Five Deacons Earn All-ACC Football Honors
12/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 7, 2004
Winston-Salem, N.C. - Wake Forest junior running back Chris Barclay and junior punter Ryan Plackemeier were selected All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team in a vote by the league's media, the conference announced on Tuesday. Senior cornerback Eric King and sophomore offensive guard Steve Vallos were chosen to the second team while freshman linebacker Jonathan Abbate earned honorable mention.
Barclay led the ACC in rushing with 1,010 yards on 243 carries to lead the league in both categories. It marked the second straight year that Barclay has led the conference in rushing during the regular season. He was a second team selection last year. The native of Louisville, Ky., finished his junior year with nine touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards against ACC opponents on four occasions. Barclay tied the Wake Forest career rushing touchdown record of 30 and vaulted into third place on the Wake Forest career rushing yards chart. He stands an excellent chance at breaking those records next season as a senior.
For Plackemeier, it was his second consecutive first team selection. The native of Bonsall, Calif., led the ACC in punting for the second consecutive year. He punted 64 times for an average of 43.9 yards per attempt. He dropped 17 punts inside the 20-yardline and booted 18 punts of at least 50 yards. Four of his punts went for at least 60 yards.
King, a first team selection as a junior, made the second team as a senior. King ranked among the league leaders in a number of categories including forced fumbles, pass break-ups and passes defended. The native of Woodstock, Md., also had 5.5 tackles for loss and two sacks, showing his overall defensive ability. King becomes the first Deacon to earn All-ACC honors in consecutive years since 1991-92 when George Coghill accomplished the feat.
Vallos, a native of Boardman, Ohio, made the second team as a sophomore and was the third-leading vote-getter at offensive guard. Vallos helped pave the way for the Deacons to rank second in the ACC and 19th nationally in rushing offense. He played 766 snaps this season, grading out at 87 percent for the season with a team-high 114 knockdown blocks.
Abbate became only the second Wake Forest freshman to earn All-ACC honors of any kind, after all-time rushing leader James McDougald did it in 1976. He was 10 points short of making the second team. The native of Powder Springs, Ga., led the Deacons with 101 tackles, 30 more than any other player and 49 more than any other ACC freshman. He was one of only two freshmen nationally to register at least 100 tackles this season.
During the four-year Grobe era, Wake Forest has garnered 18 All-ACC selections, the most in any four-year period in school history. The list includes five offensive line selections, three at running back, three defensive ends, two at punter, two cornerbacks, two return specialists and one at linebacker.
Wake Forest's five selections this year were tied for the third-most in school history. In 1970 and 1992, the Deacons had six selections. Wake Forest also had five honorees in 1971, 2001 and 2003.
The Deacons had four players on the first or second team, ahead of North Carolina's two, NC State's two and Duke's one. Clemson also had four selections in the top two teams.
2004 ACSMA/AP All-ACC Football Team & Individual Awards (100 Total Ballots; 200 total points - 30 minimum for HM)
| OFFENSE | First Team | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
| Quarterback | Bryan Randall, Sr., VT (167) | Brock Berlin, Sr., Miami (100) | Darian Durant, Sr., UNC (32) |
| Running Back | Alvin Pearman, Sr., UVa (181) | Frank Gore, Jr., Miami (87) | Chad Scott, Sr., UNC (32) |
| Chris Barclay, Jr., WF (163) | Leon Washington, Jr., FSU (83) | ||
| Wide Receiver | Airese Currie, Sr., Clem. (152) | Chauncey Stovall, Sr., FSU (125) | |
| Calvin Johnson, Fr., GaT (140) | Roscoe Parrish, Jr., Miami (113) | ||
| Tight End | Heath Miller, Jr., UVa (186) | Jeff King, Jr., VT (33) | |
| Tackle | Alex Barron, Sr., FSU (157) | Chris Myers, Sr., Miami (72) | Ray Willis, Sr., FSU (46) |
| D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Jr., UVa (106) | Jon Dunn, Sr., VT (47) | Jimmy Martin, Jr., VT (43) | |
| Willie McNeill, Sr., UNC (38) | |||
| Guard | Elton Brown, Sr., UVa (196) | Steve Vallos, So., WF (85) | Cedric Johnson, Sr., Clem. (65) |
| C.J. Brooks, Sr., Md. (118) | Kyle Ralph, Jr., UNC (78) | Leroy Harris, So., NCS (48) | |
| Center | Jason Brown, Sr., UNC (133) | Zac Yarbrough, Sr., UVa (43) | Will Montgomery, Jr., VT (37) |
| Joel Rodriguez, Sr., Miami (37) | |||
| DEFENSE | First Team | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
| D-Line | Darryl Tapp, Jr., VT (142) | Manny Lawson, Jr., NCS (106) | Orien Harris, Jr., Miami (55) |
| Shawne Merriman, Jr., Md. (138) | Jim Davis, Sr., VT (82) | Andrew Hoffman, Sr., UVa (50) | |
| Travis Johnson, Sr., FSU (134) | Eric Henderson, Jr., GaT (78) | Baraka Atkins, So., Miami (43) | |
| Mario Williams, So., NCS (107) | Chauncey Davis, Sr., FSU (67) | Eric Moore, Sr., FSU (37) | |
| Jonathan Lewis, Jr., VT (35) | |||
| Eric Coleman, Sr., Clem. (34) | |||
| Linebacker | D'Qwell Jackson, Jr., Md. (148) | Darryl Blackstock, Jr., UVa (113) | Jonathan Abbate, Fr., WF (58) |
| Leroy Hill, Sr., Clem. (143) | Gerris Wilkinson, Jr., GaT (79) | Chris Reis, Jr., GaT (35) | |
| Ahmad Brooks, So., UVa (116) | Ernie Sims, So., FSU (68) | A.J. Nicholson, Jr., FSU (33) | |
| Roger McIntosh, Jr., Miami (33) | |||
| Defensive Back | Antrel Rolle, Sr., Miami (160) | John Talley, So., Duke (73) | Vincent Fuller, Sr., VT (50) |
| Jimmy Williams, Jr., VT (118) | Eric King, Sr., WF (64) | Tye Hill, Jr., Clem. (50) | |
| James Butler, Sr., GaT (89) | Bryant McFadden, Sr., FSU (58) | Chris Kelley, Sr., Md. (43) | |
| Antonio Cromartie, So., FSU (78) | Domonique Foxworth, Sr., Md. (57) | Pat Watkins, Jr., FSU (42) | |
| Justin Miller, Jr., Clem. (57) | Andre Maddox, Sr., NCS (40) | ||
| Gerald Sensabaugh, Sr., UNC (35) | |||
| Greg Threat, Jr., Miami (33) | |||
| SPEC TEAMS | First Team | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
| Placekicker | Brandon Pace, So., VT (135) | Travis Bell, Fr., GaT (66) | Connor Barth, Fr., UNC (47) |
| Nick Novak, Sr., Md. (47) | |||
| Punter | Ryan Plackemeier, Jr., WF (153) | Adam Podlesh, So., Md. (111) | |
| Specialist | Devin Hester, So., Miami (158) | Justin Miller, Jr., Clem. (101) |
All-ACC by School:
| School | 1st | 2nd | Total |
| Clemson | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Duke | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Florida State | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Georgia Tech | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Maryland | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Miami | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| NC State | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Virginia | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Virginia Tech | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Wake Forest | 2 | 2 | 4 |