Tigers Overcome Early Miscues, Rout S.C. State, 54-0 |
CLEMSON -- It was another game where you got the feeling that if another team, say Georgia Tech or Wake Forest or even Maryland, had been in Death Valley, the result might have been different.
From the cannon firing before the team could get off the buses to run down the hill to the interceptions on two of Clemson's first three drives, if it had been someone other than South Carolina State, things might have turned out differently.
But on a beautiful afternoon South Carolina State provided exactly what they were supposed to: a team that proved easy prey for the Tigers and a band that gave the crowd something to stick around for during halftime.
Clemson was never in trouble against the Bulldogs and rolled to a 54-0 win Saturday to improve to 3-1 before facing tougher competition in the coming weeks.
"We were ugly," said S.C. State coach Buddy Pugh.
Nothing was uglier than the botched fake fieldgoal late in the first half by the Bulldogs. By then they were down 30-0 and the only suspense was when backup quarterback Willy Korn would make his appearance.
Despite interceptions off Cullen Harper on two of Clemson's first three drives S.C. State had no chance of staying with Clemson. The Tigers pounded the ball against the Bulldogs and kept the pressure off Harper the rest of the day. James Davis rushed for 49 yards on Clemson's first drive and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. After the interceptions, Davis added touchdown runs of 5 and 1 yard. He finished with 95 yards on 11 carries, splitting time with C.J. Spiller, who rushed for 63 yards on 14 carries.
"Guys are improving week in and week out, and they showed it today," said Davis. "The offensive line especially improved; I'm so proud of those guys. I stayed patient, I knew my time would come; I've just got to keep working hard. They did some things that were unexpected, but we adjusted. There is always some stuff for concern, but I think we showed improvement."
Whether there's been enough improvement will be apparent soon. On Saturday the Tigers could afford the early mistakes and still win handily.
The defense added to the rout in the second half when Chris Clemmons returned an interception 32 yards for a touchdown on S.C. State's first drive of the second half.
The Bulldogs had some success early with the passing game, but couldn't run the ball against the Clemson defense and finished with negative yardage on the ground.
"We've just got to go out and do what we're supposed to do," said Clemson defensive back Michael Hamlin. "We just went out and hit them right in the mouth; we wanted to keep them out of the end zone. We just wanted to try to hit as many people as possible."
Clemson's defense had three interceptions and one fumble recovery, throwing a shutout for the first time since a 51-0 win over Louisiana Tech in 2006.
Korn relieved Harper late in the third quarter. Harper completed 14 of 24 passes for 151 yards. Korn completed all seven of his passes for 76 yards.
"We've just got to continue to get better and better each week," said Harper. "I think our confidence is right where it needs to be going into this stretch of ACC games. I thought we ran the ball well, I thought James came out and did a great job, then I thought the defense did a good job today. They got some turnovers and got off the field for us."
The Tigers face Maryland next week in Death Valley. It's a game where a mis-fire will likely be more costly.
Date: Sep 20, 2008 Site: Clemson, SC
Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Attendance: 78000
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
S.C. State.......... 0 0 0 0 - 0
Clemson............. 7 23 10 14 - 54
Scoring Summary:
1st 12:15 CU - James Davis 1 yd run (Mark Buchholz kick)
5 plays, 69 yards, TOP 2:45, SCSU 0 - CU 7
2nd 11:00 CU - James Davis 5 yd run (Mark Buchholz kick)
9 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:34, SCSU 0 - CU 14
06:46 CU - James Davis 1 yd run (Mark Buchholz kick)
6 plays, 24 yards, TOP 3:16, SCSU 0 - CU 21
06:36 CU - TEAM safety
SCSU 0 - CU 23
03:42 CU - Cullen Harper 1 yd run (Mark Buchholz kick)
7 plays, 50 yards, TOP 2:54, SCSU 0 - CU 30
3rd 13:28 CU - Chris Clemons 32 yd interception return (Mark Buchholz kick)
SCSU 0 - CU 37
06:02 CU - Mark Buchholz 27 yd field goal
6 plays, 23 yards, TOP 2:00, SCSU 0 - CU 40
4th 14:39 CU - Willy Korn 1 yd run (Mark Buchholz kick)
7 plays, 45 yards, TOP 3:05, SCSU 0 - CU 47
03:42 CU - Michael Palmer 5 yd pass from Willy Korn (Mark Buchholz kick)
9 plays, 56 yards, TOP 5:33, SCSU 0 - CU 54
Kickoff time: 1:00 PM End of Game: 4:05 PM Total elapsed time: 3:05
Officials: Referee: J. Magallanes; Umpire: Jim Hyson; Linesman: Elmo Gary;
Line judge: Greg Parman; Back judge: Ron Boyd; Field judge: Milton Hagans;
Side judge: Angie Bartis;
Temperature: 73 deg Wind: Calm Weather: Sunny skies
Team Statistics
SCSU CU
FIRST DOWNS................... 9 27
Rushing..................... 2 14
Passing..................... 7 11
Penalty..................... 0 2
NET YARDS RUSHING............. -10 189
Rushing Attempts............ 21 46
Average Per Rush............ -0.5 4.1
Rushing Touchdowns.......... 0 5
Yards Gained Rushing........ 40 232
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 50 43
