- 2007 ACC Championship Game
NCAAFootballSingleGameHeader
Name=2007 ACC Championship Game
Year=2007
Type=ccg
Date=December 1, 2007
Stadium=Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
City=Jacksonville, Florida
Visitor Name Short=Virginia Tech
Visitor Nickname=Hokies
Home Name Short=Boston College
Home Nickname=Eagles
Visitor Record=10–2
Home Record=10–2
Visitor Coach=Frank Beamer
Home Coach=Jeff Jagodzinski
Visitor1=0
Visitor2=16
Visitor3=0
Visitor4=14
Home1=7
Home2=9
Home3=0
Home4=0
Visitor
Visitor Coaches=5
Visitor BCS=6
Home
Home Coaches=12
Home BCS=11
MVP=Sean Glennon
Odds=Virginia Tech by 4.5–5
Anthem=
Referee=Jack Childress
Halftime=Dr Pepper "Million Dollar Throw"
Attendance=53,212 [Official number of tickets sold. Estimates of actual attendance are far lower.]
US Network=ABC
US Announcers=Brad Nessler ,Bob Griese ,Paul Maguire andBonnie Bernstein
Ratings=4.1
Intl Network=
Intl Announcers=The 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship Game featured the Boston College Eagles and the Virginia Tech Hokies in a regular-season
college football game that determined the conference's champion for the 2007 season. Virginia Tech defeated Boston College 30–16 to win the ACC football championship. The game, held atJacksonville Municipal Stadium inJacksonville, Florida , was a rematch of a regular-season game that took place on October 25, inBlacksburg, Virginia . In that game, Boston College, courtesy of a late-game comeback byquarterback Matt Ryan , won 14–10.Following the loss, Virginia Tech won five straight games to win the Coastal Division of the ACC, while Boston College stumbled, losing two games before defeating the Clemson Tigers to win the Atlantic Division and representation in the Championship Game. Most pre-game media coverage of the event cast the game as an opportunity for Virginia Tech to avenge its earlier loss. In addition, the winner of the game would be awarded an automatic bid to the
Bowl Championship Series 2008 Orange Bowl game inMiami, Florida on January 3, 2008. Despite Boston College's earlier win over Virginia Tech, spread bettors favored Virginia Tech by five points.In the opening quarter of the game, the Eagles took a 7–0 lead on a 51-yard
fumble return for atouchdown . The Eagles' offense dominated the first half of the game statistically, but failed to add to its early lead until the second quarter, when afield goal made it 10–0. Virginia Tech answered with a touchdown of their own, but Boston College responded with a seven-play, 74-yard touchdown drive of its own. Then came perhaps the most pivotal play of the game. During theextra point kick following the Boston College touchdown, Virginia Tech's Duane Brown blocked the kick, which was caught by the Hokies'cornerback Brandon Flowers, who returned it 75 yards for a defensivetwo-point conversion .The play changed the momentum of the game. Virginia Tech added a tying touchdown before
halftime , and after a scoreless third quarter, two Matt Ryan interceptions resulted in 14 points for Virginia Tech and a 30–16 Virginia Tech win. With the victory, the Hokies earned their second Atlantic Coast Conference football championship in four years and their first Orange Bowl bid since 1996.Background
On the ground, Taylor's performance was supplemented by Tech
Leading all Tech receivers was Josh Morgan, who caught eight passes for 55 yards and a touchdown. Eddie Royal also had an excellent game for the Hokies, catching two long passes of 18 yards and 11 yards on subsequent plays in the second quarter. Royal's 2 catches drove the Hokies deep into Boston College territory, setting up a 13-yard touchdown pass to Josh Hyman that tied the game at
Though its offense performed well, it was Virginia Tech's
On defense, Boston College statistical recap Though Boston College lost the game on the scoreboard, it won almost every statistical category. Quarterback Matt Ryan outperformed both Hokie quarterbacks combined in passing yardage, throwing for 305 yards. Ryan was extremely accurate through the air in the fourth quarter, throwing eight straight complete passes, an ACC Championship Game record. Ryan also was surprisingly successful on the ground, rushing for Boston College's touchdown of the game—a 14-yard sprint in the second quarter that put Boston College ahead 16–7. In the first half, the Eagles offense recorded 20 first downs. In the second half, it managed just four first downs, three of which came in one drive in the fourth quarter. As a result of second-half pressure from Virginia Tech, Ryan was forced into two late-game interceptions, including one that was returned for a Virginia Tech defensive touchdown. Ryan finished the game with 35 rushing yards, just one short of Hokie quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who had been highly promoted as a runner heading into the game. Ryan finished fourth among all rushers, and Eagle running back Andre Callender, the sole running back on the Eagles' roster, finished second, rushing for 51 yards in the game. Callender game-long 11-yard run helped set up the Eagles for a field goal attempt early in the second quarter. Callender's true success, however, was in the passing game, where he accrued 92 yards, putting him first among all receivers in the game. Callender's 13 catches were an ACC Championship Game record and were the fourth-highest total for a receiver in any game in ACC history. Wide receiver Kevin Challenger finished the game with 4 catches for 45 yards, while the Eagles' Rich Gunnell finished the game with 54 yards. Surprisingly for the number of receiving yards recorded by the Eagles in the game, no Boston College receiver caught a touchdown. Boston College punter Johnny Ayres kicked four On defense, Boston College had more success than predicted by pre-game coverage. Jamie Silva's fumble return for a touchdown was the first defensive score in ACC Championship Game history. Silva finished the game with five tackles (one for loss), one interception, the forced fumble, and the defensive touchdown. DeLeon Gause, meanwhile, was the Eagles' leading tackler, recording 10 stops including one tackle for loss. Altogether, the Eagles recorded four sacks and nine tackles for loss, holding the Post-game effects Virginia Tech's victory in the ACC Championship Game had far-reaching sporting consequences for the 2007–2008 college football bowl season and in the future site of the ACC Championship Game. The 2007 game injected approximately $10 million into the Jacksonville economy. Thousands of hotel rooms were filled by fans traveling to the game, and the impact they created was larger than that of the previous year's game, which featured teams that had shorter distances to travel and whose fans had generated less demand for overnight accommodation. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2007/12/03/daily46.html Jacksonville sees bigger boost from ACC football championship] The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area, December 7, 2007. Accessed December 12, 2007.] Despite the fact that fans spent more in 2007 than at any previous ACC Championship Game, poor ticket sales at the box office necessitated a move. 2008 ACC Championship Game 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 host the game. [http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121207aaa.html ACC Announces Future Sites for Football Championship Game] The Atlantic Coast Conference, December 12, 2007. Accessed December 12, 2007.] On December 12, the ACC announced that 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, locking the ACC into the locations well in advance of the actual games. Tampa was chosen as the site of the 2008 game because Charlotte was scheduled to hold the annual Bowl effects With its win, Virginia Tech clinched an automatic bid to the The ACC's representatives to these bowls were picked in a hierarchical system that allowed the Chic-fil-A Bowl to have the first selection after the Orange Bowl's automatic pick of the winner of the ACC Championship Game. Following the Chick-fil-A Bowl were the Gator Bowl, With Virginia Tech earning an automatic bid to the Orange Bowl, the Chick-fil-A Bowl had the first pick of the remaining ACC teams. Boston College, by virtue of its loss in the ACC Championship Game, was the highest remaining team, but Chick-fil-A Bowl representatives instead chose to invite Clemson, which had finished behind Boston College in the Atlantic Division standings. [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2836420 2007-08 Bowl schedule] ESPN.com, December 2, 2007. Accessed December 13, 2007.] In making their decision, Chick-fil-A Bowl representatives cited Boston College's poor attendance at the ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville. [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=3142612 Team selection an extended process for Chick-fil-A Bowl] Mark Schlabach, ESPN.com, December 6, 2007. Accessed December 13, 2007.] The Gator Bowl, which is also held in Jacksonville, was reluctant to choose a team that had participated in the ACC Championship Game out of feat that the team's fans would be unwilling to return to Jacksonville so quickly. The Gator Bowl Association requested and received a waiver from the league's strict bowl selection rules and selected Virginia over Boston College. [ [http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2006/12/18/story1.html ACC gives Gator Bowl more flexibility] Tony Quesada, Jacksonville Business Journal, December 15, 2006. Accessed December 13, 2007.] The Champs Sports Bowl was thus forced to select Boston College. Boston College players and fans, owing to the decreased status of the Champs Sports Bowl when compared with the Orange, Chick-fil-A, and Gator Bowls, were disappointed with the selection and match against Michigan State. [ [http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071211/SPORTS07/71211061/1162/COL11 Champs Sports Bowl: Boston College didn't want to face Michigan State] The Detroit Free Press, December 11, 2007. Accessed December 13, 2007.] Had Boston College won the ACC Championship Game, it would have earned the automatic bid to the Orange Bowl, and Virginia Tech would have been selected by the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which had earlier expressed an interest in inviting the Hokies to the game for a second straight year. Clemson would have been bumped down to the Gator Bowl, and Virginia would have been forced into the Champs Sports Bowl. ee also * Other conference championship games Notes
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