Thursday November 05, 2009

Bowden's Last Visit

Bowden’s Last Visit
We know Bobby Bowden will bring his Florida State Seminoles to Death Valley Saturday. We also know that he is a future College Football Hall of Famer. What we don’t know is if this will be his final game against Clemson but just in case I did some research.

By my quick research, Clemson has faced 29 coaches who have been inducted into the college football Hall of Fame. This list does not include future inductees like Bowden and Steve Spurrier. Clemson is 16-12-1 in the final time the Tigers faced a coach that went on to go into the Hall of Fame.

Some of the most memorable games in school history have come in the final time the Tigers faced a Hall of Famer. The last time it happened was in 2004 when Clemson gave Lou Holtz a loss in his final game at South Carolina 29-7. That game featured a brawl that keep both teams out of a bowl game but the Tigers physically dominated the Gamecocks that afternoon from the opening kickoff.

The last time Clemson faced Georgia’s Vince Dooley it was another masterpiece. David Treadwell’s game-winning field goal sent the Dawgs home with a heart breaking loss for the second year in a row. His boot gave the Tigers a 21-20 victory in 1987.

In 1979 Clemson visited South Bend, IN and faced Dan Devine for the final time. Billy Lott and Terry Kinard led the Tigers to a 16-10 win over the Irish on Senior Day.

That same season Clemson faced Baylor’s Grant Teaff for the first and final time but dropped a 24-18 decision in a cold and rainy Peach Bowl.

The Tigers had a great run against future Hall of Famers since 1978. Danny Ford beat Ohio State and Woody Hayes in the legend’s last game, the 1978 Gator Bowl. Clemson held on for a 17-15 win that will be remembered for Hayes punching Clemson nose guard Charlie Bauman in the fourth quarter.

Ford was 1-1 against Hall of Famers in the 1979 season with the win over Devine and loss to Teaff.

Ford’s big game success continued when he beat Tom Osborne and the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the national championship in the Orange Bowl on January 1, 1982. The 22-15 win gave Clemson its first national title and a win over a Hall of Famer.

Ford was 1-1 against Hall of Famers in the 1979 season with the win over Devine and loss to Teaff. He lost to Jerry Claiborne’s Kentucky squad 26-7 in 1985 but that was Ford’s last loss to a Hall of Famer as he ended his Clemson career with four straight wins over legends in their last game against the Tigers.

In 1987 Clemson surprised Penn State by turning quarterback Rodney Williams loose in the passing game. The Tigers dominated the Nittany Lions in a 35-10 win in the Citrus Bowl of New Years’ Day of 1988.

The following season Clemson held off a last second pass to beat Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners. Clemson’s 13-6 win sent Switzer out as loser in his final game.

In the Gator Bowl the following season the Tigers’ defense was dominating as they shutdown Major Harris and the Mountaineers 27-7. It was ironic that this was Ford’s last game as the head coach of the Tigers.

Since Ford, Clemson has faced two Hall of Famers. The Tigers beat George Welsh and Virginia 31-10 in his final season and the 29-7 victory over Holtz in 2004.

Clemson has three former coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame. Frank Howard retired as a Tiger but John Heisman and Jess Neely faced the Tigers after they left the school. Heisman’s Georgia Tech team beat Clemson 28-0 in the final time he faced Clemson in 1919 but the Tigers beat Neely’s Rice team 21-7 in 1957.

The Tigers were not as successful against some of the giants of college football. Bear Bryant’s last game against Clemson ended with a 56-0 win in 1975. Shug Jordan’s last game against Clemson ended qith a 35-13 Auburn win in 1971. John McKay’s 1966 Southern Cal team beat Clemson 30-0 in 1966. General Robert Neyland’s Tennessee team beat Clemson 20-7 in 1938 and Oklahoma’s Bud Wilkinson beat Clemson 31-14 in 1963.

The only time the Tigers tied a Hall of Fame coach in his last game against Clemson was in 1976 when Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd and the Yellow Jackets tied Clemson 24-24 in Dodd’s final season in Atlanta.

Here is an alphabetical look at how the Hall of Fame coaches have done the final time they faced Clemson:

Bill Alexander Georgia Tech 1945 Clemson 21-7
Bear Bryant Alabama 1975 Alabama 56-0
Wally Butts Georgia 1955 Clemson 26-7
Jerry Claiborne Kentucky 1985 Kentucky 26-7
Dan Devine Notre Dame 1979 Clemson 16-10
Bobby Dodd GT 1976 tied 24-24
Vince Dooley UGA 1987 Clemson 21-20
Don Faurot Missouri 1950 Clemson 34-0
Ray Graves Florida 1961 Florida 21-17
Andy Gustafson Miami 1956 Miami 21-0
Woody Hayes Ohio State 1978 Clemson 17-15
John Heisman Georgia Tech 1919 Georgia Tech 28-0
Lou Holtz South Carolina 2004 Clemson 29-7
Shug Jordan Auburn 1971 Auburn 35-13
Dan McGugin Vanderbilt 1908 Vanderbilt 41-0
John McKay Southern Cal 1966 Southern Cal 30-0
Allyn McKeen Mississippi State 1948 Clemson 21-7
Bill Murray Duke 1965 Clemson 3-2
Jess Neely Rice 1957 Clemson 21-7
Don Nehlen West Virginia 1989 Clemson 27-7
Robert Neyland Tennessee 1938 Tennessee 20-7
Tom Osbourne Nebraska 1981 Clemson 22-15
Joe Paterno Penn State 1987 Clemson 35-10
Barry Switzer Oklahoma 1988 Clemson 13-6
Jim Tatum North Carolina 1958 Clemson 26-21
Grant Teaff Baylor 1979 Baylor 24-18
Frank Thomas Alabama 1936 Alabama 32-0
George Welsh Virginia 2000 Clemson 31-10
Bud Wilkinson Oklahoma 1963 Oklahoma 31-14

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Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Jean-Pierre Bailey, Kaitlyn L, Delores Weaver, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, John Petrey, Chalmers Carr, Drayton Melton, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Ann Fallaw, Bob Pollock, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Mike Kingsmore,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee.