Top 10 ACC Quarterbacks of the 2000s (2000-2009)

The Top 10 ACC Quarterbacks of the 2000s is a ranking of the best signal callers of the past decade.  Factors included in the ranking were performance, season and career statistics, awards and team performance under their leadership relative to the teams standard performance.  Years that were played in another conferance (Big East) or years that were played in another decade (1999, 2010) were not factored into the rankings. 


10.  Riley Skinner - Wake Forest





Riley Skinner never put up the huge statistics for the Demon Deacons, but it is impossible to disregard Skinner leading Wake Forest to the most productive era in the history of the program.  Over his four year career as the starter at Wake Forest, Skinner, lead the Deacs to their first ACC Championship since 1970 and took the team to 3 bowls, which is a 1/3 of the bowls in the teams history.  Skinner was 31-18 as a starter and was named 2nd Team All-ACC and ACC Rookie Of The Year in 2006 to go along with Honorable Mention Honors in 2008 and 2009.

Riley Skinner	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2006	14-13	171	260	65.8%	2051	9	5
2007	13-11	236	326	72.4%	2204	12	13
2008	13-13	232	363	63.9%	2347	13	7
2009	12-12	264	400	66.0%	3160	26	12

9. Thaddeus Lewis - Duke



Thaddeus Lewis never got the recognition that his play on the field deserved due to playing for the lowly Duke Blue Devils, but make no mistake Lewis was arguable the second best QB of the last half of the decade in the ACC.  Lewis lead Duke to 9 wins over his JR and SR seasons, which is 1 less than Duke amassed  from 2000-2007.  Lewis is Duke's leader in both career passing yards and career passing touchdowns and was named 2nd Team All-ACC in both 2008 and 2009.  Lewis is currently on the practice squad for the Saint Louis Rams.

Thaddeus Lewis	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2006	12-11	180	340	52.9%	2134	11	16
2007	12-12	199	360	55.3%	2430	21	10
2008	11-11	224	361	62.7%	2173	15	6
2009	12-12	274	449	61.0%	3330	20	8

8. Bryan Randall - Virginia Tech



Bryan Randall only played one season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but his one season was spectacular leading the Hokies to an ACC Championship in 2004.  Randall passed for 2264 yards and 21 touchdowns and rushed for 511 yards and 3 touchdowns and was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year and 1st Team All-ACC in 2004.  Randall was one of only 4 QBs that were named ACC Player of the Year during the decade.

Bryan Randall	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2004	13-13	170	306	55.6%	2264	21	9

7. Darian Durant - North Carolina



Darian Durant was an outstanding QB that is underrated due to playing in an era with a so many other great ACC signal callers on a bunch of North Carolina teams without a ton of talent offensively.  Durant was a machine offensively putting up big seasons for the Tar Heels for four consecutive years.  Durant left UNC with over 50 school records.

Darian Durant	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2001	11-11	142	223	63.7%	1843	17	10
2002	11-11	147	248	59.3%	2123	16	9
2003	14-14	234	389	60.2%	2551	18	8
2004	14-14	178	299	59.5%	2238	17	9

6. George Godsey - Georgia Tech



George Godsey is another of the many great quarterbacks that played in the league in the early part of the decade.  Godsey only started two years at Georgia Tech, but was prolific both years for the Yellow Jackets leading them to a 17-8 record.  Statistically his 2000 season was the 2nd best in GT history behind only Heisman runner-up Joe Hamilton's 1999 season. Godsey was named 2nd Team All-ACC for his performance in 2000 and was an Honorable Mention All-ACC selection in 2001.

George Godsey	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2000	11-11	222	349	63.6%	2906	23	6
2001	12-12	249	384	64.8%	3085	18	11

5. Woodrow Dantzler - Clemson



Woodrow Dantler was the first quarterback in NCAA history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a single season a feat that Dantzler accomplished in 2001 and was one of only three quarterbacks that passed for over 5,000 yards and rushed for over 2500 yards rushing.  Dantzler lead Clemson to a 16-8 record and left the school with 53 school records.

