# 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference football season

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 |
| Wide receiver | Mike Williams | Clemson |
| Wide receiver | Artavis Scott | Clemson |
| Tight end | Bucky Hodges | Virginia Tech |
| Tackle | Roderick Johnson | Florida State |
| Tackle | Adam Bisnowaty | Pittsburgh |
| Guard | Landon Turner | North Carolina |
| Guard | Eric Mac Lain | Clemson |
| Center | Matt Skura | Duke |
| Quarterback | Deshaun Watson | Clemson |
| Running back | James Conner | Pittsburgh |
| Running back | Shadrach Thornton | NC State |

#### Defense

| Position | Player | School |
| Defensive end | Dadi Lhomme Nicolas | Virginia Tech |
| Defensive end | Shaq Lawson | Clemson |
| Defensive end | Sheldon Rankins | Louisville |
| Defensive tackle | Adam Gotsis | Georgia Tech |
| Defensive tackle | Luther Maddy | Virginia Tech |
| Linebacker | Terrance Smith | Florida State |
| Linebacker | Brandon Chubb | Wake Forest |
| Linebacker | James Burgess | Louisville |
| Cornerback | Jalen Ramsey | Florida State |
| Cornerback | Kendall Fuller | Virginia Tech |
| Safety | Jeremy Cash | Duke |
| Safety | 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 | 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Boston College | C | | | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Boston College | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 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) | 2 |
| Clemson | C | 12 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 (1) | 5 (2) | 2 (21) | 1 (28) | 1 (58) | 1 (52) | 1 (55) | 2 |
| Clemson | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Duke | AP | | | RV | | RV | RV | 25 | 23 | 22 | RV | | | | | | RV |
| Duke | C | RV | RV | RV | | RV | RV | 24 | 21 | 18 | RV | | | | | | RV |
| Duke | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |
| Florida State | AP | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 14 |
| Florida State | C | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 14 |
| Florida State | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 16 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 9 |
| Georgia Tech | AP | 16 | 15 | 14 | 20 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgia Tech | C | 17 | 16 | 16 | 20 | RV | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgia Tech | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |
| Louisville | AP | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Louisville | C | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | RV | | | RV | RV |
| Louisville | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |
| Miami | AP | | | | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Miami | C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Miami | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | AP | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | 21 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 15 |
| North Carolina | C | RV | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | 21 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 15 |
| North Carolina | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | 23 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 10 |
| NC State | AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | |
| NC State | C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | |
| NC State | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |
| Pittsburgh | AP | | | | | | | | 25 | 23 | RV | | RV | RV | | | |
| Pittsburgh | C | | RV | RV | | | | | RV | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | | RV | |
| Pittsburgh | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |
| Syracuse | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Syracuse | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Syracuse | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |
| Virginia | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Virginia | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Virginia | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |
| Virginia Tech | AP | RV | | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Virginia Tech | C | RV | | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Virginia Tech | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |
| Wake Forest | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wake Forest | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wake Forest | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | |

## Bowl Games

| Bowl game | Date | Site | Television | Time (EST) | ACC team | Opponent | Score | Attendance |
| Hyundai Sun Bowl | December 26 | Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, TX | CBS | 2:00 p.m. | Miami | Washington State | WSU 14–20 | 41,180 |
| New Era Pinstripe Bowl | December 26 | Yankee Stadium • New York, NY | ABC | 3:30 p.m. | Duke | Indiana | DUKE 44–41 (OT) | 37,218 |
| Camping World Independence Bowl | December 26 | Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA | ESPN | 5:30 p.m. | Virginia Tech | Tulsa | VT 55–52 | 31,289 |
| Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman | December 28 | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD | ESPN | 2:30 p.m. | Pittsburgh | #21 Navy | NAVY 28–44 | 36,352 |
| Russell Athletic Bowl | December 29 | Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium • Orlando, FL | ESPN | 5:30 p.m. | #10 North Carolina | #17 Baylor | BU 38–49 | 40,418 |
| Belk Bowl | December 30 | Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NC | ESPN | 3:30 p.m. | NC State | Mississippi State | MSU 28–51 | 46,423 |
| Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl | December 30 | Nissan Stadium • Nashville, TN | ESPN | 7:00 p.m. | Louisville | Texas A&M | LOU 27–21 | 50,478 |
| College Football Playoff bowl games |||||||||
| Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | December 31 | Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA | ESPN | 12:00 p.m. | #9 Florida State | #18 Houston | HOU 24–38 | 71,007 |
| Capital One Orange Bowl (CFP Semifinal) | December 31 | Sun Life Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL | ESPN | 4:00 p.m. | #1 Clemson | #4 Oklahoma | CLEM 37–17 | 67,615 |
| CFP National Championship | January 11 | University of Phoenix Stadium • Glendale, AZ | ESPN | 8:00 p.m. | #1 Clemson | #2 Alabama | ALA 40–45 | 75,765 |
* Rankings based on CFP rankings

