Last Second Field Goal Gives Maryland 13-12 Win Over No. 19 Clemson |
CLEMSON - It looked for all the world as if a controversial call would help Clemson sneak its foot from the trap Saturday afternoon. Instead, all it did was temporarily raise hopes that Sam Hollenbach would soon dash.
Hollenbach led Maryland from its own 34 to the Clemson 14-yard line with time waning, then watched as Dan Ennis calmly drilled a 31-yard field goal as the clock expired. The kick gave the Terrapins a 13-12 victory over Clemson at Death Valley in front of a stunned crowd of over 79,000. The win improves Maryland to 7-2 overall, 4-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Clemson falls to 7-3 (4-3). "This is a tough one to take because I think we had one penalty, no turnovers, (almost) 400 yards of offense and we lost the game," Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said afterwards. "When you can't score inside the red zone someone has to make a long run or break away for a long catch, and right now we're not doing that." The Tigers had taken the lead on Jad Dean's 22-yard field goal with 2:25 remaining, a kick that probably never should have happened. Clemson started the scoring drive on its own 10-yard line and, on first down, Proctor scrambled ahead to the 18-yard line. He was stripped of the ball before going down by Terp linebacker Erin Henderson, and the ball went bounding back toward the goal line. Tigers' tailback C.J. Spiller dove on the ball near the goal line, and game officials initially ruled he was in the end zone and awarded Maryland a safety. But after a lengthy review, the replay official overturned the call and gave Clemson the ball on the one-inch line; this despite the fact that television reviews appeared to show no solid evidence that Spiller had recovered the ball in play. A run by James Davis just got out of the end zone and back inside the one yard line on second down. But on third down the Tigers took to the air, and quarterback Will Proctor found a wide-open Thomas Hunter down the middle. The tight end made the catch and lumbered 71 yards to the Maryland 28. Moments later, on first and goal from the four yard line, Davis' run straight ahead found the endzone for a touchdown. But the play was called back on Clemson's only penalty of the game - an illegal formation infraction that pushed the ball back to the nine. "(The penalty) came at a very bad time," Bowden said. Two plays later Dean would make good on his fourth field goal of the day to put the Tigers on top and place the game squarely on the shoulders of the defense. For Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen, it looked like another wasted effort by his team vs. the Tigers. "The last game (last year) got away from us," he said. "Two years ago (10-7 loss) was very disheartening." But this time The Fridge would come out on top. Cole Chason's pooch kick was fielded at the 17-yard line and returned to the 34 by Danny Oquendo. From there, Hollenbach took over. He completed passes of 12 yard to Oquendo and six yards to Joey Haynos, sandwiched around a one-yard sack by Clemson's Dorrell Scott. He then completed a pass to Darrius Hayward-Bey for four yards to the Tigers' 45, which left the Terps with a fourth and one. But Hollenbach gained 5 yards on a quarterback sneak to keep the drive alive, then proceeded to complete successive passes of 13 and 12 yards - around a three-yard run by Keon Lattimore - to put the ball at the Clemson 12. Hollenback then rushed the ball to the middle of the field, absorbing a two-yard loss in the process, to get a better angle for his kicker. The senior quarterback then calmly rushed his team back to the line of scrimmage and spiked the ball with :03 remaining. Ennis then drilled the 31-yard field goal for the game winner. "He really played good football," Friedgen said of Hollenbach. "He threw the ball very accurately. The threw away when he needed to. I'm really happy right now with him. He's been comfortable the last three games. "He's been composed and the game is slowing down for him. He has some limitations, but some strengths as well." Clemson settled for nothing but field goals on a day in which Proctor threw for 251 of his team's 394 total yards. Clemson held the Terps to 301 total yards and just one touchdown in the first half and two second half kicks from Ennis. Afterwards, Bowden tried to remain positive. "There are still some things out there for this team to accomplish," he said. "You have to cross a couple of things off that you wanted to accomplish, and now you have to go back and maximize what you can." Meanwhile, Maryland's improbable run toward a trip to the ACC championship game remains intact. The Terps control their own destiny from this point, with home games remaining vs. Miami and Wake Forest and a road trip to Boston College.
Team Statistics (Final)
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