On This Date: 1991 (14)Clemson- 30 (16)Illinois- 0

Jan 1, 2024, 2:00 PM

01/01/1991 (1990 Season)
Tampa, FL
Hall Of Fame Bowl

Clemson throws Illinois for a loss in Hall of Fame Bowl

By
BRIAN LANDMAN
Published Jan. 2, 1991

Historically, throwing the football has been nothing more than passing fancy for the Clemson Tigers, but they bucked tradition Tuesday in the Hall of Fame Bowl. DeChane Cameron completed 14 of 20 passes, with two touchdowns, and the nation's top-ranked defense did its part in a 30-0 rout of Illinois at Tampa Stadium. No attendance was announced, but 63,154 tickets were sold, the second most in the bowl's five-year history.

Clemson and Florida State are the only college football teams to win bowl games in each of the past five years.

"I'd like to think I surprised some people today," said Cameron, who also ran 17 times for a game-high 76 yards to earn most valuable player honors. "I know I'm underrated and overlooked as a passer because we're known as a running team. But I knew in my heart that I could pass the ball with the best of them."

Cameron looked it against the Fighting Illini (8-4), one of four schools to share the Big Ten title. And good for Clemson that he did. The Tigers' running attack, which was the rule on 76 percent of Clemson's plays this year and averaged 255.3 yards a game, gained just 148 yards on 44 attempts.

The Tigers (10-2) intended to throw the ball more than usual against Illinois.

"We knew Illinois played a soft zone and we knew we could throw underneath," said freshman wide receiver Terry Smith, who caught three passes for 43 yards. "We practiced that all week. And we knew what DeChane was capable of doing, even if no one else was. I wouldn't have any other quarterback."

But Clemson also had the nation's best defense, which, before Tuesday, was conceding just under 10 points a game.

Illinois, which had never before faced Clemson in its 100-year history and may not want to meet the Tigers again for another 100 years, was simply overpowered and overwrought.

Illinois generated 247 yards of offense, but 98 of that came in the fourth quarter with the Tigers already comfortably ahead.

How dominating was the Clemson defense? Well, Illinois hadn't been shut out since losing 14-0 to Ohio State in 1986. And the 30-point margin of defeat was the team's worst since a 44-7 setback to Washington State in the 1988 season opener _ coach John Mackovic's first game.

"They are a terrific football team," Mackovic said. "I don't think we've ever played a better defensive team. But the thing we did not do was contain Cameron."

Clemson received the opening kickoff and, riding Cameron's right arm, drove 71 yards on 16 plays and took a 3-0 lead on Chris Gardocki's 18-yard field goal with 7:42 left in the first quarter.

On Illinois' first play from scrimmage, senior fullback Howard Griffith, who broke Red Grange's school records for touchdowns in a game, season and career, fumbled the ball. Clemson linebacker John Johnson recovered at the Illini 14-yard line and, on the next play, Cameron hit senior Doug Thomas in the end zone for a touchdown.

"My fumble set the tone for the rest of the day," Griffith said. "But they definitely lived up to their billing (defensively). They just did an outstanding job. We have to take our hats off to them."

Clemson took a 17-0 lead when Cameron dumped a pass off to fullback Howard Hall, who rumbled up the middle untouched for a 17-yard score with 10:31 to play before halftime.

Then, less than a minute later, Clemson senior defensive back Arlington Nunn, a former Dunedin High star, intercepted Jason Verduzco's pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown and a 24-0 halftime lead. It was Nunn's third interception and third returned for a score this year _ a Clemson record.

In defense of Verduzco, the Big Ten leader in passing efficiency in his first year as a starter, the Clemson defense badgered and bashed him until he was lifted from the game early in the fourth quarter.

He finished the game 13-of-25 for 121 yards, was intercepted twice and sacked four times.

"We really executed and played real smart," said junior linebacker Levon Kirkland, a semifinalist for the Butkus Award. "I don't care how good a quarterback is, if you hit him enough, he's not going to have a good game."

Clemson added field goals in the third and fourth quarters, the former set up by a blocked punt. Meanwhile, Illinois crossed midfield just four times for the game and finally threatened to score late in the fourth quarter.

But defensive lineman Chester McGlockton leveled Steve Feagin, who fumbled the ball away at the Clemson 8. End of drive.

"We've played some great defensive games this year, but this might have been the best," Clemson coach Ken Hatfield said. "But DeChane had his finest game he's had since he's been here, and I'm awfully glad he'll be back next year."

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On This Date: 1991 (14)Clemson- 30 (16)Illinois- 0

Re: On This Date: 1990 (14)Clemson- 30 (16)Illinois- 0

Re: On This Date: 1990 (14)Clemson- 30 (16)Illinois- 0

Re: On This Date: 1990 (14)Clemson- 30 (16)Illinois- 0

I was there that day. That was a GREAT Clemson team

Re: On This Date: 1991 (14)Clemson- 30 (16)Illinois- 0

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