Re: Hill Watch...10 days!!!

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10 years ago, 2012: 20-year-old Adam Lanza forced his way

Aug 26, 2022, 8:05 AM

into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and shot dead 20 children — all ages 6 and 7 — and six staff members in the second-worst school massacre in U.S. history. President Barak Obama wins reelection, and also wins in the Supreme Court, as the constitutionality of “Obamacare” is upheld on a 5-4 vote. Hurricane Sandy becomes one of the worst hurricanes in history, first killing over 70 people in the Caribbean, then 125 more as it slammed into 800 miles of the U.S. Coast.

A Sept. 11 assault in Benghazi, widely blamed on a group with suspected links to al-Qaeda, killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stephens and three other Americans. Long time Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno died in January. Later in the year, former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys while at Penn State, and was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison. In July, the NCAA imposed severe sanctions, including $60 million in fines, a four-year postseason ban on football and a reduction in football scholarships at Penn State due to this.

Note: The following is a very long narrative. But, take it to the end, I promise you, it's worth it.

ACC Champions for 2012 were the No. 10 (7-1, 11-2) Florida State Seminoles of Coach Jimbo Fisher. FSU would defeat the No. 16 Northern Illinois Huskies of Coach Dave Doeren, 31-10, in the Orange Bowl. The only other ranked team in the ACC was the No. 11 (7-1, 11-2) Clemson Tigers. We shall detail their season later on in this narrative.

National Champions for the 2nd year in a row were the 13-1 Alabama Crimson Tide of Coach Nick Saban. They took down No. 3 Georgia 32-28 in the SEC Championship Game, and then destroyed No. 1 ranked Notre Dame 42-14 in the BCS National Championship Game. The Tide's only loss on the season was a 29-24 upset against No. 15 Texas A&M. A&M had a brash young redshirt freshman QB named Johnny Manziel, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy, the first ever freshman to accomplish that feat.

Clemson had endured a long winter of “Hear that? West Virginia just scored again!” jokes, and found them decidedly unfunny. New Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables had been poached from Oklahoma, after what amounted to a demotion by Head Coach Bob Stoops, so that he could bring his brother Mike Stoops on board as Co-Defensive Coordinator. Brent Venables knew that Job One at Clemson was to wash the lingering taste of that 70-33 shellacking in the Orange Bowl out of the mouths of Clemson Nation.

He, and we, would open the season in what had always seemingly been a House of Horrors for Clemson, the Georgia Dome. The opponent for No. 14 Clemson in this Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game would once again be the No. 25 Auburn Tigers. Clemson returned nearly the entire offense from 2011, but had a whole lot of new faces on defense.

Clemson emerged from the Auburn game on the right end of a close 26-19 decision, as the “Baby Tigers” on Clemson's defense played a good overall game. We got through two “gimmee” games against Ball State (52-27), and Furman (41-7), to take a No. 10 ranking down to Tallahassee to face No. 4 Florida State and QB E.J. Manuel. Clemson struck first, a 60 yard bomb to Nuk Hopkins, 7-0 Clemson. FSU answered, on a long drive that featured a long run by E.J. Manuel to set up the Noles in the red zone, 7-7. Clemson responded with a TD drive that featured a fake field goal on 4th and 1 at the 15 yard line. Two plays later, Ellington plowed into the end zone, Clemson back in front, 14-7.

FSU would hold serve, with a TD drive that featured a lot of Nick O'Leary at tight end, who just happened to be the grandson of one Jack Nicklaus, who was in attendance at the game. O'Leary caught a couple of key passes on the drive, game tied again at 14-14. The teams then traded punts, but on the next Clemson punt, FSU muffed a fair catch at midfield, and the Tigers fell on it to regain possession. Later, from the 15, Tajh Boyd found tight end Brandon Ford for a TD, Clemson led at halftime 21-14.