NET YARDS PASSING............. 162 227
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 22-35-3 22-31-2
Average Per Attempt......... 4.6 7.3
Average Per Completion...... 7.4 10.3
Passing Touchdowns.......... 0 1
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 152 416
Total offense plays......... 56 77
Average Gain Per Play....... 2.7 5.4
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 2-1 1-0
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 18-134 6-45
PUNTS-YARDS................... 5-219 2-81
Average Yards Per Punt...... 43.8 40.5
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 36.8 40.5
Inside 20................... 1 0
50+ Yards................... 4 0
Touchbacks.................. 0 0
Fair catch.................. 0 1
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 2-109 9-599
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 54.5 66.6
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 43.5 45.4
Touchbacks.................. 0 1
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 0-0-0 4-35-0
Average Per Return.......... 0.0 8.8
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 8-170-0 1-22-0
Average Per Return.......... 21.2 22.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 2-5-0 3-80-1
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 23:22 36:38
1st Quarter................. 4:38 10:22
2nd Quarter................. 4:09 10:51
3rd Quarter................. 8:20 6:40
4th Quarter................. 6:15 8:45
Third-Down Conversions........ 3 of 13 4 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 1 2 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 0-0 7-8
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 2-5 3-30
PAT Kicks..................... 0-0 7-7
Field Goals................... 0-1 1-1
Individual Statistics
S.C. State
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
-------------------------------------------------
JAMISON,Travil 4 15 0 15 0 9 3.8
FORD,William 9 19 5 14 0 7 1.6
CAMPBELL,Anthon 1 2 0 2 0 2 2.0
HAIRE,Aaron 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
CLARK,DeWain 1 0 13 -13 0 0 -13.0
LONG,Malcolm 4 4 17 -13 0 2 -3.2
TEAM 1 0 15 -15 0 0 -15.0
Totals... 21 40 50 -10 0 9 -0.5
Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
-------------------------------------------------
LONG,Malcolm 35-22-3 162 0 22 2
CLARK,DeWain 0-0-0 0 0 0 1
Totals... 35-22-3 162 0 22 3
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
----------------------------------------
YOUNG,Oliver 7 70 0 22
MORRIS,Phillip 7 65 0 19
DUBOSE,Dusten 3 23 0 13
DARBY,Octavius 2 2 0 3
FORD,William 2 -1 0 4
CHRISTIE,Richar 1 3 0 3
Totals... 22 162 0 22
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
---------------------------------------------------
HAIRE,Aaron 5 219 43.8 55 1 0
Totals... 5 219 43.8 55 1 0
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
--------------------------------------------------
MORRIS,Phillip 0 0 0 4 90 30 0 0 0
DUBOSE,Dusten 0 0 0 3 63 25 0 0 0
ALLEN,Terrance 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
WILKERSON,Juliu 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 5
ADAMS,Phillip 0 0 0 1 17 17 0 0 0
Totals... 0 0 0 8 170 30 2 5 5
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
ERICKSON,Blake 1st 04:27 39 yds - Missed
Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg
---------------------------------------
HAIRE,Aaron 2 109 0 1 54.5
Clemson
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
-------------------------------------------------
James Davis 11 95 0 95 3 25 8.6
C.J. Spiller 14 63 0 63 0 15 4.5
Jamie Harper 7 36 0 36 0 11 5.1
Willy Korn 4 20 1 19 1 14 4.8
Ronald Watson 4 11 2 9 0 4 2.2
Jacoby Ford 2 6 0 6 0 5 3.0
Cullen Harper 3 1 18 -17 1 1 -5.7
TEAM 1 0 22 -22 0 0 -22.0
Totals... 46 232 43 189 5 25 4.1
Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
-------------------------------------------------
Cullen Harper 24-15-2 151 0 22 1
Willy Korn 7-7-0 76 1 22 1
Totals... 31-22-2 227 1 22 2
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
----------------------------------------
Jacoby Ford 5 24 0 9
Aaron Kelly 4 41 0 22
Tyler Grisham 3 43 0 20
Xavier Dye 3 37 0 22
Michael Palmer 2 27 1 22
Durrell Barry 2 21 0 11
Paul Macko 1 14 0 14
Marquan Jones 1 11 0 11
Jamie Harper 1 9 0 9
Totals... 22 227 1 22
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
---------------------------------------------------
Jimmy Maners 2 81 40.5 46 0 0
Totals... 2 81 40.5 46 0 0
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
--------------------------------------------------
Jacoby Ford 1 -1 0 1 22 22 0 0 0
Crezdon Butler 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 48 48
Chris Clemons 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 32 32
Chris Chancellor 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
C.J. Spiller 3 36 29 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals... 4 35 29 1 22 22 3 80 48
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Mark Buchholz 3rd 06:02 27 yds - Good
Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg
---------------------------------------
Buchholz, M 8 532 1 0 66.5
Jackson, Ri 1 67 0 0 67.0
FUMBLES: S.C. State-CLARK,DeWain 2-1. Clemson-Cullen Harper 1-0.
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