2020 Atlantic Coast Conference football season

The 2020 Atlantic Coast Conference football season, part of the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, was the 68th season of college football play for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). It began on September 3, 2020, and ended in January 2021. For 2020, the ACC consisted of 15 members in one division.

The original 2020 schedule was released on January 22, 2020. On July 29, a revised concept of the schedule was released in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was announced that teams would play a ten-game conference schedule, which would include Notre Dame. An option was left for one out-of-conference game, provided that game was played in the home state of the ACC school.

Previous season
Clemson defeated Virginia 62–17 in the ACC Football Championship Game. The victory, along with a 12–0 regular season record, earned Clemson a berth in the College Football Playoff. The Tigers were the number three seed in the playoff and faced Ohio State in the 2019 Fiesta Bowl. The Tigers won the game 29–23 and advanced to the National Championship game where they lost to LSU 25–42.

ACC Kickoff
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACC announced that its 2020 Football Kickoff would be held virtually instead of at the Westin in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Kickoff was scheduled for July 21–23, 2020. On July 13, it was announced that the Kickoff was postponed until further notice. On September 4, 2020, the ACC Preseason Media Poll was released.

Preseason ACC Player of the Year
Source:

Specialist
Source:

Coaching changes
The ACC entered the 2020 season with two new head football coaches:


 * On November 4, 2019, Florida State head coach Willie Taggart was fired and replaced by Mike Norvell on December 7, 2019.
 * On December 1, 2019, Boston College head coach Steve Addazio was fired after seven seasons and a starting the season 2–8. Jeff Hafley was named head coach on December 14, 2019.

Head coaching records
Notes
 * Records shown are prior to the 2020 season
 * Years at school includes the 2020 season

Regular season
The regular season began on September 10 and ended on December 5. The ACC Championship game was played on December 19.

ACC vs Power 5 matchups
The other Power 5 conferences (Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC) announced a conference-only schedule model, and no ACC team played another Power 5 team during the regular season.

ACC vs Group of Five matchups
The following games featured ACC teams competing against teams from the American, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West, or Sun Belt.

ACC vs FBS independents matchups
The following games featured ACC teams competing against FBS Independents, which included Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, UConn, and UMass.

Records against other conferences
Regular season

Post Season

Bowl games
Rankings are from CFP rankings. All times Eastern Time Zone. ACC teams shown in bold.

All Conference Teams
Source:

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

ACC Individual Awards
ACC Player of the Year
 * Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

ACC Rookie of the Year
 * Kyren Williams, Notre Dame

ACC Coach of the Year
 * Brian Kelly, Notre Dame

ACC Offensive Player of the Year
 * Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year
 * Kyren Williams, Notre Dame

Jacobs Blocking Trophy
 * Liam Eichenberg, Notre Dame

ACC Defensive Player of the Year
 * Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame

ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year
 * Bryan Bresee, Clemson

National Award Winners

 * Nolan Cooney – Brian Piccolo Award
 * Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah – Butkus Award

Home game attendance
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance was limited at all stadiums for the season. Depending on state regulations, some universities did not allow any fans.

Bold – Exceeded capacity †Season High

NFL Draft
The following list includes all ACC Players who were drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft