	21
Miami	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.^[10] 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.^[11]

Bowl games

Bowl eligibility

Bowl eligible^[12]

• 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

See also: 2014–15 NCAA football bowl games.

Bowl game	Date	Site	Television	Time (EST)	ACC team	Opponent	Score	Attendance
Quick Lane Bowl	December 26	Ford Field • Detroit, MI	ESPN	4:30 PM	North Carolina	Rutgers	RUT 21–40	23,876
Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl	December 26	Tropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FL	ESPN	8:00 PM	NC State	UCF	NCSU 34–27	26,675
Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman	December 27	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	ESPN	1:00 PM	Virginia Tech	Cincinnati	VT 33–17	34,277
Hyundai Sun Bowl	December 27	Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, TX	CBS	2:00 PM	Duke	15 Arizona State	ASU 31–36	34,780
Duck Commander Independence Bowl	December 27	Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA	ABC	3:30 PM	Miami	South Carolina	USC 21–24	38,242
New Era Pinstripe Bowl	December 27	Yankee Stadium • New York, NY	ESPN	4:30 PM	Boston College	Penn State	PSU 30–31 (OT)	49,012
Russell Athletic Bowl	December 29	Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPN	5:30 PM	17 Clemson	Oklahoma	CLEM 40–6	40,071
Belk Bowl	December 30	Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NC	ESPN	6:30 PM	21 Louisville	13 Georgia	UGA 14–37	45,671
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl	January 2	Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX	ESPN	12:00 PM	Pittsburgh	Houston	HOU 34–35	37,888
College Football Playoff bowl games
Capital One Orange Bowl	December 31	Sun Life Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL	ESPN	8:00 PM	12 Georgia Tech	7 Mississippi State	GT 49–34	58,211
Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual	January 1	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA	ESPN	5:10 PM	3 Florida State	2 Oregon	ORE 59–20	91,322

Postseason

All-conference teams

The following players were selected to the All-ACC teams for 2014.^[13]

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

^[14] 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^[15]

RB Duke Johnson - Miami

Jacobs Blocking Trophy^[16]

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^[17]

LB David Helton - Duke

National Awards

^[18] John Mackey Award

TE Nick O'Leary- Florida State

Jim Thorpe Award

S Gerod Holliman- Louisville

Campbell Trophy

LB David Helton- Duke

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2013 ACC Composite Football Schedule - Week-By-Week . 2013-11-09 . 2013-02-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130228134128/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/acc/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2013-14/misc_non_event/13accfbschedule.pdf . dead .
2. Web site: Schwab. Frank. Notre Dame to the ACC, football not included... but football will have ACC feel to it. Yahoo! sports. 28 September 2012.
3. Web site: Hansen. Eric. Swarbrick offers updates on hot topics. South Bend Tribune. 8 November 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20130416004347/http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2012-10-10/sports/34369074_1_football-series-shamrock-series-notre-dame-stadium. 16 April 2013. dead.
4. Web site: Notre Dame sets ACC schedule for 2014-16. Chip Patterson. CBSSports.com. December 20, 2013. April 28, 2014.
5. Web site: 2014 . Defending National Champion Florida State Leads ACC Preseason Football Poll. Atlantic Coast Conference. 15 August 2014.
6. Web site: 2014 . 2014 Preseason All-ACC Football Team Announced. Atlantic Coast Conference. 15 August 2014.
7. Web site: 2013 . Wake Forest hires Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson. USA Today. 4 August 2014.
8. Web site: 2014 . It's official: Charlie Strong to Texas. sportingnews.com. 4 August 2014.
9. Web site: Joe Shad and Brett McMurphy. 2014 . Louisville hires Bobby Petrino. ESPN.com. 4 August 2014.
10. Web site: Matt Fortuna. 2013 . Clarifying Notre Dame's ACC arrangement. ESPN.com. 19 November 2014.
11. Web site: JJ Stankevitz. 2014. ACC deal another necessary change for Notre Dame. CSN Chicago. 19 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141230170642/http://www.csnchicago.com/notre-dame/acc-deal-another-necessary-change-notre-dame. 2014-12-30. dead.
12. Web site: NCAA FBS (Division I-A) Football Standings - 2014. https://archive.today/20120709025757/http://espn.go.com/college-football/standings. live. July 9, 2012. 26 October 2014.
13. Web site: 2014. ACSMA Announces 2014 All-ACC Teams. theacc.com. 28 July 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141227005022/http://www.theacc.com/news/acsma-announces-2014-all-acc-teams-12-01-2014. 27 December 2014.
14. Web site: 2014 . 2014 coaches' all-ACC football, award winners. USA Today. 31 July 2015.
15. Web site: 2014. Miami's Johnson Named Winner of Brian Piccolo Award. theacc.com. 31 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307100256/http://www.theacc.com/news/brian-piccolo-award-12-04-2014. 7 March 2016. dead. dmy-all.
16. Web site: 2014. Florida State's Cameron Erving Repeats as ACC Jacobs Blocking Trophy Recipient. theacc.com. 31 July 2015.
17. Web site: 2014 . Jim Tatum Award Goes To Helton. goduke.com. 31 July 2015.
18. Web site: 2014 . College Football Awards - 2014. ESPN. 31 July 2015.