## Postseason
### All-conference teams

The following player were selected to the All-ACC teams for 2015.
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
| First Team Offense ||||
| QB | Deshaun Watson | So | Clemson |
| RB | Dalvin Cook | So | Florida State |
| RB | Elijah Hood | So | North Carolina |
| WR | Tyler Boyd | Jr | Pittsburgh |
| WR | Artavis Scott | So | Clemson |
| WR | Isaiah Ford | So | Virginia Tech |
| TE | Jaylen Samuels | So | NC State |
| T | Roderick Johnson | So | Florida State |
| T | Joe Thuney | Sr | NC State |
| G | Landon Turner | Sr | North Carolina |
| G | Eric Mac Lain | Sr | Clemson |
| C | Matt Skura | Sr | Duke |
| First Team Defense ||||
| DE | Ejuan Price | Sr | Pittsburgh |
| DE | Shaq Lawson | Jr | Clemson |
| DT | Carlos Watkins | Jr | Clemson |
| DT | Luther Maddy^ | Sr | Virginia Tech |
| DT | Connor Wujciak^ | Sr | Boston College |
| LB | Micah Kiser | So | Virginia |
| LB | Brandon Chubb | Sr | Wake Forest |
| LB | Keith Kelsey | Jr | Louisville |
| CB | Jalen Ramsey | Jr | Florida State |
| CB | Mackensie Alexander | So | Clemson |
| S | Jeremy Cash | Sr | Duke |
| S | Quin Blanding | So | Virginia |
| First Team Special Teams ||||
| PK | Roberto Aguayo | Jr | Florida State |
| P | Riley Dixon | Sr | Syracuse |
| SP | DeVon Edwards | Jr | Duke |
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
| Second Team Offense ||||
| QB | Marquise Williams | Sr | North Carolina |
| RB | Wayne Gallman | So | Clemson |
| RB | Qadree Ollison | Fr | Pittsburgh |
| WR | Travis Rudolph | So | Florida State |
| WR | Canaan Severin | Sr | Virginia |
| WR | Mack Hollins^ | Jr | North Carolina |
| WR | Kermit Whitfield^ | Jr | Florida State |
| TE | Jordan Leggett | Jr | Clemson |
| T | Jon Heck | Jr | North Carolina |
| T | Adam Bisnowaty | Jr | Pittsburgh |
| G | Dorian Johnson | Jr | Pittsburgh |
| G | Caleb Peterson | Jr | North Carolina |
| C | Jay Guillermo | Jr | Clemson |
| Second Team Defense ||||
| DE | Mike Rose | Sr | NC State |
| DE | DeMarcus Walker | Jr | Florida State |
| DT | Nile Lawrence-Stample | Jr | Florida State |
| DT | DeAngelo Brown | Jr | Louisville |
| LB | Steven Daniels | Sr | Boston College |
| LB | Ben Boulware^ | Jr | Clemson |
| LB | B. J. Goodson^ | Sr | Clemson |
| LB | Reggie Northrup^ | Sr | Florida State |
| CB | M. J. Stewart | So | North Carolina |
| CB | Artie Burns | Jr | Miami |
| S | Jayron Kearse | Jr | Clemson |
| S | 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 |
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
| Third Team Offense ||||
| QB | Brad Kaaya | So | Miami |
| RB | Taquan Mizzell | Jr | Virginia |
| RB | Travon McMillian | Fr | Virginia Tech |
| WR | Stacy Coley | Jr | Miami |
| WR | Ryan Switzer | Jr | North Carolina |
| WR | Quinshad Davis | Sr | North Carolina |
| TE | Bucky Hodges | So | Virginia Tech |
| T | Mitch Hyatt | Fr | Clemson |
| T | Joe Gore | Sr | Clemson |
| G | Tyrone Crowder | So | Clemson |
| G | Kareem Are | Jr | Florida State |
| C | Lucas Crowley | Jr | North Carolina |
| Third Team Defense ||||
| DE | Sheldon Rankins | Sr | Louisville |
| DE | Ron Thompson | Jr | Syracuse |
| DT | Nazair Jones | Jr | North Carolina |
| DT | Derrick Nnadi^ | So | Florida State |
| DT | Darryl Render^ | Sr | Pittsburgh |
| LB | Shakeel Rashad | Sr | North Carolina |
| LB | James Burgess | Sr | Louisville |
| LB | Dwayne Norman | Sr | Duke |
| CB | Cordrea Tankersley | Jr | Clemson |
| CB | Des Lawrence | Jr | North Carolina |
| S | Jordan Whitehead | Fr | Pittsburgh |
| S | 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