CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Bowden Not Looking Ahead, But Everyone Else Is

Bowden Not Looking Ahead, But Everyone Else Is


by - Correspondent -

CLEMSON - No one would blame Tommy Bowden if he took a peek at the other

teams ahead of Clemson in the polls.

There aren't that many. And a look at their schedules wouldn't be an

unreasonable thing to do. After all to get what he wants - a national

championship - his team has to jump a few in the rankings.

But what does he think about Miami jumping Clemson in the poll last week?

"Couldn't care less," he said. "It's the halftime of the season. If Miami

loses another game, it's no big deal. We've got to play eleven games. We've

got another six to play."

Seems that Bowden looks at it as his job to keep the blinders on, even if no

one else is, including his players.

Offensive guard Will Merritt, for one, can tell you the big games left that

could help Clemson move up from its No. 5 ranking in the AP poll. And it's

likely he's not the only one on the team that is well aware of what's going

on around Clemson in the world of college football. Under the pretense of

doing class work on the computer, Merritt and his teammates have been

checking out the other teams via the Internet.

PRESS CONFERENCE AUDIO

Tommy Bowden Press Conference (35:00)

Keith Adams on facing Maryland

Chad Carson on improvements needed against Maryland this year

Terry Jolly on Maryland's Lamont Jordan

Will Merritt on winning ACC offensive lineman of the week

"We've already looked down the road a couple of weeks," said Merritt. "We

know that Nebraska has to play Kansas State. And Oklahoma has to play a

couple of those teams. We understand what's going on. We're not too dumb."

Merritt has discovered one of the joys of the regular season when you're

climbing in the polls - figuring out how to climb higher.

Clemson fans over the age of 30 remember what it's like. In 1981, Clemson

slowly climbed up the polls until the day after Thanksgiving when all the

stars aligned and the final team fell, allowing Clemson to take the No. 1

ranking. Penn State defeated previously undefeated Pitt that day, leaving

Clemson as the only undefeated team.

Clemson wouldn't have to be the only undefeated team this season in order to

take the No. 1 ranking. There are three undefeated teams ranked below

Clemson now. There are three ranked above, along with Miami with one loss.

None of this has gotten past Merritt.

"We pulled it up on the Internet," he said. "We were all sitting around the

computer mixing and matching teams that had to play each other. It's a fun

game to play. That's when it gets fun - when you can play the game of how

high can we climb."

In case you're wondering, here are the games that catch Merritt's attention:

Nebraska at Oklahoma on Oct. 28, Nebraska at Kansas State on Nov. 11,

Virginia Tech at Miami on Nov. 4 and Oklahoma at Kansas State this Saturday.

"If we had two losses, it wouldn't matter how the others are playing," said

Merritt. "For now we can play this game."

Bowden will start playing the game if Clemson wins five more games.

"I haven't seen Nebraska, Kansas State or Virginia Tech," he said. "Saturday

is a work day for me."

Clemson Pregame Fact Sheet Game: Clemson (6-0, 4-0, 4th USA Today, 5th

AP) vs. Maryland (2-3, 0-2)

Date: October 14, 2000

Kickoff: 6:06 PM

Special Day: Homecoming, Parents' Day

Expected Attendance: 85,000

Ticket Availability: Sold Out


Quote from Van Hilderbrand, Clemson Ticket Manager.

"We are expecting 85,000 fans for the Maryland game. I ask all fans to

arrive in the Clemson area early on Saturday because it will be the largest

volume of traffic we have had this year."

Series Record: Clemson Leads 26-20-2

at Clemson: Clemson leads 14-10

Last Year: Clemson 42, Maryland 30

Last Maryland Win: Maryland 53, Clemson 23 in 1992

Last Maryland Win at Clemson: Maryland 34, Clemson 31 in 1985

Series Streak: Clemson has won 7 in a row overall, 7 in a row at Death

Valley

Live TV: ESPN-2 (Dave Barnett, Bill Curry, Mike Golic, Michele Tafoya)

Delay TV: College Sports Southeast (Doug Bell, Hootie Ingram)

Series Note: Maryland has not scored a touchdown in Death Valley since

1991 and scored just two since 1988...Clemson quarterback Woody Dantzler had

a school record 435 yards of total offense in the win over Maryland last year.

Bowl Attendance: The Orange Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl

Clemson Injuries: Jermyn Chester, OG, probable, surgery for knee cartilage

injury. Terry Bryant, starting defensive end, doubtful, pulled calf muscle

Other Notes: Bryant McNeal will make his first career start in place

of Terry Bryant...John McDermott will be back in the starting lineup, replacing

Gary Byrd at an offensive tackle...Clemson quarterback Woody Dantzler can tie

a Clemson record for consecutive 100-yard rushing games with another 100-yard

rushing game... Rod Gardner needs just three catches to move from fifth to third

place in Clemson history...he will jump over Brian Wofford and Jerry Butler

when he hits the three-catch mark on Saturday...Gardner needs 135 receiving

yards to reach 2000 for his career...running back Travis Zachery needs just

one touchdown to break the Clemson record...he and Lester Brown both have 32...Zachery

also needs just 34 yards rushing to reach the 2000 mark for his career....Clemson

will attempt to go 7-0 to start a season for the first time since 1981.

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