The ACC in 2012-13 Bowl Games

2011 was a poor year for the ACC in bowl games. The conference as a whole went 2-6 which included a 70-33 landslide loss in the Orange Bowl. It was harsh. Wins from FSU and NCSU were the only redeeming points from a lackluster year. So came bowl season 2012 where the conference sent six teams bowling with games against powerhouse programs: USC, LSU, and the up-and-coming Cincinnati Bearcats. It wasn’t looking good with the ESPN blogger, Mark Schlabach, predicting the conference to go 1-5 with FSU over Northern Illinois as the conference’s only win.

Needless to say, he was far from right.

4-2. The Atlantic Coast Conference in 2012-13 schools went 4-2 in bowl games. Huge turnaround from 2011-12 and even moreso, the 2 losses were the two lowest ranked bowl games featuring ACC teams;

-          Virginia Tech snuck by Rutgers in OT

-          Georgia Tech defied many odds and upset USC

-          Clemson shook off last year’s disaster and had a comeback win over LSU

-          Florida St. stayed true to predictions and beat Northern Illinois.

-          NC St’s offense looked putrid as the team got blasted by Vanderbilt

-          Duke was unable to complete their best season in a decade as they lost to Cincinnati

MVP of Bowl Season: Tajh Boyd showed the country why Clemson deserved to be given a chance to redeem themselves after WVU absolutely obliterated the Tigers 70-33. He picked apart LSU’s defense as he went 36/50 for 346 yds, 2 TDs, and NO picks through the air, and rushed 29 times for 22 yards and one TD.

Biggest Surprise of Bowl Season: Georgia Tech entered bowl season by needing a waiver to allow the 6-7 Yellow Jackets to go bowling after losing to FSU in the ACC Championship game. Nobody gave GT a chance but Paul Johnson prevailed and coached GT to their biggest win of the season.

Worst Game of Bowl Season: VT’s win over Rutgers was about as bleak as it gets. The game featured two quarterbacks trying to exemplify the opposing teams defense, ONE offensive TD, 21 punts, 16 three-and-outs and no points scored in the second or third quarters. Neither team reached 200 yards of total offense and the final score could have gone either way in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

Biggest Boo-Hoo of Bowl Season (TIE):

1) Al Groh and Paul Johnson decide to exchange words AFTER the season in which Groh was fired. Groh called the environment at GT negative and unprofessional, Johnson retorted with question why Groh stayed so long. 

2) FSU fans chanting “Over-rated” during the waning moments of the win vs Northern Illinois. NIU had received a BCS bowl bid after going 11-1 and kept the game close until the final quarter. There were numerous momentum changes in the final moments caused by missed calls and foolish mistakes. The end of the game brough an FSU d-lineman to state that Jordan Lynch, the outspoken NIU QB leader, was not a good quarterback.

Looking into next year, Syracuse was able to upset West Virginia in their bowl as they prepare for the ACC slate next season and Louisville obliterated a solid Florida team on its way to a BCS Sugar Bowl win. 

The bowl season turned out to be decent for the ACC. Going 4-2 with wins over teams like LSU and Cincinnati really helps the conference. It will be great to see if the ACC can build off the success of this season especially when it adds the new teams to the slate.

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