ACC Announces 2012 Preseason All-ACC Football Team

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina led all Atlantic Coast Conference schools each with four players selected to the 2012 Preseason All-ACC Football team in voting conducted by the media at the annual ACC Football Kickoff, which was held July 22-23 at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro.

The Preseason All-ACC team was announced Wednesday.

In all, 19 of the 25 honorees on the team earned first or second-team All-ACC honors last fall, with eight having been selected to the All-ACC first team. Four of the selections are returning first-team or second-team 2012 All-Americas.

One of those returning All-America selections, Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins (Fort Myers, Fla.), who was named by the media as the ACC preseason Player of the Year on Monday, was the only unanimous selection on the team, being named on all 68 ballots.

Florida State, tabbed by the media at the ACC Football Kickoff to win its first ACC Football title since 2005, was represented by defensive end Brandon Jenkins (Tallahassee, Fla.), safety Lamarcus Joyner (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), placekicker Dustin Hopkins (Houston, Texas) and cornerback Greg Reid (Valdosta, Ga.), who was named as the specialist for his abilities as a punt and kickoff returner.

Jenkins was named to the preseason watch lists for four national awards (Nagurski, Bednarik, Lombardi, Walter Camp) while Joyner was named to three awards watch lists (Nagurski, Bednarik, Thorpe). Hopkins, who was a finalist last year for the Lou Groza Award, need just 68 points to become the ACC’s career leading scorer. Reid ranks 5^th on the ACC career punt return yardage list and is 180 yards away from the ACC career record.

Clemson, which captured the 2011 ACC Championship and was selected by the media at the Kickoff to finish second to the Seminoles in the Atlantic Division, also had four players selected in Watkins, quarterback Tajh Boyd (Hampton, Va.), center Dalton Freeman (Pelion, S.C.) and running back Andre Ellington (Moncks Corner, S.C.)

Boyd, named to four preseason watch lists including the Davey O’Brien Award, set an ACC record with 38 TDR last fall. Freeman, has been recently named to the watch lists for the Outland Trophy and Lombardi and Rimington Awards. Watkins was the 2011 ACC Rookie of the Year, who set ACC freshman standards for passes caught (82) , reception yardage (1,219) and receiving TDs (12), and became only the fourth true freshman in history to be named first-team All-America by the Associated Press and is on the Walter Camp Award and Maxwell Trophy watch lists. Ellington rushed for 1,178 yards and has been named to the preseason watch lists for the Doak Walker Award and Maxwell Award.

North Carolina also had four players chosen preseason All-ACC in running back Giovani Bernard (Davie, Fla.), offensive tackle James Hurst (Plainfield, Ind.), offensive guard Jonathan Cooper (Wilmington, N.C.) and linebacker Kevin Reddick (New Bern, N.C.).

Bernard, who ran for 1,253 yards, the third-best in ACC history for a freshman, has been named to the preseason watch lists for the Maxwell and  Doak Walker Awards. Cooper and Hurst have both been named to the watch lists for the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. Reddick has been named to four preseason watch lists (Nagurski, Bednarik, Butkus, Lombardi).

Virginia Tech, selected by the media to capture its sixth Coastal Division title in eight years, placed three players on the team, all from its defense, in defensive end James Gayle (Hampton, Va.), linebacker Bruce Taylor (Riceboro, Ga.) and cornerback Kyle Fuller (Baltimore, Md.).

All three Hokies have been named to the preseason watch list for the Nagurski Trophy, with Fuller and Taylor also named to the Bednarik watch list. Fuller is also on the Jim Thorpe Award preseason watch list.

Three schools—Maryland, NC State and Virginia—each had two players chosen. Maryland was represented by All-America defensive tackle Joe Vellano (Rexford, N.Y.) and tight end Matt Furstenburg (Flemington, N.J.).  NC State saw its All-America cornerback David Amerson (Greensboro, N.C.) and safety Earl Wolff (Raeford, N.C.) chosen to the team, while Virginia had linebacker Steve Greer (Solon, Ohio) and offensive tackle Oday Aboushi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) selected.

Vellano has been named to the preseason watch lists for five national awards: the Outland Trophy and the Nagurski Trophy, as well as the Bednarik, Lombardi and Walter Camp Awards.  Amerson led the nation in 2011 in interceptions with 13, the most of any player in the NCAA’s FBS in 43 years and is on the watch lists for four national awards (Bednarik, Nagurski, Walter Camp, Jim Thorpe). Greer is on the preseason watch lists for the Nagurski Trophy and Lombardi Award; while Aboushi was named to the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award watch lists.

Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami and Wake Forest each had one player selected. Duke had wide receiver Conner Vernon (Miami, Fla.) who enters this fall needing 35 catches to become the ACC’s career receiving leader and is on the preseason watch list for the Biletnikoff Award. For the second straight year, Georgia Tech was represented by offensive guard Omoregie Uzzi (Lithonia, Ga.), who helped the Jackets finish 2^nd nationally in rushing last fall and who is on the watch list for the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award. Miami’s Dalton Botts (Taft, Calif.), who was named to the watch list for the Ray Guy Award, was named the preseason punter, while Wake Forest nose guard Nikita Whitlock (Wylie, Texas), a Lombardi Award watch list member, completed the team.

The four 2011 first-team All-Americas chosen were first-teamers David Amerson of  NC State (Walter Camp) and Sammy Watkins of Clemson (AP) and second-team All-Americas Joe Vellano of Maryland (AP, Walter Camp) and Omoregie Uzzi (Si.com) of Georgia Tech.

Those chosen first-team All-ACC last fall included Sammy Watkins, Tajh Boyd and Dalton Freeman of Clemson; Dustin Hopkins of  Florida State; Omoregie Uzzi of Georgia Tech, Joe Vellano of Maryland, Giovani Bernard of North Carolina and David Amerson of NC State.

The 11 selections who were named to the second team 2011 All-ACC squad were Conner Vernon of Duke, Brandon Jenkins and Lamarcus Joyner of Florida State; Andre Ellington of Clemson; James Hurst and Jonathan Cooper of North Carolina; Oday Aboushi and Steve Greer of Virginia, James Gayle and Kyle Fuller of Virginia Tech and Nikita Whitlock of Wake Forest.

Three of the selections were named Honorable Mention All-ACC in 2011 in Florida State’s Greg Reid, NC State’s Earl Wolff and Virginia Tech’s Bruce Taylor.

Five members of the 2012 preseason team were repeaters from 2011 in Brandon Jenkins and Greg Reid of Florida State;  Conner Vernon of Duke, Omoregie Uzzi of Georgia Tech and Andre Ellington of Clemson.

In all, eleven of the 12 ACC schools were represented on the preseason All-ACC team. A total of 68 ballots were turned in from the more than 362 media members in attendance at the 2011 ACC Football Kickoff.

Two members of the preseason All-ACC team were actually high school teammates. Florida State safety Lamarcus Joyner and North Carolina tailback Giovani Bernard played for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Bernard, who ran for 1,253 yards in 2011 was the winner of the ACC Brian Piccolo Award for Courage last fall. The Award’s namesake, Piccolo, played his high school football at Central Catholic High in Ft. Lauderdale, the predecessor of St. Thomas Aquinas.

