The 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference football season was the 66th season of College Football play for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). It was played from August 30, 2018 until January 2019. The Atlantic Coast Conference consists of 14 members in two divisions. It was part of the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The entire 2018 schedule was released on January 17, 2018.
Preseason
ACC Media days
The 2018 ACC Football Kickoff event was held on July 18 & 19 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. On July 6, the ACC announced 28 student athletes from 14 schools that addressed the media at the kickoff event. Press also released preseason polls (shown below) at the event.
Preseason Poll The 2018 ACC Preseason Poll was announced following the ACC Football Kickoff event. Clemson and Miami were selected to win the Atlantic Division and Coastal Division, respectively. Clemson was selected the favorite to win the ACC Championship, receiving 139 out of 148 votes, or 94% of the vote. The poll was voted on by 148 media members, all of which were in attendance for the ACC Football Kickoff.
ACC Championship Votes
Clemson – 139 Miami – 5 NC State – 2 Virginia Tech, Florida State – 1
Atlantic Division Clemson – 1,031 (145 First place votes) Florida State – 789 (1) NC State – 712 (2) Boston College – 545 Louisville – 422 Wake Forest – 413 Syracuse – 232
Coastal Division Miami – 998 (122) Virginia Tech – 838 (16) Georgia Tech – 654 (8) Duke – 607 (1) Pittsburgh – 420 North Carolina – 370 (1) Virginia – 257
Preseason ACC Player of the year Source:
1 A. J. Dillon (RB) - Boston College - 45 2 Christian Wilkins (DT) - Clemson - 42 3 Ryan Finley (QB) - NC State - 37 4 Cam Akers (RB) - Florida State - 13 5 Greg Dortch (WR) - Wake Forest – 3 T6 Joe Giles-Harris (LB) - Duke, TaQuon Marshall (QB) - Georgia Tech – 2 T8 Zach Allen - (DE) - Boston College, Eric Dungey (QB) - Syracuse, Jaylen Smith (WR) - Louisville, Olamide Zaccheaus (HB) - Virginia – 1
Preseason All Conference Teams
Offense Position Player School Votes Wide receiver Jaylen Smith Louisville 90 Kelvin Harmon NC State 71 Hunter Renfrow Clemson 62 Tight end Tommy Sweeney Boston College 106 Advanced Playmaker Greg Dortch Wake Forest 64 Tackle Mitch Hyatt Clemson 130 Chris Lindstrom Boston College 72 Guard Parker Braun Georgia Tech 83 Phil Haynes Wake Forest 65 Center Justin Falcinelli Clemson 56 Quarterback Ryan Finley NC State 102 Running back A. J. Dillon Boston College 112 Cam Akers Florida State 94
Defense Position Player School Votes Defensive end Clelin Ferrell Clemson 122 Austin Bryant Clemson 80 Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins Clemson 122 Dexter Lawrence Clemson 119 Linebacker Joe Giles-Harris Duke 103 Shaquille Quarterman Miami 98 Kendall Joseph Clemson 84 Cornerback Mark Gilbert Duke 84 Michael Jackson Miami 68 Safety Jaquan Johnson Miami 103 Lukas Denis Boston College 64
Specialist Position Player School Votes Placekicker Ricky Aguayo Florida State 119 Punter Sterling Hofrichter Syracuse 33 Specialist Anthony Ratliff-Williams North Carolina 97
Source:
Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN Rivals 24/7Signees Boston College 62 69 67 20 Clemson 5 8 6 17 Duke 61 64 61 16 Florida State 11 10 11 21 Georgia Tech 53 52 51 21 Louisville 28 31 29 23 Miami 8 6 8 23 North Carolina 26 23 23 21 NC State 29 34 26 24 Pittsburgh 56 36 46 20 Syracuse 52 63 46 20 Virginia 57 66 64 20 Virginia Tech 22 22 24 26 Wake Forest 60 60 60 22
Coaches
Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school ACC record Boston College Steve Addazio 6 44–44 31–33 15–25 Clemson Dabo Swinney 11 101–30 101–30 61–16 Duke David Cutcliffe 11 103–96 59–67 28–52 Florida State Willie Taggart 1 47–50 0–0 0–0 Georgia Tech Paul Johnson 11 182–93 75–54 46–34 Louisville Bobby Petrino 9 117–48 75–27 45–17 Miami Mark Richt 3 164–58 19–7 12–4 North Carolina Larry Fedora 7 77–53 43–34 27–21 NC State Dave Doeren 6 57–34 34–30 15–25 Pittsburgh Pat Narduzzi 4 21–17 21–17 14–10 Syracuse Dino Babers 3 45–32 8–16 4-12 Virginia Bronco Mendenhall 3 107–60 8–17 4–12 Virginia Tech Justin Fuente 3 45–31 19–8 11–5 Wake Forest Dave Clawson 5 111–108 21–29 9–23
Notes: Records shown are prior to the 2018 season. Years at school includes the 2018 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 RV RV RV 23 RV RV 24 17 22 C RV RV RV 25 RV RV RV 25 14 22 RV CFP Not released 21 17 20 Clemson AP 2 (18) 2 (12) 2 (6) 3 3 (1) 4 (1) 4 (2) 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 (61)C 2 (3) 2 (3) 2 (3) 2 (2) 2 (2) 4 (2) 4 (2) 3 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (1) 2 (1) 2 (1) 2 (1) 2 (2) 1 (64)CFP Not released 2 2 2 2 2 2 Duke AP RV RV 22 RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV 23 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RVCFP Not released Florida State AP 19 RV RV C 19 RV RV CFP Not released Georgia Tech AP C RV CFP Not released Louisville AP C RV CFP Not released Miami AP 8 22 21 20 16 17 16 RV RV C 8 21 20 21 16 17 15 RV 25 RV CFP Not released North Carolina AP C CFP Not released NC State AP RV RV RV RV RV 23 20 16 22 RV 22 RV RV RV RV RVC RV RV RV RV RV 25 19 15 22 RV 22 RV RV RV RV RVCFP Not released 21 14 Pittsburgh AP RV 24 C RV RV RV 25 RV CFP Not released 24 Syracuse AP RV RV RV 22 13 12 19 18 17 15C RV RV RV RV 24 13 12 19 18 17 15CFP Not released 19 13 12 20 20 20 Virginia AP RV RV 23 C RV RV RV 22 RV RV RVCFP Not released 25 Virginia Tech AP 20 12 13 13 RV 24 C 17 14 11 10 24 23 RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Wake Forest AP C CFP Not released
Schedule Index to colors and formattingACC member wonACC member lostACC teams in bold
† denotes Homecoming game
Regular season
Week one
Week two
Week three
Week four
Week five
Week six
Date Bye WeekOctober 6 Duke North Carolina Virginia
Week seven
Date Bye WeekOctober 13 No. 4 Clemson Florida State No. 20 NC State Syracuse Wake Forest
Week eight
Date Bye WeekOctober 20 Boston College Louisville Georgia Tech Miami Pittsburgh Virginia Tech
Week nine
Week ten
Week eleven
Week twelve
Week thirteen
Week fourteen
Championship game
Date Time Visiting team Home team Site Broadcast Result Attendance ReferenceDecember 1 8:00 p.m. No. 2 Clemson Pittsburgh Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NC ABC CLEM 42–10 67,784
ACC vs other conferences ACC vs Power 5 matchups This is a list of the power conference teams (Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, Notre Dame and SEC). Although the NCAA does not consider BYU a "Power Five" school, the ACC considers games against BYU as satisfying its "Power Five" scheduling requirement. The ACC plays in the non-conference games. All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
Date Visitor Home Site Significance Score September 1 California North Carolina California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA L 17–24 September 1 No. 1 Alabama Louisville Camping World Stadium • Orlando Camping World Kickoff L 14–51 September 2 No. 25 LSU No. 8 Miami (FL) AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX Advocare Classic L 17–33 September 8 Duke Northwestern Ryan Field • Evanston, IL W 21–7 September 8 No. 2 Clemson Texas A&M Kyle Field • College Station, TX W 28–26 September 8 No. 13 Penn State Pittsburgh Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA Rivalry