Notes and Quotes: Record-Setting Day For The Offense

by TigerNet Staff - Sat Oct 20 17:45:45 GMT-04:00 2007

- Clemson improved to 18-1 against non-BCS teams since 1975, and the Tigers improved to 11-1 against non-BCS teams under current Head Coach Tommy Bowden. Clemson is undefeated (6-0) against teams from the Mid-American Conference.

- Clemson's 70 points scored is the most scored since last year's 63-9 win against Temple. It is the most points scored by a Tiger team at Death Valley since 1981, when Clemson defeated Wake Forest by a score of 82-24.

- Today's victory marked the first time in school history that the Tigers accrued at least 300 yard rushing and at least 300 yards passing in the same game. Clemson completed the game with 341 rushing yards and 315 passing yards for a total of 656 yards. The Tigers are now 51-0-1 all-time when they gain at least 500 yards of total offense. Clemson's record stands at 104-3-1 when accruing at least 300 yards rushing and the Tigers are 74-0 when they get at least 322 yards. Clemson is 30-1 under Tommy Bowden when rushing for at least 200 yards.

- Clemson tied its all-time first-down record with 35 against the Chippewas with 18 rushing, 16 passing and one by penalty. The Tigers set the school record in 1981 against Wake Forest. Today's total marked the 10th time in school history that the Tigers had at least 30 first downs in a single game, the fourth under Tommy Bowden.

- Quarterback Cullen Harper had another record-setting performance against the Chippewas.

In the second quarter, Harper set a Clemson record for touchdown passes in a quarter with four.

Harper set the Clemson standard for consecutive passes completed in one game with 15 in the third quarter. Nealon Greene was the previous record holder, as he had 13 consecutive completed passes against Virginia in 1997. His record-setting pass was a touchdown completion to Jacoby Ford.

He also tied his own school record for touchdown passes in one game with five.

Harper's 91% completion rate on 20-23 for 273 yards and five touchdowns also set a single game record. The previous record was 85.1% set by Woody Dantzler in 2002 on 23-27 pass attempts.

Harper is just two scoring passes shy of the school-record 21 thrown by Charlie Whitehurst in 2003 and Woody Dantzler in 2001.

- Aaron Kelly's 63-yard touchdown reception at 9:12 in the second quarter was the longest catch of his career. It was also the second-longest play of the year, with the longest play of the year belonging to Spiller, with a 68-yard completion against Louisiana-Monroe.

- James Davis moved into second on Clemson's career rushing touchdown leaders list. Davis has 33 rushing touchdowns for his career, and owns 34 total touchdowns for his career. He trails Travis Zachery in both categories, as Zachery had 41 rushing touchdowns and 50 total career touchdowns between 1998-2001. Davis owns 2617 yards rushing for his career, and is sixth on the Tigers' all-time list in that category.

- Sadat Chambers completed the game with 112 rushing yards on 10 carries, and scored his first career touchdown on a 63-yard run in the third quarter.

- Tiger kicker Mark Buccholz's wide right, 48-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter was the first missed kick for the two-sport athlete at Death Valley this year. Buccholz has still not missed a PAT kick this year, as he is 30-30 on extra points. He is 9-16 on field goals and leads the Tigers in scoring with 57 points this season.

- Aaron Kelly was the Tigers' top receiver with 121 yards on seven catches, with a long of 63 yards.

- Chris Chancellor recorded his second interception of the year at the 0:24 mark of the first quarter.

- True freshman DeAndre McDaniel became the fifth Tiger with an interception this season, as he recorded his first career interception in the fourth quarter.

- Clemson's defense recorded another strong performance today. The Tigers have held the opposition to under 300 yards of total offense in five of the seven games so far this season. Against Central Michigan, Clemson's defense allowed only 292 yards, 216 of which were through the air.

- At half-time of today's contest, former Tiger quarterback Charlie Whitehurst donated $50,000 to IPTAY's West Zone Initiative. Whitehurst is the fourth former Clemson football player to make a $50,000 gift to the West End Zone Initiative in the last two years, joining Michael Dean Perry, Justin Miller and Chester McGlockton.

