2009 ACC Championship Game
| MVP | C.J. Spiller |
|---|---|
The 2009 ACC Championship Game was played on December 5, 2009 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida to determine the 2009 college football champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defeated the Clemson Tigers, 39–34, to earn a BCS bid.
Selection process
The ACC Championship Game features the winners of the Coastal and Atlantic divisions of the Atlantic Coast Conference. In the early 2000s, the conference underwent an expansion to add three former Big East members: the University of Miami[2] and Virginia Tech in 2004,[3] and Boston College in 2005.[4] With the addition of a twelfth team, the ACC was allowed to hold a conference championship game under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules.[5]
The inaugural 2005 game featured a Florida State win over Virginia Tech, 27–22.[6] In 2006, two different teams made their first appearances in the game, which was held in Jacksonville, Florida. Wake Forest defeated Georgia Tech, 9–6.[7] In 2007, one team new to the championship game and championship-game veteran featured in the contest as Virginia Tech faced off against Boston College. The game resulted in a 30–16 Virginia Tech victory.[8] In 2008, Virginia Tech and Boston College again played in the championship game. Virginia Tech won the rematch, 30–12.[9]
Site selection
Before the 2007 game, cities other than Jacksonville (site of the 2007 ACC Championship Game) presented their plans to be the site of the 2008 ACC Championship Game.[10] After poor attendance in the ACC Championship Game at Jacksonville for the second straight year, ACC officials and representatives of the conference's member schools elected not to extend the Gator Bowl Association's contract to manage and host the game for another year.[11] On December 12, less than two weeks after Jacksonville had hosted the 2007 ACC Championship Game, the ACC announced that Tampa, Florida would host the game in 2008 and 2009 and Charlotte, North Carolina would host the game in 2010 and 2011.[11]
The cities were chosen based on bids presented to the ACC and its member schools. Each city requested and was granted a two-year contract. Tampa was chosen as the site of the 2008 game because Charlotte was scheduled to hold the annual convention of the Association for Career and Technical Education at the same time as the game, and adequate hotel space would not be ready in time for the two events. Because of this, Charlotte's two-year span of hosting the game was pushed back to 2010.[12]
Team selection
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Atlantic Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 24 Clemson x | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boston College | 5 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida State | 4 | – | 4 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NC State | 2 | – | 6 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 1 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coastal Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 13 Georgia Tech * x$ | 7 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 Virginia Tech | 6 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 Miami (FL) | 5 | – | 3 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Carolina * | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duke | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: Georgia Tech 39, Clemson 34 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Before the beginning of the 2009 college football season, the annual poll by media members who cover ACC football predicted Virginia Tech to win the Coastal Division and Florida State to win the Atlantic Division. Virginia Tech received 78 of a possible 87 first-place votes in its division, while Florida State received 56 in the other division.[13]
After completing their in-conference regular season schedule, Georgia Tech was the champion of the Coastal Division with a 10–2 record and a 7–1 ACC record.[14] After completing their in-conference regular season schedule, Clemson was the champion of the Atlantic Division with a 8-4 record and a 6-2 ACC record.
The Game
Jonathan Dwyer's 15-yard touchdown run with 1:20 remaining capped a long winning drive and gave the Yellow Jackets a 39-34 victory over Clemson.
Josh Nesbitt threw a 70-yard TD pass to Demaryius Thomas and Scott Blair kicked a title game-record four field goals to help the Yellow Jackets win the crown -- Tech's first since sharing it with Florida State in 1998 -- in their second season under head coach Paul Johnson.
ACC player of the year C.J. Spiller rushed for 233 yards and four touchdowns for Clemson, which lost two straight following a six-game winning streak that revived its season after a slow start.
Scott Blair, the star of Georgia Tech's three-point victory over Clemson during the regular season, kicked field goals of 48, 49, 28 and 40 yards. Dwyer ran for two TDs and Nesbitt ran for one for the Yellow Jackets, who rushed for 333 yards.
Spiller's scoring plays covered 3, 41, 36 and 9 yards, the latter trimming a 13-point deficit to 33-27 with 12 minutes remaining. His longest run of the night, a 54-yarder to the Georgia Tech 9, put him over 200 yards and set up Andre Ellington's 1-yard run that put the Tigers ahead 34-33 with 6:11 left.
Georgia Tech marched 86 yards in 13 plays to regain the lead. Dwyer finished with 110 yards on 24 carries. Nesbitt, a distant second to Spiller for conference player of the year, rushed for 103 yards on 22 attempts.
The teams combined for 883 yards of total offense, including 656 on the ground. Neither team punted.
Spiller, an all-purpose threat from Lake Butler, Fla., hiked his season rushing total to 1,145 yards. He's scored a Clemson single-season record 20 touchdowns -- 11 rushing, four receiving and five on kick returns.
The title game appearance was the second for Georgia Tech, which failed to score a touchdown in a 9-6 loss to Wake Forest in 2006, and now has its first outright ACC championship since 1990 -- the year before Clemson won the most recent of its league-record 13 crowns.
See also
Footnotes and references
- ^ 2009 ACC Championship Game Postgame Notes, Atlantic Coast Conference, December 5, 2009, Retrieved 2009-12-13
- ^ Candon, Tim. ACC invites Miami, Va. Tech, The Daily Tar Heel, June 26, 2003. Accessed December 6, 2007.
- ^ Staff and Wire Reports. "Virginia Tech sealing move to ACC", USA Today, June 23, 2003. Accessed December 8, 2007.
- ^ Hall, Brendan. "Eagles' move just another BCS-windle", The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, October 24, 2003. Accessed December 6, 2007.
- ^ Zeise, Paul. "ACC asks Miami, Va. Tech to join", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 25, 2003. Accessed January 20, 2009.
- ^ The Atlantic Coast Conference. Inaugural Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game, TheACC.com. Accessed December 6, 2007.
- ^ The Atlantic Coast Conference. "2006 Dr Pepper ACC Championship", TheACC.com. Accessed December 6, 2007.
- ^ ESPN. "4th Qtr Play-by-Play" ESPN.com, December 1, 2007. Accessed December 10, 2007.
- ^ The Associated Press. "Virginia Tech takes down BC, headed to Orange Bowl again", ESPN.com. December 6, 2008. Accessed August 24, 2009.
- ^ Pickeral, Robbi. "Four cities bidding for ACC Championship Game", ACC Now, The News & Observer, July 24, 2007. Accessed December 10, 2007.
- ^ a b The Atlantic Coast Conference. "ACC Announces Future Sites for football championship game", TheACC.com. December 12, 2007. Accessed December 12, 2007.
- ^ Quesada, Tony. "ACC title game going to Tampa and Charlotte", Jacksonville Business Journal, December 12, 2007. Accessed December 12, 2007.
- ^ The Atlantic Coast Conference. "Virginia Tech, Florida State favored in 2009 ACC football preseason voting," TheACC.com. July 27, 2009. Accessed August 24, 2009.
- ^ "Tech clinches Coastal with win over Duke". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 14, 2009. Retrieved November 14, 2009.