Even Bowden Impressed With Dantzler's Play

Dantzler is currently second in the nation in total offense.

by Dan Scott - Correspondent - Sun Oct 14 20:48:00 GMT-04:00 2001

CLEMSON - Two weeks ago it was Georgia Tech. Saturday it was N.C. State.

Two teams with tough, aggressive defenses. Both shredded by Woody Dantzler's running and throwing. Even head coach Tommy Bowden seemed awestruck.

"Those are two pretty good defensive teams the last two weeks," Bowden said during his regular Sunday teleconference. "That's about a thousand yards of total offense (put up against the two)."

Saturday's explosion in Raleigh almost had to be seen to be believed.

Dantzler accounted for 517 yards (333 passing, 184 rushing) and six touchdowns. He obliterated several school records, and became the first quarterback in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference to rush for at least 2,000 yards and throw for at least 4,000 in a career.

He's currently second in the nation in total offense (343 yards per game), 12th in pass efficiency (152.8), sixth in touchdowns (18 pts. per game) and 25th in the country in rushing (103.2 yards per game).

At his current pace, Dantzler would become the first quarterback in NCAA history to pass for over 2,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 in the same season. Dantzler's current numbers project to 2,638 passing and 1,133 rushing.

Why the sudden explosion from his senior quarterback? Bowden chalks it up to maturity.

"A guy with more experience is going to make better decisions," he said. "He's throwing more of what I call runnable balls - receivers don't have to dive for them or turn backwards. Better decisions and being more accurate with his throws...those are the things he's better at than two years ago."

NOTES

- Clemson continues to advance in both major polls.

The Tigers jumped to No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, while moving up to No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25.

- An apparent halftime argument between assistant coaches from Clemson and N.C. State over use of a television monitor during the game has Bowden ready to talk with ACC Commissioner John Swofford.

TIGER POLL

Clemson assistant coaches have accused N.C. State assistants of using television replays to chart information from the first half of Saturday's game.

"I'm going to address that with the commissioner, because if that happened as such I believe that's illegal," Bowden said. "We'll find out, because that's not right."

Bowden said he wanted to hear both sides of the story before commenting further.

- The purple pants were a hit. Now Bowden wants more.

"I want purple jerseys, but we don't have them yet," he said. "I just think if it's your school color, you should use it. Other schools have three different jerseys...there's no reason why we can't have orange, white and purple ones."

Dan Scott covers Clemson University for the Seneca Daily Journal/Clemson Daily Messenger and the Florence Morning News. He also hosts SportsTalk from 10 a.m.-Noon, Monday-Friday, on WCCP-Fm, 104.9.