The Clemson defense forced an FSU punt on the opening possession of the 2nd half, and on the ensuing drive, Chad Morris went deep into the playbook, for a backwards pass to Sammy Watkins, who then found Andre Ellington behind the FSU defense, for a catch and run that gave the Tigers a 28-14 lead. But, the Noles would dip into their playbook on the next possession, jet sweep, then a QB run, and finally a triple option pitch to the running back to get right back in it, 28-21. Clemson drove it again, but had to settle for a long field goal by Catman to lead 31-21.

But, before anyone could even catch their breath, FSU ripped off a 90 yard kickoff return to the Tiger 10 yard line. Two plays later, Manuel found Greene in the end zone for a TD to cut the Clemson lead to 31-28. Then, the Noles forced another Clemson punt, and drove it right down the field for another touchdown, the last 35 yards on a perfect pass from Manuel to the corner of the end zone, to lead for the first time at 35-31. After another Clemson punt, the Noles began a clock consuming, run heavy drive against a visibly tiring Tiger defense. They punched it in with 13:25 to go, for a 42-31 lead.

Tajh Boyd tried to force things on our next possession, and FSU picked him off. They quickly cashed in, to lead 49-31. Clemson got a “consolation” TD with 2:11 to go, to make the final score 49-37. It had been a hugely entertaining game, and a huge disappointment for the Clemson Tigers.

From this point, Clemson would run the table in the ACC, putting up a lot of points in seven straight comfortable wins. Road win at Boston College 45-31. Home wins over Georgia Tech 47-31, and Virginia Tech 38-17. Two more high scoring road wins, 42-13 over Wake, and 56-20 over Duke. The Chad Morris offense was hitting on all cylinders as the No. 10 Tigers came home for a three game home stand to end the regular season. Maryland was dispatched with ease, 45-10. We took a 62-48 win over NC State in a rare game where Brent Venables defense was torched. We would take a No. 12 ranking into the season finale against the No. 13 South Carolina Gamecocks. This was arguably the two best combined teams to ever take the field at the same time in this rivalry, to this point in time.

The game was a slobberknocker from the start. Clemson finally pounded the ball into the end zone on a Tajh Boyd keeper with 5:28 to go in the 1st quarter for a 7-0 Clemson lead. South Carolina's starting QB, Conner Shaw, was out for this game due to injury, but his replacement, Dylan Thompson, would prove more than capable. He drove the Gamecocks right down the field on the next possession for an answering TD, game tied at 7-7. Clemson would fire right back, as Rod McDowell broke loose for a long run, followed up by a Boyd to Hopkins bomb for the TD, to retake the lead at 14-7. Following this, although both teams continued to move the ball, the only additional scoring in the 1st half was a South Carolina field goal, and the Tigers still led 14-10 at the half.

South Carolina would come out smoking in the 2nd half, in a drive that featured receiver Ace Sanders, as he caught a pass from the Clemson 25 and took it to the house, to give South Carolina their first lead of the game, 17-14. From this point forward, Jadeveon Clowney was making his presence felt in the game. SC held, and got a field goal on their next possession to go up 20-14. Clemson moved the football on the ensuing possession, but the drive stalled, and we got a Catman field goal to trail 20-17.

The next Coot drive was snuffed out on an end zone interception by the Tigers. On the next Clemson possession, Andre Ellington was hit by thug D.J. Swearinger, who got a personal foul penalty for taunting due to his antics after the tackle. But, on 3rd and 7 later on, Boyd was picked off by Bryson Williams. The game really hinged on a 4th and 1 from the Clemson 18 on that possession, with 8:26 to go, as Coach Steve Spurrier went for it, and Dylan Thompson got the first down. Carolina burned clock all the way down to 4:17 to go when Thompson found Bruce Ellington in the end zone for a 27-17 lead. On the ensuing Clemson possession, Boyd hit Nuk Hopkins wide open across the middle on third down, but for one of the few times in his life, Hopkins flat dropped the ball. We had to punt, and that was the ball game. It was South Carolina's 4th win in a row in the series, the first time ever that they accomplished this. Clemson leads the series 69-41-4.

