The 2011 ACC football season is an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

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 Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The unive ...

and Wake Forest. The Coastal division consists of

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

. The division champions will meet on December 3 in the

2011 ACC Championship Game The 2011 ACC Championship Game was the seventh football championship game for the Atlantic Coast Conference. It featured the winners of the ACCs two divisions, the Atlantic Division and the Coastal Division. Clemson represented the Atlantic ...

, located in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

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 Montel Lamar Harris (born October 30, 1989) is American football running back. He played college football for the Boston College Eagles and Temple Owls. Early years Harris played Pop Warner football for the Normandy Cowboys, until his middle sc ...

of Boston College was voted the Preseason ACC Player of the Year.

Atlantic Division poll

– 420 (65 ''first place votes'') # Clemson – 286 (4) #

– 270 # Boston College – 224 (2) #

– 211 # Wake Forest – 80

Coastal Division poll

– 421 (66) #

– 328 (4) #

– 287 #

– 226 (1) #

– 132 #

– 96

Predicted ACC Championship Game Winner

# Florida State–50 # Virginia Tech–18 # Clemson–2 # Boston College–1

Preseason ACC Player of the Year

, BC – 26 #

E. J. Manuel Erik Rodriguez "EJ" Manuel Jr. (born March 19, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Florida State, leading the Seminoles to an ACC championship and Orange Bowl win in his senior year, and was drafted by ...

, FSU – 14 #

Luke Kuechly Luke August Kuechly (; born April 20, 1991) is an American former professional football middle linebacker who played all eight seasons of his career with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He is generally recognized a ...

, BC – 12 # David Wilson, Virginia Tech – 8 # Danny O'Brien, Maryland – 4 #

Andre Ellington Andre DeAngelo Ellington (born February 3, 1989) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Clemson and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. High school career Ellingto ...

, CLEM – 3 # Lamar Miller, MIA – 2 # Sean Spence, MIA – 1 # Brandon Jenkins, FSU – 1

Preseason All Conference Teams

Offense

Defense

Specialist

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 Ralph Harry Friedgen (born April 4, 1947) is a former American football coach. He was most recently the special assistant coach for Rutgers in 2015 after serving as their offensive coordinator in the 2014 season. He was the head coach at the U ...

's contract. They hired

Randy Edsall Randy Douglas Edsall (born August 27, 1958) is a retired American football coach, formerly the head football coach at the University of Connecticut from 1999 to 2010 and again from 2017 until his abrupt retirement in 2021. He also served as the h ...

who had been the head coach at

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from ...

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 A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

. In an unexpected turn of events, on July 27, 2011, UNC chancellor

Holden Thorp Herbert Holden Thorp (born August 16, 1964) is an American chemist, professor and entrepreneur. He was the tenth chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, assuming the position on July 1, 2008, succeeding James Moeser, and, a ...

announced that the UNC Board of Trustees decided to dismiss

Butch Davis Paul Hilton "Butch" Davis Jr. (born November 17, 1951) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Florida International University. After graduating from the University of Arkansas, he became an assistant co ...

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

into academic fraud, impermissible benefits, and talking to agents in the 2010 season. The next day on the 28th,

Everett Withers Everett Rowe Withers (born June 15, 1963) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the assistant head coach and defensive passing game coordinator for the Florida Atlantic Owls. He formerly served as the defensive ...

, 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

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''

Rankings

Bowl Games

Postseason

All-conference teams

First Team

''Offense'' ''Defense''

Second Team

''Offense'' ''Defense''

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

- 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 Michael Wilson London Sr. (born October 9, 1960) is the current head football coach for the William & Mary Tribe football program at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He is a former defensive back and associate head coa ...

- Virginia

Brian Piccolo Louis Brian Piccolo (October 31, 1943 – June 16, 1970) was an American professional football player, a halfback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) for four years. He died at age 26 from embryonal cell carcinoma, an a ...

Award :RB Giovani Bernard- North Carolina

Jim Tatum Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

Award :WR Danny Coale- Virginia Tech

National Awards

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

:LB

- Boston College

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, a ...

:TE

Dwayne Allen Dwayne Lamont Allen (born February 24, 1990) is a former American football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at Clemson, where he won the John Mackey Award as a junior, and ...

- Clemson

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lomba ...

:LB

- Boston College

Jack Tatum John David Tatum (November 18, 1948 – July 27, 2010) was an American football safety. He played 10 seasons, from 1971 through 1980, with the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers in the National Football League (NFL). He was popularly known as " ...

Award :CB

David Amerson David Amerson (born December 8, 1991) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at North Carolina State University and was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He was also a mem ...

- NC State

References

{{2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season navbox