Boston College Athletics
Kuechly Unanimous All-ACC First-Team Selection
November 28, 2011 | Football
Nov. 28, 2011
Boston College junior linebacker Luke Kuechly was a unanimous selection to the All-ACC first team, the league announced Monday. Kuechly, a candidate for multiple national awards, was the lone unanimous first-team pick on the defense. The leading tackler in ACC history and one of the most proficient defenders since the NCAA began keeping tackling stats in 2000, Kuechly is a junior from Cincinnati who is highly regarded by coaches at all levels of football.
ACC Championship Game participants Clemson and Virginia Tech accounted for one-third of the total selections as All-ACC first- and second-team football honors. The Tigers, champions of the Atlantic Division, placed nine players on the squads - five on the first team and four on the second. The Hokies, who secured the Coastal Division title on Saturday, had two athletes cited as first-teamers and six men on the second team.
The process drew 45 electors from seven states and across new and traditional media outlets.
Freshman standout Sammy Watkins led the way for the Tigers, earning first-team designation at wide receiver and second-team honors as an offensive specialist. Watkins has already established three ACC freshman receiving records: those for catches, yardage and touchdowns. He is also the first rookie to top 1,900 all-purpose yards, a category in which he stands fourth among all FBS players. Watkins received 86 points, good for a second-place finish among all offensive players with Virginia Tech tackle Blake DeChristopher.
Tiger quarterback Tajh Boyd, who struggled toward the end of the regular season but elevated the team into the nation's Top 5 in a blazing start, was chosen as first-team quarterback. Chris Givens of Wake Forest, the league's leading receiver by most statistical measurements, joins Watkins among the top wide outs.
The man for whom DeChristopher has done considerable blocking, running back David Wilson, was the only unanimous first-team choice in the balloting. Wilson is on pace to break the ACC's record for single-season rushing yards, having delivered 1,595 of them with two games left. The standard is 1,798 by Virginia's Thomas Jones in 1999.
Another freshman, Giovani Bernard of North Carolina, cracked the first team along with Wilson. Bernard has a good chance to complete the season with the second-highest rushing total by an ACC freshman.
Tackle Zebrie Sanders of Florida State, guards Austin Pasztor of Virginia and Omoregie Uzzi of Georgia Tech and Clemson center Dalton Freeman completed the offensive line, and FSU's Dustin Hopkins is the place kicker.
Miami's Sean Spence and North Carolina's Zach Brown made the first team of a competitive linebacking corps.
Ends Quinton Coples of UNC and Andre Branch of Clemson were overwhelming choices for the top squad as well. Branch has been among the nation's leaders in quarterback sacks, and Coples, a senior, is another highly regarded NFL prospect.
The top tackles are Joe Vellano of Maryland and Virginia's Matt Conrath, who has blocked three place kicks this season for the Cavaliers, whose four-game, late-season winning streak put them in the de facto ACC Coastal Division title game well ahead of schedule.
NC State cornerback David Amerson, whose total of 11 interceptions is tied for the ACC record and is the highest by any FBS player in nine years, headlines a secondary that includes acclaimed safety Matt Daniels of Duke, Wake Forest safety Josh Bush and Virginia cornerback Chase Minnifield.
Shawn Powell of Florida State was a landslide winner at punter.
The second team is highlighted by Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas, whose excellence in the second half of the season kept the Hokies on track for their fifth appearance in the league's seven-year history of the championship game. North Carolina wide receiver Dwight Jones, who has given his team a complementary presence for Bernard's running, narrowly missed out on first-team honors.
