James Davis rushed for 94 yards on 14 carries and scored one touchdown.
Clemson Rolls Over Florida Atlantic 54-6 |
by Dan Scott
-
Correspondent
-
Sat Sep 02 20:08:55 GMT-04:00 2006
Though there were a few bumps along the way, Clemson's opening day game plan seemed to go pretty much as expected Saturday.
The Tigers exhibited a balanced offense, a swarming defense and unleashed a wide array of weaponry in the process, rolling over visiting Florida Atlantic, 54-6, before a near-capacity crowd at Death Valley.
The win was Tommy Bowden's sixth in eight season-openers as Clemson's head coach.
"We played every bit of 19 (redshirt and true) freshman, and when you do that you're always concerned about being sloppy," head coach Tommy Bowden said. "To do what we did today, I thought our coaches did a good job of keeping continuity and our young players paid attention in practice."
The generally festive day was subdued a bit by what appeared to be a serious knee injury to graduate linebacker Anthony Waters in the third quarter.
Waters, who bypassed the NFL Draft in June to return for his final year of eligibility, had his left knee give out as he tried to abruptly stop and change directions while chasing an Owl ball carrier. After being tended to on the field for an extended period of time, he was helped to the sideline by members of the Clemson training staff.
The injury was originally diagnosed as a sprain. Waters will undergo further examination Sunday to determine the full extent of the injury.
"It's a bit of a somber mood," defensive coordinator Vic Koening said afterwards. "I'm happy with the win, but we're thinking about Anthony...If we lose him for the year, we'll have to pull up our boot straps and keep after it.
"A lot will be determined overnight," Bowden said. "Our doctors will get to him, and Anthony will do whatever it takes, rehabilitation-wise."
Otherwise, it was a day to remember for a number of reasons:
- The margin of victory was Clemson's largest since the 63-17 victory over South Carolina at the end of the 2003 season;
- Quarterback Will Proctor, in his first start as Clemson's No. 1 quarterback, efficiently ran Rob Spence's offense. Proctor completed 13-of-20 passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns (30 yards to Chansi Stuckey, 14 to Aaron Kelly and 18 to Rendrick Taylor);
- The running game did its part, too, rolling up 199 yards. James Davis led the ground attack with 94 yards, including a 22-yard TD. Reggie Merriweather totaled 75 yards and scored on a one-yard run;
- And, as good teams will do over the course of the season, Clemson added touchdowns on both defense and special teams. True freshman Jacoby Ford turned in the highlight of the day, dropping a punt inside his own 10 yard line, picking it up on the fly and zooming 93 yards for a touchdown.
"I've got to get on him for fielding one inside the 10, he made an error doing that," Bowden said with a grin. "But you can forgive him when he makes a play like that."
Sergio Gilliam turned the defensive trick, scooping up a fumble by FAU quarterback Rusty Smith and scooting 34 yards for the score.
The Tigers did commit four turnovers, but defensively forced four themselves to even out things.
Clemson (1-0) returns to action next weekend at Boston College, before heading the Florida State the following week.
"We did what good teams should do against a team like this today," Bowden said. "But it gets turned up a notch the next couple of weeks."
Box Score
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Florida Atlantic.... 0 0 6 0 - 6
Clemson............. 10 14 14 16 - 54
Scoring Summary
1st 04:17 CU - Dean, J 25 yd field goal
12 plays, 63 yards, TOP 5:19, FAU 0 - CU 3
00:11 CU - Stuckey, C 30 yd pass from Proctor, W (Dean, J kick)
8 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:48, FAU 0 - CU 10
2nd 07:26 CU - Merriweather, R 1 yd run (Dean, J kick)
7 plays, 26 yards, TOP 2:38, FAU 0 - CU 17
00:43 CU - Kelly, A 14 yd pass from Proctor, W (Dean, J kick)
6 plays, 30 yards, TOP 2:46, FAU 0 - CU 24
3rd 10:48 FAU - Leroy, W. 24 yd field goal
7 plays, 31 yards, TOP 3:03, FAU 3 - CU 24
09:08 FAU - Leroy, W. 32 yd field goal
4 plays, 1 yard, TOP 1:29, FAU 6 - CU 24
06:09 CU - Davis, J 22 yd run (Dean, J kick)
9 plays, 83 yards, TOP 2:59, FAU 6 - CU 31
02:08 CU - Taylor, R 18 yd pass from Proctor, W (Dean, J kick)
1 play, 18 yards, TOP 0:23, FAU 6 - CU 38
4th 14:00 CU - Dean, J 45 yd field goal
5 plays, 20 yards, TOP 1:39, FAU 6 - CU 41
09:40 CU - Ford, J 92 yd punt return (Dean, J kick failed)
FAU 6 - CU 47
05:19 CU - Gilliam, S 31 yd fumble recovery (Dean, J kick)
FAU 6 - CU 54
Team Statistics
FAU CU
FIRST DOWNS................... 18 21
Rushing..................... 5 12
Passing..................... 12 8
Penalty..................... 1 1
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 47 199
Rushing Attempts............ 34 39
Average Per Rush............ 1.4 5.1
Yards Gained Rushing........ 91 214
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 44 15
