The 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference football season was the 63rd season of college football play for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). It was played from September 2015 to January 2016. 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, Clemson and North Carolina, met on December 5 in the 2015 ACC Championship Game, in Charlotte, North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium.
Preseason
Preseason Poll The 2015 ACC Preseason Poll was announced at the ACC Football Kickoff meetings in Pinehurst, North Carolina on July 19–21. Georgia Tech was voted to win Coastal division while Clemson was voted to win the Atlantic division and the conference. Deshaun Watson of Clemson was voted the Preseason ACC Player of the Year.
Atlantic Division poll Clemson – 1,032 (101 first place votes) Florida State – 992 (56) Louisville – 746 (1) North Carolina State - 673 Boston College – 473 Syracuse – 291 Wake Forest – 217
Coastal Division poll Georgia Tech – 991 (96) Virginia Tech – 841 (44) Miami – 632 (7) Duke – 615 (4) North Carolina – 590 (4) Pittsburgh - 535 (3) Virginia – 220
Predicted ACC Championship Game Winner Clemson – 84 Florida State – 41 Georgia Tech - 20 Virginia Tech - 7 North Carolina - 3 Miami - 2 NC State - 1
Preseason ACC Player of the Year Deshaun Watson, CLEM - 69 James Conner, PITT - 16 Justin Thomas, GT - 13 Jalen Ramsey, FSU - 7 Brad Kaaya, MIA - 7 Marquise Williams, UNC - 6 Kendall Fuller, VT - 6 Tyler Boyd, PITT - 3 Jacoby Brissett, NCST - 1
Preseason All Conference Teams
Offense Position Player School Wide receiver Tyler Boyd Pittsburgh Mike Williams Clemson Artavis Scott Clemson Tight end Bucky Hodges Virginia Tech Tackle Roderick Johnson Florida State Adam Bisnowaty Pittsburgh Guard Landon Turner North Carolina Eric Mac Lain Clemson Center Matt Skura Duke Quarterback Deshaun Watson Clemson Running back James Conner Pittsburgh Shadrach Thornton NC State
Defense Position Player School Defensive end Dadi Lhomme Nicolas Virginia Tech Shaq Lawson Clemson Sheldon Rankins Louisville Defensive tackle Adam Gotsis Georgia Tech Luther Maddy Virginia Tech Linebacker Terrance Smith Florida State Brandon Chubb Wake Forest James Burgess Louisville Cornerback Jalen Ramsey Florida State Kendall Fuller Virginia Tech Safety Jeremy Cash Duke Quin Blanding Virginia
Specialist Position Player School Placekicker Roberto Aguayo Florida State Punter Alex Kinal Wake Forest Specialist Ryan Switzer North Carolina
Coaches
Only one team changed head coaches for the 2015 season. Pat Narduzzi was selected as Pittsburgh's fifth head coach since 2010 following the resignation of former coach Paul Chryst. Chryst accepted the head coaching job at Wisconsin on December 17, 2014, leaving the vacancy for Pittsburgh to fill. This will be Narduzzi's first head coaching job at the collegiate level. He has, however, been regarded as one of the best assistant coaches in college football, winning the 2013 Broyles Award. He was most recently the defensive coordinator at Michigan State.
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 3 27–23 14–12 8–8 Clemson Dabo Swinney 8 61–26 61–26 39–14 Duke David Cutcliffe 8 84–77 40–48 20–36 Florida State Jimbo Fisher 5 58–11 58–11 34–6 Georgia Tech Paul Johnson 8 166–74 58–35 37–19 Louisville Bobby Petrino 6 92–34 50–13 5–3 Miami Al Golden 5 55–56 28–22 16–16 North Carolina Larry Fedora 4 55–36 21–17 13–11 NC State Dave Doeren 3 34–18 11–14 3–13 Pittsburgh Pat Narduzzi 1 0–0 0–0 0–0 Syracuse Scott Shafer 3 10–15 10–15 5–11 Virginia Mike London 6 47–43 23–38 11–29 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer 28 273-138–4 231–115–2 65–23 Wake Forest Dave Clawson 2 93–88 3–9 1–7
Al Golden Firing
On October 25, Miami athletic director Blake James fired head coach Al Golden, just over halfway through the season. The firing came after a 58–0 loss to Clemson, the worst loss in program history. Throughout the season, parts of the Miami fan base, and even former players, had been very vocal in calling for a head coaching change. In each home game, and even a game at Cincinnati, planes had been hired to fly banners over the stadium on gameday reading "Fire Al Golden". The tight ends coach, Larry Scott, took over interim head coaching duties for the remainder of the season.
