RECORD DAY
Besides becoming the first quarterback in NCAA history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season, Clemson's Woody Dantzler also established a bevy of school records Saturday.
- With a 12-yard run in the first quarter, Dantzler became just the third quarterback in NCAA history to pass for over 5,000 yards and rush for over 2,500 in his career. Indiana's Antwan Randle-El and Lousiania-Lafayette's Brian Mitchell were the first members of the exclusive club.
- His 243 passing yards puts Dantzler at 2,360 for the season, breaking the mark of 2,212 set by Nealon Greene. He also shattered Greene's career passing yardage mark of 5,719, finishing his regular-season career with 5,819.
- Dantzler's third-quarter touchdown pass to Roscoe Crosby set a new school record for career scoring passes with 37, again surpassing Greene's total of 35. He also now has the single-season TD pass record with 17.
- He broke his own school record for touchdown responsibility in a season with 27, topping his 24 from a year ago.
- Dantzler broke the single-season record for pass completions, finishing with 188. Greene had 180 in 1997.
- Saturday was Dantzler's eighth game of the season with better than 200 yards total offense, and seventh with over 300.
T-ZAC'S BACK
- Senior tailback Travis Zachery finally had a breakout game.
Zachery rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, while catching four passes for 51 yards and another score. His four touchdowns give him 50 for his career, one shy of the Atlantic Coast Conference record.
Bowden reinserted Zachery in the lineup late in the game for an opportunity to tie the record. But three carries from inside the Duke 15 only netted two yards before time expired.
His 52-yard touchdown run in the first quarter also tied a career long.
COME BACK ROSCOE
Freshman wide receiver Roscoe Crosby had the best day of his young career, pulling in six catches for 139 yards and two long touchdowns (47, 58).
His yardage total broke the Clemson freshman single-game record, set earlier this season by Derrick Hamilton.
UNCROWDED
The announced crowd of 72,000 Saturday was tickets sold, but official estimates of those actually in attendance came in at approximately 55,000.
Attendance no doubt suffered because of the state high school football championships going on in Williiams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.
MORE NOTES
Records/Accomplishments by Clemson Quarterback Woodrow Dantzler
*Became first player in NCAA history to pass for at least 2000 yards and rush for 1000 yards in the same season. He had 243 passing and 135 rushing in today’s game, giving him 2360 passing and 1004 rushing for the season.
*Dantzler also became just the third player in NCAA history to reach 5000 yards passing and 2500 yards passing in a career. The others to do it are Antwan Randle-El of Indiana, who played his final college game for Indiana today, and Brian Mitchell of Louisiana-Lafayette, who completed his career in 1986-89.
*Dantzler broke the following records today:
*Most touchdown passes in a careerhad four today to give him 37 for his career, breaking the record of 35 by Nealon Greene in 1994-97.
*Most passing yards in a careerhad 243 today to give him 5819 for his career, ahead of the 5719 Nealon Greene had from 1994-97.
*Set record for passing yards in a single seasonhad 243 today to give him 2360 for the season, ahead of the previous mark of 2212 by Nealon Greene in 1997.
*Broke his own record for touchdown responsibility in a seasonhad five touchdowns passing (4) and rushing (1) today, giving him 27 for the season. He broke own record of 24 he had set last year.
*Broke single season touchdown pass recordhad four today to give him 17 for the season, ahead of the 16 set by Nealon Greene in 1997.
*Broke single season record for pass completions. Had 12 today to give him 188 for the season. Broke the previous record of 180 held by Nealon Greene in 1997.
*Tied Clemson single game record for touchdown passes with four. He tied record he co-owns with teammate Willie Simmons and Nealon Greene.
*Had 378 yards of total offense in today’s game. It was his eighth game of at least 200 yards this year, breaking his own record of seven games of at least 200-yards in a season. It was his seventh game of at least 300 yards this season. He already had the record for 300-yard games in a season.
*Dantzler won his 18th game as a Clemson starting quarterback. He is tied with Harvey White (18-7) for seventh place on the Clemson all-time list. Dantzler is 18-11 as a starting signal caller.
*This was the fifth time this year Dantzler had at least 100 yards rushing and 300 yards total offense in the same game, the 11th time in his career he has done it. There had been just three total games of 100 yards rushing and 200 yards passing in the same game in the history of Clemson football prior to Dantzler’s arrival.
*Even though he did not catch a pass today, Derrick Hamilton set the Clemson record for all-purpose rushing yards for a freshman today. He has 1129, three more than Terry Allen had in 1987.
*Roscoe Crosby had 6-139 receiving and two scores today. That set a Clemson single game freshman receiving yardage record. The previous best was 106 by Derrick Hamilton earlier this year at N.C. State.
*If Clemson is extended a bowl bid on Sunday, Head Coach Tommy Bowden would become the first Clemson head coach in history to take the Tigers to a bowl game each of his first three seasons as head coach.
*Travis Zachery became just the fourth running back in ACC history to reach 3000 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in a career. Zachery joined Leon Johnson of North Carolina (1993-96), Terry Kirby of Virginia (1989-92) and Warrick Dunn of Florida State (1993-96). Zachery now has 3058 rushing and 1057 receiving in his Clemson career.
*Zachery scored four touchdowns today, the second time in his career he has done that, the second time he has done it against Duke. Zachery had three rushing and one receiving. He scored 11 touchdowns this season, eight rushing and three receiving, giving him 50 for his Clemson career. He has 41 rushing and nine receiving. The ACC record for touchdowns in a career is 51 set by Ted Brown of NC State, 1975-78.
*Zachery also became Clemson’s career all-purpose rushing leader in today’s game. He had 166 yards in all-purpose running today, giving him 4391 for his career. He broke the record of 4282 held by Raymond Priester, who played for the Tigers from 1994-97. Priester was at the game on the Clemson sidelines today.
*The 608 yards of total offense today were the most for the Tigers since 2000 when Clemson had 623 against Wake Forest. Clemson had 328 rushing and 280 passing in today’s game. It marked the first time in Clemson history that the Tigers have had at least 270 rushing and 270 passing in the same game.
*The two teams combined for 90 points in today’s game. It was the fifth highest scoring game in Clemson history, but just the second highest scoring game this year. Clemson and Georgia Tech combined for 91 points in the Tigers 47-44 win earlier this year.
*Duke’s D. Bryant threw 56 passes today, tied for the third highest total ever against Clemson. Kip Allen (The Citadel, 1986) and George Godsey (Georgia Tech, 2000) had 57 attempts against Clemson.
*Clemson center Kyle Young started his 39th consecutive game for the Tigers today. Earlier in the day he was named one of five finalists for the Rimington Award. He has 35 starts as a Clemson center, four as a guard. He is one start away from Jeff Bak’s Clemson record for a center. Bak started 36 in a row from 1986-88.
*Toure Francis had his second career interception today, but it was his second in two games. He had one in his last game against South Carolina two weeks ago.
*Clemson reached over 2000 yards rushing and 2000 yards passing as a team with today’s performance. Clemson has 2027 rushing and 2609 passing for the season. Clemson averages 421.5 yards per game in total offense. That is the third best per game figure in Clemson history. Clemson had a record 436 per game last year and the 1978 team averaged 427.8 per game. Clemson has had five teams average at least 400 yards per game in total offense, three have been coached by Tommy Bowden.
*Clemson defensive end Bryant McNeal had three tackles for loss today, including a pair of sacks. It was his second highest single game total as a Tiger. He had four tackles for loss against Wofford earlier this year.
*First-year freshman LeRoy Hill was credited with 11 tackles from the press box, a season high.
*Roscoe Crosby set a Clemson single season record for receptions by a first-year freshman this year. His six today give him 23 for the season, ahead of the 21 caught by Kenya Crooks in 1994. Derrick Hamilton already has the record for a red-shirt freshman with 49.
*If Clemson is extended a bowl bid on Sunday it would give Clemson a bowl bid in three straight years and 14 of the last 17 years.
*Clemson has now scored at least 50 points against Duke three straight years, the first time Clemson has ever done that against an ACC opponent.
*Woodrow Dantzler finishes his regular season career with 2615 rushing yards, 11th best in NCAA history among quarterbacks.
*Travis Zachery has 50 touchdowns and an even 300 points for his career. He is just the second Clemson football player in history to score 300 points. The only other one is Nelson Welch, who scored 301 points as a kicker from 1991-94. Thus, Zachery would need to score just two points in a bowl game to become Clemson’s career scoring leader.
Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden
On today’s game, coming off a two-week break… “I thought the
staff did a good job and the offense did a good job executing. The
defense got us turnovers early. We were able to get ahead and make [the
game] look one-dimensional. Then, once we got ahead we could do some
things with Woody [Dantzler] to get him the opportunity to get the yards
he needed [to break the record.]”
On Dantzler’s accomplishment… “I was telling the team before the
game today that the way offenses change from year to year, and the way
defenses adjust to offenses, it might be awhile before that record is
ever broken.”
On Clemson fans who attended today… “I would like to say how much
I appreciate the fans that showed up today. I was really surprised with
the size of the crowd today, because of the lateness of the game and high
school state championship games that were being played. It’s hard to put
into words how appreciative I am of the fans that showed up, the noise
they made and the support they have showed this team all year.”
On Clemson players… “Zachery played really hard today. He had some
great runs, and so did Bernard Rambert. I am proud of the running backs
and how they played today, and I am also really pleased with the
offensive line and how they played.”
On bowl game possibilities… “Clemson has a great history of
traveling, as far as bowl participation is concerned. It shows you how
times have changed, when you are bowl eligible and you are sitting there
fighting. It used to be, a few years ago, that if you were bowl eligible,
you could pretty much pick where you wanted to go.”
Woody Dantzler
On getting to a bowl game… “It is always our dream to get to a
bowl game. That’s what we work hard for all summer and fall.
We had an up-and-down season, and we fought hard. Now we’ll wait
and see what happens.”
On 2000-1000 yards record… “I think the offensive line
wanted it more than I did. It was great to have everybody pulling
for me. It’s not all me… I’ve had boys fighting and pulling for me
the entire season. It was a total team effort.”
On freshman getting playing time… “In a situation like this
you always want the younger guys to get in there and play. They are
the future of this program, and it’s great to see them getting playing
time and experience.”
Chad Carson
On playing in his last home game… “I was pretty
emotional before the game. When I got out there and heard Tiger
Rag, ran down the hill, and I knew my parents were out there, I got tears
in my eyes. Clemson football has been such a big part of my life
for the last four years. Clemson is a great place to live and a
great place to play football. I love it, so this last home game was
emotional for me.”
On the win… “It feels good to be on the winning side
today. I am pretty confident that we will get a bowl bid.
We’ll just have to wait and see.”
On Dantzler’s accomplishment… “It is a great accomplishment
for him. Nobody has ever done it in the history of the game.
It’s really unbelievable. I was just glad to be a part of
it.”
On the Clemson defense… “Defensively, other than the first
drive, we played well. I would like to see the scoreboard reflect
how well we played. You have to give credit to Duke. They had
a good offense. Our freshman have stepped up and played really well
for us this year. They have a great opportunity next year.
The defense is moving up.”
Duke Head Coach Carl Franks:
Comments on Clemson’s Woodrow Dantzler becoming the first player in NCAA history to rush for 1000 yards and pass for 2000 yards in a single season: “I want to congratulate Woodrow Dantzler. He had a tremendous accomplishment today. He is a great athlete and we had as hard a time tackling him today as everyone else did this season.”
General comments on the game: “Our team showed tremendous resolve today to play as hard as we did for the entire game. It’s tough to go through something like this, but our players came to practice everyday with enthusiasm and tried to play as hard as they could. It was tough after scoring so early to have them come back and score as quickly as they did. We had enough opportunities to keep the game closer than it was but we weren’t able to do so.”
Comments on the Duke defense: “We were able to block a punt and we had an interception so we made some big plays, but we gave up too many big plays as well. I was proud of the way we played at the end of the game to keep them out of the end zone. They wanted to score again and I don’t blame them, that’s how you play the game, but we wanted to keep them out and I’m proud of the defensive effort so late in a game that had already been decided.”
Comments to the seniors: “It’s frustrating to go through a two-year stretch like this but I am proud of the way these seniors came to practice day after day with enthusiasm. They showed tremendous resolve and persistence that will serve them well in their personal lives if they ever encounter another difficult situation.”
On what Duke will take away from this season: “We’ll take the positive plays from this year. We’ve improved in almost every offensive category from last year but we’ve got to be more competitive. Our off-season program will be drastically different than it has been in the past. We will include much more competition in the off-season.”
Tommy Bowden
- Real | Windows Media
Upgrade Your Account