2012 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Team
Offense
Pos.	Name (Votes)	Ht	Wt	Class	Hometown
WR	Conner Vernon, Duke (41)	6-2	195	Senior	Miami, Fla.
WR	Sammy Watkins, Clemson (68)	6-1	200	Sophomore	Fort Myers, Fla.
TE	Matt Furstenburg, Maryland (35)	6-4	245	Senior	Flemington, N.J.
T	James Hurst, North Carolina (48)	6-7	300	Junior	Plainfield, Ind.
T	Oday Aboushi, Virginia (29)	6-6	310	Senior	Brooklyn, N.Y.
G	Omoregie Uzzi, Georgia Tech (57)	6-3	300	Senior	Lithonia, Ga.
G	Jonathan Cooper, North Carolina (55)	6-3	295	Senior	Wilmington, N.C.
C	Dalton Freeman, Clemson (58)	6-3	285	Senior	Pelion, S.C.
QB	Tajh Boyd, Clemson (29)	6-1	225	Junior	Hampton, Va.
RB	Giovani Bernard, North Carolina (60)	5-10	205	Sophomore	Davie, Fla.
RB	Andre Ellington, Clemson (53)	5-10	190	Senior	Moncks Corner, S.C.
Defense
Pos.	Name (Votes)	Ht	Wt	Class	Hometown
DE	Brandon Jenkins, Florida State (59)	6-3	265	Senior	Tallahassee, Fla.
DE	James Gayle, Virginia Tech (31)	6-4	250	Junior	Hampton, Va.
DT	Joe Vellano, Maryland (58)	6-1	285	Senior	Rexford, N.Y.
DT	Nikita Whitlock, Wake Forest (33)	5-11	260	Junior	Wylie, Texas
LB	Kevin Reddick, North Carolina (49)	6-3	240	Senior	New Bern, N.C.
LB	Bruce Taylor, Virginia Tech (42)	6-2	253	Senior	Riceboro, Ga.
LB	Steve Greer, Virginia (32)	6-2	225	Senior	Solon, Ohio
CB	David Amerson, NC State (63)	6-3	194	Junior	Greensboro, N.C.
CB	Kyle Fuller, Virginia Tech (25)	6-0	181	Junior	Baltimore, Md.
S	Lamarcus Joyner, Florida State (45)	5-8	204	Junior	Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
S	Earl Wolff, NC State (30)	6-0	207	Senior	Raeford, N.C.
Specialists
Pos.	Name (Votes)	Ht	Wt	Class	Hometown
PK	Dustin Hopkins, Florida State (54)	6-2	190	Senior	Houston, Texas
P	Dalton Botts, Miami (65)	6-3	198	Senior	Taft, Calif.
SP	Greg Reid, Florida State (35)	5-8	186	Senior	Valdosta, Ga.

 

The Voting By Position:
(Top Four in Voting Only)
Quarterback
1. Tajh Boyd, CL	29
2. Logan Thomas, VT	16
3. EJ Manuel, FSU	15
4. Mike Glennon, NCS	6
Running Back (Top 2)
1. Giovani Bernard, UNC	60
2. Andre Ellington, CL	53
3. Orwin Smith, GT	11
4. Perry Jones, UVa	8
Wide Receiver (Top 2)
1. Sammy Watkins, CL	68*
2. Conner Vernon, DU	41
3. DeAndre Hopkins, CL	15
4. Erik Highsmith, UNC	5
Tight End
1. Matt Furstenburg, MD	35
2. Nick O’Leary, FSU	16
3. Chris Pantale, BC	11
4. Colter Phillips, UVa	4
Offensive Tackle (Top 2)
1. James Hurst, UNC	48
2. Oday Aboushi, UVa	29
3. Morgan Moses, UVa	28
4. Emmett Cleary, BC	18
Offensive Guard (Top 2)
1. Omoregie Uzzi, GT	57
2. Jonathan Cooper, UNC3.	55
R.J. Mattes, NCS4.	8
Brad Linder, UM	4
Center
1. Dalton Freeman, CL	58
2. Andrew Miller, VT	6
3. Camden Wentz, NCS	3
4. Jay Finch, GT	1
Defense
Defensive End (Top 2)
1. Brandon Jenkins, FSU	59
2. James Gayle, VT	31
3. Malliciah Goodman, CL	20
4. Bjoern Werner, FSU	12
Defensive Tackle (Top 2)
1. Joe Vellano, MD	58
2. Nikita Whitlock, WF	33
3. Everett Dawkins, FSU	22
4. Sylvester Williams, UNC	13
Linebacker (Top 3)
1. Kevin Reddick, UNC	49
2. Bruce Taylor, VT	42
3. Steve Greer, UVa	32
4. Jeremiah Attaochu, GT	23
5. Kevin Pierre-Louis, BC	19
Cornerback (Top 2)
1. David Amerson, NCS	63
2. Kyle Fuller, VT	25
3. Xavier Rhodes, FSU	21
4. Greg Reid, FSU	11
Safety (Top 2)
1. Lamarcus Joyner, FSU	45
2. Earl Wolff, NCS	30
3. Rashard Hall, CL	21
4. Isaiah Johnson, GT	13
Placekicker
1. Dustin Hopkins, FSU	54
2. Chandler Catanzaro, CL	8
3. Casey Barth, UNC	4
4. Nate Freese, BC	1
4. Justin Moore, GT	1
Punter
1. Dalton Botts, UM	65
2. Nick Ferrara, MD	2
3. Brad Craddock, MD	1
Specialist
1. Greg Reid, FSU	35
2. Sammy Watkins, CL	20
3. Michael Campanaro, WF	5
4. T.J. Thorpe, UNC	5
*Denotes unanimous selection