Woodrow Danzler	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2000	12-12	122	212	57.5%	1691	10	6
2001	12-12	240	369	60.5%	2360	17	11

 

Woodrow Danzler	GP-GS	ATT	YRDS	YPC	TD
2000	12-12	327	947	5.5	13
2001	12-12	240	1004	4.9	10

4. Chris Weinke - Florida State


Chris Weinke lead a loaded Florida State to the 11-1 record as senior and went on to win the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award and Johnny Unitas Award in 2000  Weike's 4367 yards lead the nation and was named ACC Player Of The Year, 1st Team All-American and 1st Team All-ACC.  Weinke was drafted in the 4th Round of the NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.  Weikie did have the advantage of playing with an incredible number of NFL players at FSU.  Weike would rank higher on this list, but only played one year during the decade.   Also would rank high on QBs on the 90s.

Chris Weinke	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2000	12-12	266	431	61.7%	4367	33	11

3. Matt Schaub - Virginia



It took until Matt Schaub's 3rd game of his redshirt junior season to win the starting job at the University of Virginia, but Schaub went on to have one of the best careers of the decade.  Schaub led UVA to a 9-4 record and its best season under Al Groh while being named ACC Player Of The Year, ACC Offensive Player Of The Year and 1st Team All-ACC in 2002.  Schaub battled injuries in 2003, but was still able to put together a great season and was named 2nd Team All-ACC.  Schaub was drafted in the 4th Round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons and is now the starting QB for the Houston Texans.

Matt Schaub	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2000	2-0	7	8	87.5%	50	0	1
2001	12-0	140	240	58.3%	1524	10	8
2002	14-12	288	418	68.9%	2976	28	7
2003	11-11	281	403	69.7%	2953	18	10

2. Matt Ryan - Boston College


Matt Ryan was easily the best quarterback of the second half of the decade leading Boston College to the ACC Championship Game in 2007 and compiling monster statistics in his two full years as a starter for the Eagles.  Ryan was named 1^st Team All-ACC in 2006 and was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year and 1^st Team All-ACC in 2006.  Ryan also won the 2007 Johnny Unites Award, which goes to the best senior quarterback.  Ryan was 21-6 as a starter in his two years as starting quarterback leading the moroon and gold to their first ten win regular season since 1940.  Ryan was drafted in the 1^st Round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons and is currently their starting QB.

Matt Ryan	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2005	10-5	121	195	62.1%	1514	8	5
2006	12-11	263	426	61.7%	2942	15	10
2007	14-14	388	654	59.3%	4507	31	15

1. Phillip Rivers - North Carolina State

Phillip Rivers, an unheralded recruit out of Alabama, quickly won the starting job at North Carolina State as a true freshman in 2000 and made an immediate impact leading the Pack to an 8-4 record and winning the 2000 ACC Rookie of the Year Award.  Rivers continued to rack up accolades throughout his career being named Honorable Mention All-ACC in 2001, 2^nd Team All-ACC in 2002, 1^st Team All-ACC along with being a unanimous choice for ACC Player of the Year in 2003.  Rivers compiled a 34-17 record as a starter, but perhaps his biggest accomplishment was making Head Coach Chuck Amato look like a genius.  Rivers left NCSU owning basically ever passing record in NC State and ACC history along with being 2^nd in NCAA history in passing yards and 8^th in NCAA history in passing touchdowns.  After a ridiculous senior season where Rivers threw for 4491 yards and 34 touchdowns while completing 72% of his passes, Rivers was selected in the 1^st Round on the NFL Draft by the New York Giants and now starts for the San Diego Chargers.

Phillip Rivers	GP-GS	CMP	ATT	CMT%	YRDS	TD	INT
2000	11-11	327	441	53.7%	3054	25	10
2001	11-11	240	369	65.0%	2586	16	7
2002	14-14	262	418	62.7%	3353	20	10
2003	13-13	348	483	72.0%	4491	34	10