23 years ago, 1999: There was a real panic in the world on

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Aug 13, 2022, 9:05 AM

the part of computer nerds, as the approaching end of the millennium was bound to trigger chaos and global catastrophe as older computers couldn't figure out time anymore. This was a huge deal, that in the end turned out to be a tempest in a teacup. But, hey, a lot of computer nerds made boatloads of money preparing industries and other businesses against the onslaught of time, so at least someone was happy about things.

In other news, President Clinton was impeached, but ultimately acquitted for having cigar sex with Monica Lewinsky. Of course, that's all it was. Two troubled teens went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School, leaving 13 dead. The online peer sharing service Napster is created, eventually leading to all kinds of lawsuits for digital piracy and copyright infringement. The popular children’s cartoon show “SpongeBob SquarePants” premieres on Nickelodeon Network.

In ACC football, the pants, square or otherwise, were still worn by the 8-0, 12-0 Florida State Seminoles of Coach Bobby Bowden. So much so, that they were undisputed National Champions for 1999, having won a thrilling 46-29 Sugar Bowl victory over Coach Frank Beamer's No. 2 Virginia Tech Hokies. VT had Michael Vick at QB, and he had brought them back from a 21 point deficit, to actually led the game 29-28 in the 4th quarter, before a late onslaught by the Seminoles put it out of reach for good. The only other ranked team in the ACC was No. 20 Georgia Tech, who were 8-4, but 28-13 losers to Miami in the Gator Bowl.

At Clemson, the Tommy Bowden era began with what was supposed to be an easy game in the Valley against a MAC opponent, the Marshall Thundering Herd. But, this particular Marshall team had Chad Pennington, a senior QB, and would not lose a game all year, and finish No. 10 in both polls. They eked out a 13-10 win over the Tigers. Attendance at the 1st game of the Bowden era had been a hopeful 79,186. That would drop quickly to 66,922 for the next game, a 33-14 WIN over No. 22 Virginia. Hmm, lose to a team you were supposed to beat, then beat a team you were supposed to lose to. Where have I heard THAT before? Never mind, we got us a BOWDEN.

Next on the road with a No. 19 ranking, against a No. 8 VT team that would eventually challenge for the Natty, we got Michael Vicked, 31-11. So much for rankings for this year. As the season progressed, we would turn out to be consistently inconsistent, not having a two game winning streak OR a two game losing streak until Game 9 of the season. The road loss at VT was followed up by a 31-20 home win over North Carolina. That was followed by a 35-31 road loss at NC State.

THAT was followed by a 42-30 road WIN at Maryland. Then came the first of many ballyhooed “Bowden Bowls”, pitting Father against Son. Clemson put forth a great effort, and was the only team to hold No. 1 FSU under 30 points the whole year. But, the result was still a “close but no cigar” 17-14 defeat. So, since we are alternating wins and losses, the next should be a win at Wake Forest, right? It was, but MUCH closer than expected, 12-3. Unexpectedly close games at Wake Forest? File that away for a few years, it WILL come up again.

Next, we went from a crowd of only 21,105 at Wake's tiny Grove Stadium, to a crowd of 77, 573 in Death Valley, for the game where we finally got a streak, winning over Duke easily, 58-7. but, the losing blues would hit again next week in Bobby Dodd, as No. 13 Georgia Tech took a high scoring game, 45-42 over the Tigers. This meant that we were 5-5 going into the South Carolina game, needing a win to be bowl eligible in Tommy Bowden's 1st year.

Now, if you remember, Brad Scott had also been fired at the end of the season last year, and had been replaced by.. Granny! Lou Holtz! Schonuvabisch! I thought he was a TV commentator! But, if you think Tommy Bowden struggled in his first year, Brad Scott had evidently not only left the cupboard bare at South Carolina, he must have taken it with him when he left! Even a coach of Granny's caliber had not managed to win a single game, nada, naught, Kaflooie, coming into the Clemson game. In an inspired act of rivalry evil, jubilant Clemson fans brought a bunch of Zero candy bars to the game, and did not miss any opportunity to throw them on the field during Clemson's 31-21 win, to emphasize the fact that the Coot win total for the year would in fact, be ZERO. Clemson leads the series 58-35-4, and Tommy Bowden would prove as years went by that the one thing he COULD do, was beat South Carolina.

The 6-5 record got Clemson an invite to a once proud Peach Bowl that must have fallen on hard times to have to take a 6-5 team to pair up with a 9-2, No.15 Mississippi State team. The Tigers played tough, but the SEC prevailed, 17-7. State would end the year ranked No. 13 in the AP, No. 12 in the Coaches poll. All Clemson 1999 results below.

Marshall L 10–13
No. 22 Virginia W 33–14
At No. 8 Virginia Tech No. 19 L 11–31
North Carolina W 31–20
At NC State L 31–35
At Maryland W 42–30
No. 1 Florida State L 14–17
At Wake Forest W 12–3
Duke W 58–7
At No. 13 Georgia Tech L 42–45
At South Carolina W 31-21

Clemson vs. Mississippi State
Peach Bowl
L 7-17

One thing Tommy Bowden quickly realized when he walked through the door at Clemson. Recruiting had fallen on hard times at the end of the Tommy West era, and if Clemson was going to get back to where we wanted to go, that would have to change. We would have to start winning some recruiting battles where we were finishing 2nd place and no cigar. Would it happen? Only The Shadow Knows....