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 RV CFP Not released Clemson AP 12 12 11 11 12 6 5 (1) 6 (1) 3 (6) 3 (6) 1 (31) 1 (34) 1 (55) 1 (53) 1 (51) 2C 12 12 9 10 11 6 6 6 6 (1) 5 (2) 2 (21) 1 (28) 1 (58) 1 (52) 1 (55) 2CFP Not released 1 1 1 1 1 1Duke AP RV RV RV 25 23 22 RV RVC RV RV RV RV RV 24 21 18 RV RV CFP Not released Florida State AP 10 11 9 10 11 12 11 9 17 17 19 16 14 10 9 14C 8 8 6 7 9 8 8 9 15 15 18 16 14 9 8 14CFP Not released 16 16 14 13 9 9Georgia Tech AP 16 15 14 20 C 17 16 16 20 RV CFP Not released Louisville AP RV RV C RV RV RV RV RVCFP Not released Miami AP RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released North Carolina AP RV RV RV 21 17 12 11 8 10 15C RV RV RV RV RV 21 17 12 11 8 11 15CFP Not released 23 17 14 10 10NC State AP RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Pittsburgh AP 25 23 RV RV RV C RV RV RV 24 RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Syracuse AP C CFP Not released Virginia AP C CFP Not released Virginia Tech AP RV RV RV C RV RV CFP Not released Wake Forest AP C CFP Not released
Bowl Games
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)ACC teamOpponentScoreAttendanceHyundai Sun BowlDecember 26Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, TXCBS2:00 p.m.MiamiWashington StateWSU 14–2041,180New Era Pinstripe BowlDecember 26Yankee Stadium • New York, NYABC3:30 p.m.DukeIndianaDUKE 44–41 (OT)37,218Camping World Independence BowlDecember 26Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LAESPN5:30 p.m.Virginia TechTulsaVT 55–5231,289Military Bowl Presented by Northrop GrummanDecember 28Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MDESPN2:30 p.m.Pittsburgh#21 NavyNAVY 28–4436,352Russell Athletic BowlDecember 29Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium • Orlando, FLESPN5:30 p.m.#10 North Carolina#17 BaylorBU 38–4940,418Belk BowlDecember 30Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NCESPN3:30 p.m. NC State Mississippi StateMSU 28–5146,423Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl December 30Nissan Stadium • Nashville, TNESPN7:00 p.m. Louisville Texas A&MLOU 27–21 50,478College Football Playoff bowl gamesChick-fil-A Peach BowlDecember 31Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GAESPN12:00 p.m.#9 Florida State#18 HoustonHOU 24–3871,007Capital One Orange Bowl (CFP Semifinal)December 31Sun Life Stadium • Miami Gardens, FLESPN4:00 p.m.#1 Clemson#4 OklahomaCLEM 37–1767,615CFP National ChampionshipJanuary 11University of Phoenix Stadium • Glendale, AZESPN8:00 p.m.#1 Clemson#2 AlabamaALA 40–4575,765
* Rankings based on CFP rankings
Postseason
All-conference teams The following player were selected to the All-ACC teams for 2015.