NET YARDS PASSING............. 216 173
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 20-43-1 14-23-1
Average Per Attempt......... 5.0 7.5
Average Per Completion...... 10.8 12.4
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 263 372
Total offense plays......... 77 62
Average Gain Per Play....... 3.4 6.0
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 4-3 4-3
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 4-35 6-50
PUNTS-YARDS................... 6-241 0-0
Average Yards Per Punt...... 40.2 0.0
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 20.7 0.0
Inside 20................... 1 0
50+ Yards................... 1 0
Touchbacks.................. 0 0
Fair catch.................. 0 0
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 3-191 10-645
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 63.7 64.5
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 43.3 45.5
Touchbacks.................. 0 4
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 0-0-0 4-117-1
Average Per Return.......... 0.0 29.2
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 6-110-0 3-61-0
Average Per Return.......... 18.3 20.3
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 1-0-0 1-74-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 1-31-1
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 34:30 25:30
1st Quarter................. 4:46 10:14
2nd Quarter................. 7:34 7:26
3rd Quarter................. 9:39 5:21
4th Quarter................. 12:31 2:29
Third-Down Conversions........ 8 of 18 8 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 1 1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-4 4-6
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-8 3-19
PAT Kicks..................... 0-0 6-7
Field Goals................... 2-2 2-3
Individual Statistics
Florida Atlantic
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
--------------------------------------------
Pierre, C. 8 32 1 31 0 7 3.9
Sanchez, A. 4 20 0 20 0 11 5.0
Floyd, W. 8 20 1 19 0 9 2.4
Clayton, S. 4 10 6 4 0 5 1.0
Rose, W. 1 3 0 3 0 3 3.0
Bostic, G 1 1 0 1 0 1 1.0
Manley, B.J. 3 2 6 -4 0 2 -1.3
Smith, R. 4 3 16 -13 0 3 -3.2
O'Neill, M 1 0 14 -14 0 0 -14.0
Totals... 34 91 44 47 0 11 1.4
Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
--------------------------------------------
Clayton, S. 22-11-1 112 0 16 1
Smith, R. 21-9-0 104 0 29 2
Totals... 43-20-1 216 0 29 3
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
-----------------------------------
Simeon, F. 3 28 0 16
Harmon, J. 3 8 0 6
Johnson, C. 2 37 0 29
Gent, C. 2 32 0 21
Grant, J. 2 26 0 13
Wilkes, C. 2 23 0 16
Holley, A. 2 16 0 10
Bonner, C. 1 18 0 18
Floyd, W. 1 13 0 13
Manley, B.J. 1 13 0 13
Bostic, G 1 2 0 2
Totals... 20 216 0 29
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
----------------------------------------------
O'Neill, M 6 241 40.2 53 1 0
Totals... 6 241 40.2 53 1 0
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
---------------------------------------------
Simeon, F. 0 0 0 1 20 20 0 0 0
Holley, A. 0 0 0 4 70 23 0 0 0
Floyd, W. 0 0 0 1 20 20 0 0 0
Acevedo, T. 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals... 0 0 0 6 110 23 1 0 0
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Leroy, W. 3rd 10:48 24 yds - Good
Leroy, W. 3rd 09:08 32 yds - Good
Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg
---------------------------------------
Leroy, W. 3 191 0 0 63.7
Clemson
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
--------------------------------------------
Davis, J 14 94 0 94 1 22 6.7
Merriweather, R 9 76 1 75 1 26 8.3
Spiller, C 6 18 0 18 0 8 3.0
Ford, J 1 10 0 10 0 10 10.0
Chancellor, D 1 4 0 4 0 4 4.0
Proctor, W 6 9 6 3 0 5 0.5
Harper, C 2 3 8 -5 0 3 -2.5
Totals... 39 214 15 199 2 26 5.1
Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
--------------------------------------------
Proctor, W 20-13-1 166 3 30 0
Harper, C 3-1-0 7 0 7 1
Totals... 23-14-1 173 3 30 1
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
-----------------------------------
Stuckey, C 5 66 1 30
Taylor, R 3 34 1 18
Kelly, A 2 21 1 14
Spiller, C 2 17 0 10
Hunter, T 1 28 0 28
Pearson, A 1 7 0 7
Totals... 14 173 3 30
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
----------------------------------------------
Totals... 0 0 0.0 0 0 0
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
---------------------------------------------
Spiller, C 2 23 16 1 17 17 0 0 0
Hamlin, M 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 74 74
Ford, J 2 94 92 2 44 24 0 0 0
Totals... 4 117 92 3 61 24 1 74 74
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Dean, J 1st 04:17 25 yds - Good
Dean, J 4th 14:00 45 yds - Good
Dean, J 4th 06:48 32 yds - Missed
Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg
---------------------------------------
Dean, J 10 645 4 0 64.5
FUMBLES: Florida Atlantic-Smith, R. 3-2; Simeon, F. 1-1.
Clemson-Proctor, W 1-1; Taylor, R 1-1; Ford, J 1-0;
Spiller, C 1-1.
Upgrade Your Account
