Tigers Get First Win in Tallahassee Since 1989 |
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The last six times Clemson has lost a game, the total point differential has been just 18 points. In each of those losses it seemed to be one or two little things going wrong at the most inopportune time which made the difference.
So to say Tommy Bowden's team was due a break would be an understatement.
James Davis' one-yard touchdown plunge with :08 remaining Saturday night lifted Clemson (2-1, 1-1 ACC) to a 27-20 victory over No. 9 Florida State. Ironically, the Tigers overcame even more special teams difficulties to get the win.
It was their first in Tallahassee since 1989, and made this senior class the first ever to finish 3-1 vs. the Seminoles (2-1, 1-1).
Bowden also closed the deficit in matchups with his famous father, Bobby, to 5-3.
"Typically when you play a good team especially (on the road) there is an opportunity for a lot of momentum changes where you can get discouraged, but I thought our senior group didn’t let them get down on the sidelines," Bowden said. "We kept fighting back. I thought the staff had a good plan. This is a hard place to win.
"We haven’t done it in 17 years so I was real proud of our team and our coaches."
Clemson began the game-winning drive at its own 15-yard line with 2:22 remaining. A pair of James Davis rushes totaled 16 yards, then Will Proctor threw complete to Aaron Kelly for 18 to the Clemson 49.
Then, in what proved to be the game's pivotal play, the Tigers caught Florida State's defense off guard with a quick snap and handoff to Davis, who bolted through the stunned Seminoles for 47 yards to the FSU four.
Three plays later Davis (19 carries, 87 yards) crashed over from the one for the game-winner.
"I think we changed tempo a little bit, obviously. We caught them on the quick huddle," Bowden said. "We had been trying to do that. We did it a little bit earlier but it wasn’t as effective. But we caught them a couple of times not getting lined up and broke some big plays.
"I thought Rob Spence’s ability to inject that at that particular time was instrumental."
Clemson had built a 20-9 lead before Florida State got its stagnant offense going on back-to-back second half possessions.
Gary Cismesia's 25-yard field goal late in the third quarter cut the lead to 20-12. After Clemson went three-and-out, the Seminoles drove 53 yards for their only offensive touchdown of the game, a one-yard run by Surratt with 10:27 remaining. Weatherford then hit Charles Davis on the two-point conversion pass to tie the game 20-20.
"In the third quarter we just couldn’t change field position," said Bowden "Something would happen. We just stayed backed up. We couldn’t make a play and I just thought the defense did an excellent job."
Clemson opened the scoring in the first quarter on an 8-yard run by Davis. But Jad Dean's extra point attempt was blocked, scooped up by Tony Carter and returned the other way for two points.
Lightning struck again in the second quarter when the Seminoles blocked Dean's field goal attempt. Again Carter was in the right place at the right time, picking up the loose ball and scooting 69 yards for the touchdown and a 9-6 FSU lead.
But the Tigers regained their composure just before the half, returning the score when Proctor (16-of-30, 194 yards) found Chansi Stuckey from 19-yards away with :23 left in the half. The duo hooked up again on the 2-point conversion pass, and Clemson led 14-9 at the half.
Clemson scored on its opening possession of the second half, with Proctor capping off an 80-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run on the bootleg. The conversion pass failed, and the Tigers led 20-9.
Clemson returns home at noon next Saturday to face North Carolina, who struggled past I-AA Furman Saturday 45-42.