No. 15 Clemson would accept a bid to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, where we would face the No. 9 LSU Tigers of the SEC. This was a formidable foe, having just played for the National Championship the previous year. Clemson was still smarting from the defeat at the hands of South Carolina, but more importantly, we had to turn around the results in bowl season, to finally put that West Virginia Orange Bowl debacle in the rear view mirror.

The game got off to an inauspicious start, as Chad Morris had Sammy Watkins line up as a running back, and Sammy immediately coughed up the football to LSU. They rammed it into the end zone for a quick 7-0 lead. To make things worse, Sammy Watkins had twisted an ankle, and was done for the game. We got the ball on our next possession, knowing that this was probably one of the most important possessions of the game, if not the whole season. Tajh Boyd seemed to realize it as well, as he started threading the needle on passes, and Nuk Hopkins was catching a lot of them, trying to atone for the drop at the end of the South Carolina game. We marched right down the field for the answering score, and the Catman extra point knotted the game at 7-7.

But, LSU was out to establish SEC dominance, and they took the ensuing possession right down the field themselves, hitting a short pass for the TD to retake the lead 14-7. After trading punts, Clemson began moving the ball again, with the final play an ankle high TD pass to Hopkins, to make it 14-13 LSU, as our PAT attempt was blocked. The teams traded blows for the rest of the half, with no more scoring.

LSU would remedy that right out of the box in the 2nd half, as Jeremy Hill broke a 57 yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, to go up 21-13. The two teams traded punts twice after this, before LSU forced an Andre Ellington fumble that the defense recovered on the Clemson 30 yard line. LSU got a first down, but the Clemson defense ultimately held them to a field goal, to make the LSU lead 11, at 24-13.

The LSU defensive front had been pounding Tajh Boyd into the ground all game, and he was visibly limping as this Clemson possession started. There were future NFL'ers all over the field for LSU, and they had begun to assert their dominance on defense in the 2nd half, especially. They battered Tajh Boyd even more on this possession, forcing a Clemson punt. But, the Clemson defense overcame a penalty to force an LSU 3 and out, the punt would start the 4th quarter. There was no doubt that LSU had owned the 3rd.

Clemson would take over on the 27 yard line, knowing we had to manufacture something on this drive, if for no other reason than to give the defense a rest. Tajh Boyd made the crucial first 1st down on the drive with an inside run. On the next play, Boyd had enough time to hit a pass to Hopkins over the middle, with an LSU player hitting the ground on the play. This would begin to happen a whole lot, as Clemson wanted to go fast, and LSU wanted to slow the game down. Clemson began a gritty, must have points drive, that ultimately had to settle for a Catanzaro 27 yard field goal, to cut the LSU lead to 24-16.

But then, on the ensuing kickoff, LSU broke a big return, all the way out to the 48 yard line. ANY sort of points by LSU would probably put this game out of reach for Clemson, and this was not a good start to keep that from happening. But, the now rested Clemson defense broke through on 3rd down, with Malliciah Goodman and Grady Jarrett taking down LSU QB Mettenberger. Clemson got the ball back, and was moving it, but time, precious time, was bleeding off the clock. By the time Boyd hit Hopkins on a bullet in the end zone for a TD, only 2:47 remained. Clemson went for two and the tie, but Boyd could not find an open receiver, and Clemson still trailed, 24-22. A hooch kick gave LSU the ball on their 37 yard line.

LSU looked to cross up a Clemson defense that was understandably selling out against the run, by throwing it on 1st down, and connected for an 8 yard gain. LSU fans will question what happened next for years, but Clemson fans loved it. LSU passed again on 2nd down, missing high, and again on 3rd down, only to have Malliciah Goodman bat it down. Amazingly, Clemson had not had to use a single timeout, and got the ball back with 1:39 to go, with a chance to win the game. On this last possession, LSU players were dropping like flies, due to cramps, real or imaginary, as they tried to slow the pace of the game to catch their breath.

