CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Tigers Fall to Hurricanes in Three Overtime Classic
Charlie Whitehurst faked a handoff and ran for 65 yards to Miami's 8 to set up a Tiger touchdown.

Tigers Fall to Hurricanes in Three Overtime Classic


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CLEMSON - Tyrone Moss' 25-yard touchdown run in the third overtime gave No. 13 Miami a 36-30 victory over No. 20 Clemson Saturday, and ended the Tigers' hopes for its first 3-0 start since 2000.

Freshman safety Kenny Phillips intercepted Charlie Whitehurst to end the game when the Tigers (2-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) got their chance in the third overtime period to try to tie. After Miami celebrated and the two teams began to walk off the field, the crowd stood and applauded the effort by both teams.

"Regardless of what side you were on, it was probably the best game I've been a part of," said Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst.

The loss was the first ever for the Tigers in overtime, winning in its first 5 attempts.

Moss, who had been questionable for the game due to an injury, finished with 139 yards rushing and three touchdowns, two in overtime. His 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter put Miami up 20-10, while his 3-yard scoring run gave the Hurricanes (1-1, 1-1) a brief 27-20 lead in the first overtime.

The Tigers, who have already rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Texas A&M and Maryland this season, did it again to force overtime.

"I told them I was disappointed that we lost, but I'm really honored to be the head coach of a team like the one we've got that won't quit," said Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden. "There's just no quit in them."

Whitehurst had a 1-yard quarterback sneak touchdown to cut the lead to three points with 2:58 to go. Then after forcing the Hurricanes to punt, Whitehurst led a 46-yard drive that ended with Jad Dean's tying field goal from 27-yards out.

Before the field goal, Clemson had a chance to win the game in regulation. On third down with 19 seconds remaining, Clemson receiver Chansi Stuckey broke open by himself on the left side of the end zone, but Whitehurst overthrew the receiver and the Tigers settled for the field goal.

"We are bubbling with confidence in the fourth quarter," said Clemson receiver Curtis Baham. "We fully expected to win. We made the plays we needed to to get this thing in to overtime but they one upped us. We had pocket kings. They had pocket aces."

The Hurricanes didn't look particularly crisp in their first trip to Clemson, but got rolling when they went to Moss on the ground instead of sophomore Kyle Wright's passing.

Trailing 10-6 in the third quarter, Moss carried six times on a 47-yard drive that ended with Wright's 8-yard touchdown pass to Quadtrine Hill.

On the next series, Wright let loose with his longest pass of the game, a 40-yard strike to Sinorice Moss that move Miami to Clemson's 6.

Two plays later, Moss finished the drive with his 1-yard score to give Miami its 10-point, fourth-quarter lead.

Things looked good early on as the Tigers. Whitehurst faked a handoff and ran for 65 yards to Miami's 8. On the next play, Whitehurst finished the dirve by hitting tight end Cole Downer with an 8-yard touchdown pass to put the Tigers up 7-3.

When Jad Dean hit his 12th straight field goal, Clemson was up 10-3 in the second quarter.

#13 Miami vs #20 Clemson 

Score      1  2  3  4 OT [ 5 6 7 8 ]   Score

------- -- -- -- -- -- [ - - - - ] -----

Miami.... 3 3 7 7 16 [ 7 0 9 0 ] - 36

Clemson.. 0 10 0 10 10 [ 7 3 0 0 ] - 30

Scoring Summary:

1st 00:26 UM - Peattie,J. 37 yd field goal

UM 3 - CU 0

2nd 14:20 CU - Downer,C 8 yd pass from Whitehurst,C (Dean,J kick)

UM 3 - CU 7

04:41 CU - Dean,J 34 yd field goal

UM 3 - CU 10

02:32 UM - Peattie,J. 37 yd field goal

UM 6 - CU 10

3rd 04:25 UM - Hill,Q. 8 yd pass from Wright,K. (Peattie,J. kick)

UM 13 - CU 10

4th 14:20 UM - Moss,T. 1 yd run (Peattie,J. kick)

UM 20 - CU 10

02:58 CU - Whitehurst,C 1 yd run (Dean,J kick)

UM 20 - CU 17

00:15 CU - Dean,J 27 yd field goal

UM 20 - CU 20

OT 15:00 UM - Moss,T. 6 yd run (Peattie,J. kick)

UM 27 - CU 20

15:00 CU - Baham,C 5 yd pass from Whitehurst,C (Dean,J kick)

UM 27 - CU 27

15:00 CU - Dean,J 39 yd field goal

UM 27 - CU 30

15:00 UM - Peattie,J. 19 yd field goal

UM 30 - CU 30

15:00 UM - Moss,T. 25 yd run (Wright,K. pass failed)

UM 36 - CU 30

UM CU

FIRST DOWNS................... 18 24

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 52-195 22-90

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 152 288

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 26-16-0 55-31-1

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 78-347 77-378

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............ 3-31 3-8

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 3-87 2-25

Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-4 0-0

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 7-42.9 7-31.6

Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-1 1-0

Penalties-Yards............... 14-117 2-15

Possession Time............... 31:43 28:17

Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 16 3 of 17

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 3 of 3

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 6-6 5-5

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-12 5-40

RUSHING:

Miami-Moss,T. 31-139; Hester,D. 1-36;

Jones,C. 6-29; Thomas,D. 3-20; Hill,Q. 1-3;

Freeman,K. 1-2; Moss,S. 2-1; TM 1-minus 2;

Wright,K. 6-minus 33.

Clemson-Whitehurst,C 5-58; Harrell,C 1-16;

Davis, J 12-12; Merriweather,R 3-8;

Team 1-minus 4.

PASSING:

Miami-Wright,K. 16-26-0-152.

Clemson-Whitehurst,C 31-55-1-288.

RECEIVING: Miami-Moore,R. 4-54; Hill,Q. 4-30;

Moss,S. 3-47; Jenkins,D. 2-20; Olsen,G. 2-9;

Leggett,L. 1-minus 8.

Clemson-Stuckey, C 7-71; Baham,C 5-87;

Kelly,A 4-40; Grant,K 3-21; Davis, J 3-17;

Grisham,T 3-15; Downer,C 2-14; Jackson,S 1-15;

Merriweather,R 1-9; Hunter,T 1-3;

Taylor, R 1-minus 4.

INTERCEPTIONS:

Miami-Phillips,K. 1-4. Clemson-None.

FUMBLES: Miami-TM 1-1; Moss,T. 1-0.

Clemson-Team 1-0.

Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 79000

Kickoff time: 3:37 End of Game: 7:47

Total elapsed time: 4:10

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