First Team Position Player Class Team First Team Offense QB Deshaun Watson So Clemson RB Dalvin Cook So Florida State Elijah Hood So North Carolina WR Tyler Boyd Jr Pittsburgh Artavis Scott So Clemson Isaiah Ford So Virginia Tech TE Jaylen Samuels So NC State T Roderick Johnson So Florida State Joe Thuney Sr NC State G Landon Turner Sr North Carolina Eric Mac Lain Sr Clemson C Matt Skura Sr Duke First Team Defense DE Ejuan Price Sr Pittsburgh Shaq Lawson Jr Clemson DT Carlos Watkins Jr Clemson Luther Maddy^ Sr Virginia Tech Connor Wujciak^ Sr Boston College LB Micah Kiser So Virginia Brandon Chubb Sr Wake Forest Keith Kelsey Jr Louisville CB Jalen Ramsey Jr Florida State Mackensie Alexander So Clemson S Jeremy Cash Sr Duke Quin Blanding So Virginia First Team Special Teams PK Roberto Aguayo Jr Florida State P Riley Dixon Sr Syracuse SP DeVon Edwards Jr Duke
Second Team Position Player Class Team Second Team Offense QB Marquise Williams Sr North Carolina RB Wayne Gallman So Clemson Qadree Ollison Fr Pittsburgh WR Travis Rudolph So Florida State Canaan Severin Sr Virginia Mack Hollins^ Jr North Carolina Kermit Whitfield^ Jr Florida State TE Jordan Leggett Jr Clemson T Jon Heck Jr North Carolina Adam Bisnowaty Jr Pittsburgh G Dorian Johnson Jr Pittsburgh Caleb Peterson Jr North Carolina C Jay Guillermo Jr Clemson Second Team Defense DE Mike Rose Sr NC State DeMarcus Walker Jr Florida State DT Nile Lawrence-Stample Jr Florida State DeAngelo Brown Jr Louisville LB Steven Daniels Sr Boston College Ben Boulware^ Jr Clemson B. J. Goodson^ Sr Clemson Reggie Northrup^ Sr Florida State CB M. J. Stewart So North Carolina Artie Burns Jr Miami S Jayron Kearse Jr Clemson Justin Simmons Sr Boston College Second Team Special Teams PK Greg Huegel Fr Clemson P Alex Kinal Sr Wake Forest SP Ryan Switzer Jr North Carolina
Third Team Position Player Class Team Third Team Offense QB Brad Kaaya So Miami RB Taquan Mizzell Jr Virginia Travon McMillian Fr Virginia Tech WR Stacy Coley Jr Miami Ryan Switzer Jr North Carolina Quinshad Davis Sr North Carolina TE Bucky Hodges So Virginia Tech T Mitch Hyatt Fr Clemson Joe Gore Sr Clemson G Tyrone Crowder So Clemson Kareem Are Jr Florida State C Lucas Crowley Jr North Carolina Third Team Defense DE Sheldon Rankins Sr Louisville Ron Thompson Jr Syracuse DT Nazair Jones Jr North Carolina Derrick Nnadi^ So Florida State Darryl Render^ Sr Pittsburgh LB Shakeel Rashad Sr North Carolina James Burgess Sr Louisville Dwayne Norman Sr Duke CB Cordrea Tankersley Jr Clemson Des Lawrence Jr North Carolina S Jordan Whitehead Fr Pittsburgh Derwin James Fr Florida State Third Team Special Teams PK Ross Martin Sr Duke P Will Monday Sr Duke SP Brisly Estime Jr Syracuse
^ indicates that there was a tie in the voting
ACC Individual Awards
ACC Player of the Year QB Deshaun Watson - Clemson
Rookie of the Year S Jordan Whitehead - Pittsburgh
Coach of the Year Dabo Swinney - Clemson
Offensive Player of the Year QB Deshaun Watson - Clemson
Offensive Rookie of the Year QB Qadree Ollison - Miami
Jacobs Blocking Trophy T Roderick Johnson - Florida State
Defensive Player of the Year S Jeremy Cash - Duke
Defensive Rookie of the Year S Jordan Whitehead - Pittsburgh
National Awards
Davey O'Brien Award QB Deshaun Watson - Clemson
Home Depot Coach of the Year Award Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Award Dabo Swinney - Clemson
Pop Warner College Football Award LB Brandon Chubb - Wake Forest
References