They would sack Tajh Boyd on 3rd down after two incomplete passes to Hopkins, one of which was an uncalled pass interference. This would set up one of the most famous plays in Clemson football history, immortalized forever as “4th and 16”. Tajh Boyd threw the ball the only place it could have been caught, low and away. Nuk Hopkins went down and got it, complete on the Clemson 40 for a 1st down! But, that is a key point that many people forget. Even after 4th and 16, Clemson still needed about 30 more yards to have a reasonable shot at a field goal.

We got over 10 of them on a PI that WAS called on LSU on another attempt to get the ball to Hopkins. MORE LSU bodies littered the field. Then, Hopkins broke open for a sideline completion at the 27 yard line. A running play got us to the 17 yard line. 16 seconds remained, and MORE LSU bodies littered the field. The announcers were crying for them from the booth, saying, how DARE Clemson make them defend that many plays? Tajh Boyd lost 3 yards, back to the 20, to purposely place the ball in the exact center of the field.

LSU used a timeout to ice Catanzaro with 2 seconds to go. But, Clemson, and Catanzaro would not be iced this night. As soon as Catman struck the ball, I knew it was straight and true. I jumped up out of my recliner screaming like a banshee “Yes, Yes, YES! FINALLY, FINALLY, WE ARE BACK! Then I went out on my front porch, and shouted it again to the whole neighborhood. There is no way that someone who is not an ardent Clemson fan can ever be made to truly understand what this game meant to our program.

A jubilant Dabo Swinney hoisted ESPN sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards into the air, before giving a tearful, heartfelt interview where he tried to explain it all. It had been 31 years since Clemson won 11 games in a season. It seemed at times like we would never stop wandering in the wilderness. This 2012 Chick-fil-A bowl was not really the Championship of anything, but it was the game that meant everything, to the future of Clemson football. The top of the college football mountain was still a ways off, but, finally, Clemson had broken base camp, and was on the climb. All 2012 results below.

vs. No. 25 Auburn No. 14 Georgia Dome W 26–19
Ball State No. 12 W 52–27
Furman No. 11 W 41–7
At No. 4 Florida State No. 10 L 37–49
At Boston College No. 17 W 45–31
Georgia Tech No. 15 W 47–31
Virginia Tech No. 14 W 38–17
At Wake Forest No. 14 W 42–13
At Duke No. 10 W 56–20
Maryland No. 10 W 45–10
NC State No. 11 W 62–48
No. 13 South Carolina No. 12 L 17–27 (Clemson leads the series 69-41-4.)

December 31
No. 15 Clemson vs. No. 9 LSU
Chick-fil-A Bowl
W 25–24

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Got to go with my son, BigAl, and it was a great experience. Can't forget the feeling of how bleak it looked when Sammy went down early and LSU scored the quick TD and again when LSU opened the 2nd half with a quick TD and Tajh was taking such a beating for 3 quarters, sometimes wondering if he was going to get up. But he was tough as nails and Nuk was having a great night probably knowing it was his last game at Clemson. Then we can never forget the sheer jubilation when the 4th and 16 was converted and the field goal went through. And we got to see the dejected LSU fans after the game and back at the hotel along with a few Gamecock fans in attendance.

Atlanta was an interesting experience too. I carried my wallet in my front pocket for fear of getting pick-pocketed. Paid $5 for directions to a restaurant the night before the game as we were navigating downtown. Had to choose between visiting the Aquarium or the Coke museum next door. The Coke museum was cheaper and less crowded so we went with it and it was interesting, but wish we had gone to the Aquarium or both. We got to walk everywhere including the game as everything was within a few blocks.

I wondered if Tajh was going to declare for the draft after that game and since wandered if it would have been any different for him if he had and I'm sure he has to. He probably didn't get a high draft grade. He had a great deep ball and was always a reliable option on 3rd or 4th and short, but he apparently wasn't tall enough for the pros. They thought VT's Logan Thomas was good enough, go figure. In any case, he'll always be a legend and loved by Clemson fans. Malliciah Goodman must have impressed some Falcons scouts at the game.

Hill Watch...10 days!!!

Thanks, O.J.!