Nov. 28, 2005

Complete Press Release
Inaugural Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game

ACColades
Virginia Tech and Florida State battle Saturday, Dec. 3, in the inaugural ACC Football Championship game ... five ACC teams - Boston College, Clemson,Georgia Tech, Miami and Virginia Tech - are ranked ... eight ACC teams are bowl eligible ... the ACC is 26-9 in non-league play, including a 9-7 mark versus BCS foes, and is the second-ranked conference in the Sagarin computer poll ... 64 of the league's 85 regular games were televised ... ACC sets single season total attendance mark drawing 3,762,511 fans in 72 home games ... inter-divisional play is tied at 9-9 ... Wake Forest's Chris Barclay is fifth on the ACC career rushing list (4,032), 10th in career all-purpose yardage (4,930) and tied for 25th in scoring (240) and is one of only six ACC players to rush for 1,000 yards or more in three straight seasons ... Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst is 5th among ACC career passing leaders (9,460) and total offense (9,561) ... Virginia's Connor Hughes is tied for 5th on the league's career scoring list with 322 points while teammate Wali Lundy is 11th with 300 points ... FSU's Willie Reid is 12th on the ACC all-time punt return list with 785 yards ... Boston College's Will Blackmon leads all active Division IA players in kickoff return yardage (2,772) and needs only 151 yards to become the NCAA career kickoff return leader ... Wake Forest's Ryan Plackemeier is the ACC's all-time leading punter (45.47) while Maryland's Adam Podlesh is 9th (43.23) ... Florida State's Drew Weatherford leads all freshmen nationally in total offense (245.8), passing (247.7) and TD passes (16) ... Maryland LB D'Qwell Jackson is 2nd in the nation in tackles per game (13.7) ... UNC's Jarwarski Pollock is 12th on the ACC career reception list (177) ... Georgia Tech's Reggie Ball is 17th among ACC career total offense leaders (7,145) and 24th in passing yardage (6,050) ... Virginia Tech leads the nation in total defense (236.7), pass defense (142.18) and scoring defense (10.6) ... Miami leads the NCAA in passing efficiency defense (88.4) while Wake Forest is tops in net punting (36.1).

Inaugural Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game
Saturday, December 3
Virginia Tech (10-1, 7-1 ACC)
vs Florida State (7-4, 5-3 ACC)
ABC; 8:00 pm
Alltel Stadium (77,497)

Last Time Out: In Jacksonville, Fla., on New Year's Day 2002, the Seminoles and Hokies squared-off at Alltel Stadium in the Toyota Gator Bowl...Florida State ranked 24th at the time defeated 15th-ranked Virginia Tech 30-17 behind bowl MVP Javon Walker's record breaking performance...Walker made four catches for 195 yards and two TDs eclipsing Fred Biletnikoff's previous record of 192 receiving yards against Oklahoma in the 1962 Gator Bowl...the Seminoles took a 10-3 halftime lead only to see the Hokies bounce back to tie the game at 17 behind a 5-yard TD run by Kevin Jones and a 55-yard pass from Grant Noel in the third quarter...Florida State would answer in the fourth outscoring Virginia Tech 17-0 behind Walker's two TD receptions...FSU QB Chris Rix threw for 326 yards and two TD's, while Grant compiled 269 yards through the air for the Hokies...the Florida State defense also held the Hokie ground game in check allowing just 43 yards on 40 carries.

Virginia Tech is 10-1 overall and finished first in the Coastal Division with a 7-1 league mark ... the Hokies have had nine or more wins in eight of the past 11 years ... Tech is ranked fifth in both major polls ... Frank Beamer is the third winningest active I-A coach with 187 victories ... Tech ranks first nationally in total defense (236.7), pass defense (142.1), scoring defense (10.6) and second in pass efficiency defense (88.4) ... over the past two years, Tech has allowed only 13 rushing touchdowns and has outscored its opponents 783-to-284 ... on the other side of the ball, the Hokies lead the ACC and rank 19th nationally in rushing offense (204.6) ... Tech has allowed a league-low 10 first quarter points this season and have outscored their opponents 202-to-47 in the first and third periods combined ... the Hokies are second in the ACC in fewest penalty yards (41.9) ... QB Marcus Vick leads the ACC and is 15th nationally in passing efficiency (150.01) ... Vick has completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,855 yards and 14 touchdowns ... Vick is second among ACC quarterbacks with 359 yards rushing ... Cedric Humes (632), Branden Ore (584) and Mike Imoh (415) have combined to rush for 1,632 yards and 20 touchdowns from the tailback position ... both Humes and Ore have rushed for over 100 yards in each of the last two games, combining for 476 yards on 69 carries (6.9 yards per carry) ... Ore is third among ACC freshmen in rushing yards per game (58.4) and has the league's best per rush average (6.3) of any back with 500 or more yards ... nine of David Clowney's team-high 28 receptions have been for 20 yards or more ... over the past two years TE Jeff King has nine TD receptions on 45 catches ... senior DB Jimmy Williams is tied for second among active ACC defensive backs with nine career interceptions ... Vince Hall leads the team and is fourth in the ACC in tackles per game (8.7) ... Darryl Tapp is fourth in the ACC with nine QB sacks and 11th with 10.5 tackles for loss ... Nic Schmitt is one punt attempt shy of being third in the ACC in punting average (42.4) ... with 95 points in 11 games, PK Brandon Pace is second in the ACC in scoring (8.6) and has made 37-of-46 career field goal attempts (80.4).

The Seminoles are 7-4 overall and the Atlantic Division champion with a 5-3 league mark ... FSU's Bobby Bowden ranks first all-time among Division I-A coaches with 358 career victories ... the Seminoles have won 11 of the 13 ACC championships and are 101-11 (90.2) in conference games since joining the league in 1992 ... FSU leads the ACC in total offense (394.5), pass offense (290.1) and are second in scoring offense (29.6) ... the Seminoles have had a league-high 81 plays of 20 yards or more and are averaging an ACC-high 5.61 yards per play ... defensively, FSU is third in the ACC in total defense (295.7), third in pass defense (183.9) and second in QB sacks (35) ... QB Drew Weatherford leads the ACC in total offense (245.8), passing yardage (247.7) and is second in TD passes (16) ... Weatherford has thrown for 200 yards or more eight times in 2005 and his 2,725 yards passing are the 3rd-best single season total by an ACC freshman ... Weatherford needs 330 yards to eclipse the ACC's freshman single-season passing yardage mark of 3,054 set by NC State's Philip Rivers in 2000 ... TB Lorenzo Booker leads the team in rushing with 519 yards and four TDs ... Leon Washington is 10th among school career rushing leaders with 1,991 yards ... Willie Reid leads the team in all-purpose yardage (97.8) and is 12th on the ACC career punt return list with 785 yards ... led by Chris Davis (44-for-590 yards), 18 different players have caught a pass this season including seven freshmen who totaled 51 receptions for 902 yards and 11 TDs ... freshman WR Greg Carr has 23 catches and leads the ACC in yards per catch (22.4) and in touchdown receptions (9) ... over the last two games, the Seminoles have allowed only 158 yards rushing and 2.1 yards per rushing attempt ... FSU has limited seven of its 11 opponents to under 3.0 yards per carry ... senior FS Pat Watkins is tied for second among active ACC players with nine career interceptions ... LB A.J. Nicholson leads the team and is sixth in the ACC in tackles per game (8.4) ...NG Brodrick Bunkley leads the ACC in tackles for loss (20.5) ... FSU has two-or-more QB sacks in eight of its 11 games.