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Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden quotes from radio

On CMU's start to the game:

"I thought they (Central Michigan) did a great job and really came out to try and make a pretty good statement. They game out and drove right down the field and scored on the first drive. We did a nice job responding, though."

On the offense:

"We really benefitted form the extra week. We were able to spread the ball around and they had a hard time staying with our skill guys. I was impressed with the execution and the coaches did a great job preparing for the game."

On the running game:

"I think we've been half and half so far this year. We've run really well a couple times and struggled at times. Today, we got over 300 yards. It's helped that we've been throwing the ball down the field well, and that has opened some things up. The running game is a different mentality and I thought we did a nice job today."

On the Offensive Line:

"I thought we did a nice job today showing a bit of a mean streak and covering up, especially on that run by Sadat (chambers) where he was able to get into the second level."

On third down conversions:

"I think they are extremely important. Their Quarterback is a good player. Coach Koenning did a nice job with a scheme and we were able to get off the field."

On kick coverage:

"I think we'll be challenged every week, and we're trying to improve every week, and I think we did a nice job today, considering the number of kickoffs we had. We did a good job overall on special teams today. You can get into trouble if you don't take care of special teams."

On Jacoby Ford's 82 yard kickoff return:

"He (Ford) either got tired or the other guy is real fast. He found a seam and it's nice when you can spit a guy out like that for a big run."

CMU Head Coach Butch Jones

On the first half:

"Well I think the big thing was it was 14-7 with eight minutes to go in the second quarter and offensively on our next three possessions we had three holding penalties and I think we were not able to continue our tempo and rhythm on offense. Anytime you get a holding penalty, it sets you back and I thought that hurts us in the first half. We gave up the score right before half, so I think those were the things that hurt us in the first half."

On defense:

"Well I think anytime you leave your defense on the field for an extended period of time you see what happens. You see the results. You know Clemson came in trying to establish a run game and they did. I thought they did a good job up front. Their backs are two talented backs that run extremely hard so obviously football comes down to blocking and tackling and being able to stop the run. We also struggled on third downs. We work so hard to stay on schedule and then you get a team on third down and can't get them off the field. I thought that hurt us as well."

On the rest of the season:

"We've got four games left and every single game is important. They know what's at stake. They've been in the stretch run before. You know, this one will hurt but then you let it go and come back on Monday and get ready for Kent State. All of our goals that we set forth at the beginning of the season are still intact. That's what we've got to keep our eyes on."

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Whitehurst Contributes $50,000 to West Zone Initiative

Clemson, SC-San Diego Chargers quarterback Charlie Whitehurst contributed $50,000 to his alma mater's West Zone initiative on Saturday. The check presentation was made in between the first and second periods of Clemson's game with Central Michigan at Clemson Memorial Stadium.

Whitehurst is the fourth former Clemson football player to make a $50,000 gift to the West End Zone initiative in the last two years, joining Michael Dean Perry, Justin Miller and Chester McGlockton.

Whitehurst is in his second year with the Chargers as a reserve quarterback. The Chargers are open this weekend. He was a third-round draft pick out of Clemson in April of 2006.

During his Clemson career, Whitehurst established 46 career, season and single game records. Among the marks he still holds are the career marks for total offense (9,763), passing yards (7182) and touchdown passes (49). He still holds the single season record for passing yards (3561) and completions (288) and has the single game record for passing yards with 420 against Duke in 2002.

Whitehurst, who was a four-year starter between 2002-05, led Clemson to seven wins over top 25 teams in his career, tying a Clemson record, including three wins over top 10 teams. He led Clemson to a 26-10 win over third ranked Florida State in 2003, the highest ranked team Clemson has defeated in its history.

He is most celebrated among Clemson fans for leading the Tigers to four victories over rival South Carolina. He is the only starting quarterback in the history of the series to post a 4-0 record.