L 6–51 September 8 Virginia Indiana Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN L 16–20 September 15 Duke Baylor McLane Stadium • Waco, TX W 40–27 September 22 No. 23 Boston College Purdue Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN L 13–30 September 22 No. 8 Notre Dame Wake Forest BB&T Field • Winston–Salem, NC L 27–56 October 6 No. 6 Notre Dame No. 23 Virginia Tech Lane Stadium • Blacksburg, VA L 23–45 October 13 Pittsburgh No. 5 Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN Rivalry L 14–19 November 10 Florida State No. 3 Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN L 13–42 November 17 No. 12 Syracuse No. 3 Notre Dame Yankee Stadium • Bronx, NY L 3–36 November 24 Georgia Tech No. 5 Georgia Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate L 21–45 November 24 South Carolina No. 2 Clemson Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC Palmetto Bowl W 56–35 November 24 No. 17 Kentucky Louisville Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY Governor's Cup L 10–56 November 24 No. 13 Florida Florida State Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL Rivalry L 14–41
Records against other conferences
Regular Season
Power 5 ConferencesRecordBig Ten1–3Big 121–0BYU/Notre Dame0–5Pac-120–1SEC2–5Power 5 Total4–14Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican4–3C–USA5–1Independents (Excluding BYU & Notre Dame)3–0MAC5–0Mountain West0–0Sun Belt1–0Other FBS Total18–4FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision14–0Total Non-Conference Record36–18
Post Season
Power Conferences 5RecordBig Ten0–2Big 121–0BYU/Notre Dame1–0Pac-120–1SEC2–1Power 5 Total4–4Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican2–1C–USA0–0Independents (Excluding BYU & Notre Dame)0–0MAC0–0Mountain West0–0Sun Belt0–0Other FBS Total2–1Total Bowl Record6–5
Postseason
Bowl games Legend ACC win ACC loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)ACC teamOpponentScoreAttendance 2018 Birmingham Bowl December 22 Legion Field • Birmingham, AL ESPN 12:00 p.m. Wake Forest Memphis W 37–34 25,717 2018 First Responder Bowl December 26 Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX ESPN 1:30 p.m. Boston College Boise State Canceled 2018 Quick Lane Bowl December 26 Ford Field • Detroit, MI ESPN 5:15 p.m. Georgia Tech Minnesota L 10–34 27,228 2018 Independence Bowl December 27 Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA ESPN 1:30 p.m. Duke Temple W 56–27 27,492 2018 Pinstripe Bowl December 27 Yankee Stadium • New York, NY ESPN 5:15 p.m. Miami Wisconsin L 3–35 37,821 2018 Camping World Bowl December 28 Camping World Stadium • Orlando, FL ESPN 5:15 p.m. No. 20 Syracuse No. 16 West Virginia W 34–18 41,125 2018 Belk Bowl December 29 Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NC ESPN 12:00 p.m. Virginia South Carolina W 28–0 48,263 2018 Military Bowl December 31 Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD ESPN 12:00 p.m. Virginia Tech Cincinnati L 31–35 32,832 2018 Sun Bowl December 31 Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX CBS 2:00 p.m. Pittsburgh Stanford L 13–14 40,680 2018 Gator Bowl December 31 TIAA Bank Field • Jacksonville, FL ESPN 7:30 p.m. NC State No. 19 Texas A&M L 13–52 38,206 College Football Playoff bowl games Cotton Bowl (CFP Semifinal) December 29 AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX ESPN 4:00 p.m. No. 2 Clemson No. 3 Notre Dame W 30–3 72,183 CFP National Championship January 7 Levi's Stadium • Santa Clara, CA ESPN 8:00 p.m. No. 2 Clemson No. 1 Alabama W 44–16 74,814
Rankings are from CFP rankings. All times Eastern Time Zone. ACC teams shown in bold.
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors