The Miami Hurricanes have put five players on the ACC preseason All-Conference team. In addition to that, Miami’s transfer quarterback Cam Ward was chosen by the voting panel as the pre-season conference player of the year.
There were 170 media ballots cast beginning last week at the ACC Kickoff and extending through last weekend. The voting is done by position.
The Votes
Ward led all voting for the quarterback position with 85 first-place votes. He was not, however, the leading overall vote-getter. That distinction went to Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter with 129 votes for his position.
On offense, North Carolina State receiver Kevin “K.C.” Concepcion was the leading vote-getter with 119 votes for the wideout position. North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton had 114.
On defense, no one other than Carter garnered more than 100 first-place votes for their position. The closest was Florida State defensive lineman Joshua Farmer, who had 75.
The New Guys
Each of the newest ACC members also got a player voted on to the pre-season All-Conference team. Stanford receiver Elic Ayomanor, Cal running back Jaydn Ott, and SMU running back Brashard Smith also made the team. Ott was voted on as a running back and an all-purpose player. Smith made the lineup on special teams.
Twelve of the 17 ACC schools had at least one representative voted on to the team. In addition to Miami’s five selections, defending conference champion Florida State had four players chosen. Clemson followed with three honorees, while Cal, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech all had two players named to the preseason team.
Player of the Year Voting
Ward was the runaway winner in the pre-season Player of the Year voting with 71 votes. Hampton was next with 38 votes.
Ward is the leading returning player in the country in 2024 in terms of total completions. He had 323 while playing for Washington State last year. He was also fourth in the country in passing yards per game with 311.3.
Miami With the Most Players, but…
There is a slight irony to Miami players leading the voting with five making the pre-season All-Conference team. The same voters had the Hurricanes finishing a distant third in the voting in the pre-season conference rankings.
Florida State was picked to win the ACC with 81 first-place votes. Clemson was second with 55 and Miami was third with 17 first-place votes.
Of the 27 players selected to the pre-season All-ACC team, 20 of them are returners from 2023, (with the caveat that some have transferred schools, into the ACC).
The entire pre-season all-conference list can be seen here.
