CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Clemson Rolls Over Missouri, 62-9


by - Correspondent -

CLEMSON, SC - Death Valley's scoreboard got a facelift over the summer and the

biggest workout it's seen in nearly 20 years Saturday.

Clemson (2-0) turned a 14-9 lead late in the first half into a 62-9 rout of

Missouri (1-1) in front of 73,000 at Memorial Stadium.

Clemson's 62 points was the most by the Tigers since 1981's 82-24 Halloween

massacre of Wake Forest. The scoreboard stayed on late into the night

Saturday as if to show off its new look - but it shouldn't think that this

won't happen again anytime soon.

"We still have room for improvement," said Clemson quarterback Woody

Dantzler, who threw for two touchdowns, both to Rod Gardner. "It's amazing

what the offense and defense can do when both are clicking. We tell them

give us the ball we'll put it in."

That's exactly what happened with about five minutes left in the first half.

Clemson took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but Missouri scored on a

76-yard drive. Clemson's Joe Don Reames fumbled on the kickoff return and

Missouri added a field goal to cut the lead to 14-9.

That's when Clemson started its offensive and defensive onslaught.

Clemson's offense scored on a 70-yard drive to make the score 21-9. Two

plays into Missouri's next drive, Brian Mance recovered a fumble on the

Missouri 27-yard line. Clemson scored five plays later on a 14-yard run by

Dantzler to give Clemson a 28-9 halftime lead.

Missouri quarterback Kirk Farmer was intercepted by Charley Hafley at the

Missouri 27-yard line on the second play of the second half. Hafley returned

the interception for a touchdown to put Clemson up 34-9.

Robert Carswell recovered a fumble three plays into Missouri's next drive,

again leading to a Clemson score, this time a 27-yard pass from Dantzler to

Rod Gardner.

Farmer was intercepted by Mance on Missouri's next drive and Clemson scored

on a 2-yard run by Travis Zachery with 8:54 left in the third quarter and

Clemson led 48-9. Clemson scored 34 points in 8:33 to put an end to any

worrying about Missouri's All-American defensive end Justin Smith. Smith

argued that he was held on Clemson's second touchdown run, but little was

heard from Smith the rest of the night.

"They were talking pre-game, when we were running down the Hill they were

screaming at us," said Gardner. "We kept our calm."

Clemson's second-team also had success against Missouri. Willie Simmons led

Clemson on a late touchdown drive.

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden is reserving judgement on just how good his

offense is. "I think now you need to be productive when you elevate the

talent level," he said. "We struggled against Wake Forest, which had a very

good defense, Virginia Tech and Marshall. And then Mississippi State. Three

of those four were in the top six in defense.

"When you ask what else can we do offensively, when we play a really good

defense, we'll see how productive we can be. That's going to be the key. Can

we execute against a highly ranked, really talented defense."

Just as interesting will be how Missouri's defense does against Michigan

State and Nebraska in the next two weeks.

"This is a complete humiliation to every play and coach on this team," said

Missouri coach Larry Smith. "We'll have to regroup and get going for next

week against Michigan State."

Clemson's scoreboard will be waiting to tell the story.

BOXSCORE

                   1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL

--- --- --- --- -----

Missouri 0 9 0 0 9

Clemson 14 14 20 14 62

First Quarter

Cle-Zachery 1 run (Hunt kick), 6:08

Cle-Zachery 1 run (Hunt kick), 3:00

Second Quarter

Mis-Gilmore 2 run (kick failed), 6:19

Mis-FG Hammerich 35, 5:06

Cle-Gardner 38 pass from Dantzler (Hunt kick), 2:27

Cle-Dantzler 14 run (Hunt kick), 0:39

Third Quarter

Cle-Hafley 27 interception return (kick failed), 14:13

Cle-Gardner 27 pass from Dantzler (Hunt kick), 12:17

Cle-Zachery 2 run (Hunt kick), 8:54

Fourth Quarter

Cle-Kelly 1 run (Hunt kick), 10:14

Cle-Kelly 13 run (Hunt kick), 4:35

Mis Cle

--- ---

First downs 14 25

Rushes-yards 36-72 50-206

Passing 144 275

Comp-Att-Int 14-28-3 15-24-0

Return Yards 114 148

Punts-Avg. 5-36.8 3-37

Fumbles-Lost 3-3 1-1

Penalties-Yards 7-42 11-121

Time of Possession 28:03 31:57

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Missouri, Gilmore 11-37, Abron 17-34, Farmer 5-17,

Spencer 1-(minus 1), Outlaw 1-(minus 6), Gilpin 1-(minus 9).

Clemson, Zachery 17-67, Dantzler 13-65, Jasmin 4-34, Kelly 8-32,

Rambert 6-18, Simmons 2-(minus 10).

PASSING-Missouri, Farmer 12-25-3-131, Outlaw 2-2-0-13, Gilmore

0-1-0-0. Clemson, Dantzler 12-19-0-188, Simmons 3-5-0-87.

RECEIVING-Missouri, Blakley 4-58, Garvin 2-26, Dausman 2-19,

Spencer 2-11, Barnes 1-16, Jackson 1-8, James 1-5, Gage 1-1.

Clemson, Gardner 4-98, Robinson 4-26, Youngblood 2-75, Watts

2-27, McKelvey 2-25, Woodward 1-24.

A-73,000.

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