DominatING vs DominatED. Give me your pair of games that

May 4, 2022, 12:26 PM

you would consider to be the best examples of each, when it comes to Clemson football. I have a couple, which are the most in either direction. My two picks may not be first on most peoples radar, but, to me, these stand out.

Dominating: 1989's 45-0 rout of the Capons. Sure, there have been higher point totals in other games, but this was TOTAL DOMINATION. Danny's defense held the Ellis-less Gamecocks to 155 yards of total offense. The closest they came to scoring was one missed 47 yard FG in the 2nd Quarter. Meanwhile, Clemson did pretty much anything they wanted to on offense.

Dominated: Again, this one probably wouldn't be most people's first choice. But, to me, the 55-15 DRUBBING that Texas Tech put on us in the 2002 Tangerine Bowl stands out. Poor Charlie Whitehurst got physically abused by the Tech defense all day. If anyone ever doubted Clipboard Jesus toughness, that doubt was removed in this game. He got hit a season's worth of times in one game, but kept getting back up to soldier on. He actually threw for over 300 yards, but you couldn't prove it on the scoreboard. The Red Raider defense stopped us when it mattered, all game long. Meanwhile, we had no answer for Kliff Kingsbury and the potent TT offense. Tech had 555 yards of total offense, and frankly, it could have been much worse, had they desired it.

Honorable Mentions. Dominating: 63-17 or 56-7 against the Coots. Never Again, again and again and again.

Honorable Mention. Dominated: 51-14 FSU in 2013. It still grates on me every time I think of Crusty Crab Legs smug pregame speech, "We ain't leaving here without a VICTORY!" And then, he goes out and put up a Heisman building block performance in our own Death Valley to back that up. We were coming off the seminal "4th and 16" bowl game win over LSU at the end of the previous season, and thought we were ready to ascend to the national stage. The Criminoles showed us that day that we were not quite there yet.

PS, I forgot to mention. In that Texas Tech debacle in 2002, they had an aggravating gnat of a receiver named Wes Welker. Wonder whatever happened to that Dood?

Message was edited by: 76er®