Box Score
Attendance: 83510
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Clemson............. 6 8 6 7 - 27
Florida State....... 2 7 3 8 - 20
Scoring Summary:
1st 03:42 CU - Davis, J 8 yd run (Dean, J kick blockd)
2 plays, 46 yards, TOP 0:34, CU 6 - FS 0
03:42 FS - Tony Carter PAT return
CU 6 - FS 2
2nd 03:24 FS - Tony Carter 69 yd blocked FG return (Gary Cismesia kick)
CU 6 - FS 9
00:23 CU - Stuckey, C 19 yd pass from Proctor, W (Stuckey,
C pass from Proctor, W)
10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:55, CU 14 - FS 9
3rd 12:14 CU - Proctor, W 20 yd run (Proctor, W pass failed)
5 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:40, CU 20 - FS 9
03:19 FS - Gary Cismesia 25 yd field goal
14 plays, 54 yards, TOP 5:38, CU 20 - FS 12
4th 10:27 FS - Joe Surratt 1 yd run (Chris Davis pass from Weatherford, D)
12 plays, 53 yards, TOP 5:55, CU 20 - FS 20
00:08 CU - Davis, J 1 yd run (Dean, J kick)
7 plays, 85 yards, TOP 2:14, CU 27 - FS 20
Team Statistics
CU FS
FIRST DOWNS................... 15 11
Rushing..................... 5 6
Passing..................... 8 4
Penalty..................... 2 1
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 151 102
Rushing Attempts............ 28 38
Average Per Rush............ 5.4 2.7
Yards Gained Rushing........ 168 124
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 17 22
NET YARDS PASSING............. 194 102
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 16-30-0 11-20-0
Average Per Attempt......... 6.5 5.1
Average Per Completion...... 12.1 9.3
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 345 204
Total offense plays......... 58 58
Average Gain Per Play....... 5.9 3.5
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 3-0 4-2
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 3-25 5-38
PUNTS-YARDS................... 7-276 6-238
Average Yards Per Punt...... 39.4 39.7
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 35.3 38.5
Inside 20................... 1 3
50+ Yards................... 0 2
Touchbacks.................. 1 0
Fair catch.................. 1 1
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 5-236 4-260
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 47.2 65.0
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 37.6 43.8
Touchbacks.................. 1 3
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 2-7-0 4-9-0
Average Per Return.......... 3.5 2.2
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 1-25-0 2-28-0
Average Per Return.......... 25.0 14.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 1-4-0 0-0-1
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 85
Possession Time............... 26:40 33:16
1st Quarter................. 4:09 10:51
2nd Quarter................. 11:32 3:28
3rd Quarter................. 5:57 9:03
4th Quarter................. 5:02 9:54
Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 14 7 of 17
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 4-5 2-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 4-11 0-0
PAT Kicks..................... 1-2 1-1
Field Goals................... 0-1 1-1
Individual Statistics
Clemson
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
-------------------------------------------------
Davis, J 19 95 8 87 2 47 4.6
Ford, J 1 38 0 38 0 38 38.0
Proctor, W 2 20 5 15 1 20 7.5
Merriweather, R 3 11 0 11 0 6 3.7
Stuckey, C 1 4 0 4 0 4 4.0
Spiller, C 2 0 4 -4 0 0 -2.0
Totals... 28 168 17 151 3 47 5.4
Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
-------------------------------------------------
Proctor, W 30-16-0 194 1 54 0
Totals... 30-16-0 194 1 54 0
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
----------------------------------------
Kelly, A 5 51 0 18
Taylor, R 3 34 0 32
Stuckey, C 3 34 1 19
Grisham, T 2 19 0 10
Davis, J 1 54 0 54
Barry, D 1 9 0 9
Ford, J 1 -7 0 0
Totals... 16 194 1 54
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
---------------------------------------------------
Chason, C 7 276 39.4 49 1 1
Totals... 7 276 39.4 49 1 1
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
--------------------------------------------------
Ford, J 1 12 12 0 0 0 0 0 0
Spiller, C 1 -5 0 1 25 25 0 0 0
Totals... 2 7 12 1 25 25 0 0 0
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Dean, J 2nd 03:24 32 yds - Blocked
Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg
---------------------------------------
Dean, J 5 236 1 0 47.2
Florida State
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
-------------------------------------------------
Lorenzo Booker 10 48 3 45 0 14 4.5
Antone Smith 11 38 2 36 0 9 3.3
Joe Surratt 7 25 0 25 1 6 3.6
Drew Weatherford 10 13 17 -4 0 6 -0.4
Totals... 38 124 22 102 1 14 2.7
Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
-------------------------------------------------
Drew Weatherford 19-11-0 102 0 26 4
Xavier Lee 1-0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals... 20-11-0 102 0 26 4
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
----------------------------------------
De'Cody Fagg 4 34 0 15
Brandon Warren 3 25 0 13
Chris Davis 1 26 0 26
Lorenzo Booker 1 7 0 7
Richard Goodman 1 6 0 6
Joslin Shaw 1 4 0 4
Totals... 11 102 0 26
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
---------------------------------------------------
Graham Gano 6 238 39.7 59 3 0
Totals... 6 238 39.7 59 3 0
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
--------------------------------------------------
Chris Davis 3 10 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lorenzo Booker 0 0 0 2 28 14 0 0 0
Marcus Ball 1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals... 4 9 5 2 28 14 0 0 0
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Gary Cismesia 3rd 03:19 25 yds - Good
Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg
---------------------------------------
Gano, G 4 260 3 0 65.0
FUMBLES: Clemson-Ford, J 1-0; Proctor, W 1-0.
Florida State-Marcus Ball 1-1; Brandon Warren
1-1; Lorenzo Booker 1-0; Drew Weatherford 1-0.
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