Monday 06/21/1999
April 15, 1999
Rahim AbdullahOLB – 6-6 – 230 – Jacksonville, FL/Fletcher HS
Years Lettered: 1996, 1997, 1998Years Started: 1997, 1998Bowl Participation: 1996 Peach Bowl vs. LSU, 1998 Peach Bowl vs. Auburn
Overview: Clemson’s MVP of the 1998 Peach Bowl against Auburn when he had two blocked punts, a sack, three tackles and a pass deflection…has 30 career tackles for loss and 16.5 career sacks in three years…excellent in knocking down passes at the line of scrimmage because of his 6-6 frame, or covering enemy running backs on deep pass patterns with his speed, as he did in the Peach Bowl… ranked among the best in the nation at his position entering 1998, he was ranked sixth in the country by Lindy’s, 13th by Sporting News…has three touchdowns via return in his career, two in 1997…just a junior, he has already tied the Clemson career record for touchdowns via return, joining Arlington Nunn (1987-90) and Don Kelley (1969-71)…
In 1998: Second-team All-ACC in 1998…preseason candidate for the Butkus Award…ranked in the top five in the ACC in sacks and tackles for loss…fourth on the Clemson team in tackles with a career high 89…tied for team lead in tackles for loss with 15 and second on club in sacks with 7.5…finished the season strong, he had 53 tackles over the last five games, over 10 tackles per game…had career high 15 tackles at Florida State, including 10 first hits…had at least one tackle for loss in 10 of the 11 games, only game he did not was at North Carolina…also had double figure tackle game against Duke and Georgia Tech, 11 tackles in each game…outstanding in Thursday night game against Georgia Tech with two sacks for nine lost yards…started every game at outside linebacker and had streak of 23 straight starts to end his career…had at least one sack in each of the last four games…had two caused fumbles and four passes broken up…had at least five tackles in every game of 1998…fourth in Clemson history in return yards on takeaways (interceptions plus fumble recoveries), he had 150 return yards on five takeaways for his career…a prime reason Clemson ranked 12th in the nation in rushing defense, 25th in total defense and second in the ACC in sacks…ended his career with 16.5 sacks and 30 tackles for loss…his pass rush was big reason Clemson ranked second in the ACC to Florida State in pass completion percentage defense…ranks 11th in school history in sacks and 12th in tackles for loss…tied Clemson record for returns for touchdown in a career with three…had two fumble returns for score and one interception return for touchdown…starter for two seasons, 1997 and 1998, he started three games as a freshman, but not considered a starter that season…played in two bowl games for the Tigers, 1996 Peach and 1998 Peach…Clemson MVP of the 1998 Peach Bowl, he had two blocked punts, a sack, two pass deflections and four quarterback pressures…ranked as top outside linebacker prospect in the 1999 draft by Sporting News and as a top 20 pick in the entire draft by Mel Kuiper….had two fumble returns for touchdown in his career, both against NC State…had a nine-yard return for score as a freshman and 74-yard return for score as a sophomore.
In 1997: Master of the big play, he put an end to Clemson’s overtime victory against Duke when he raced 63 yards with an interception to give Clemson 29-20 victory…named ACC Defensive Player-of-the -Week for his performance against Duke…also winner of the Army ROTC Take No Prisoners Award for the Duke victory…had a career high 11 tackles in that game including a sack to go with that fumble return…his sack also came in overtime and stopped an end-around trick play attempt by Duke on its first play of the extra period…Abdullah also stopped a fake punt play short of a firstdown in the fourth period…had 74-yard fumble return against NC State that changed momentum of the game in Clemson’s 19-17 victory…also had fumble return for a touchdown against NC State in 1996…fifth on the Clemson team in tackles in ’97 with 73, 6.1 tackles per game…fifth on the team in quarterback pressures with 16, including four in the Auburn game…had twice as many quarterback pressures in 1997 as compared with 1996, but his sacks went down from six to three…outstanding all-around athlete, has 35-inch vertical jump, fourth best on the Clemson team.
In 1996: Played in 11 games and started three at the outside linebacker position…played middle guard most of his high school career, he did not play outside linebacker until his senior year of high school…played in 11 of the 12 games in 1996, he missed only the Maryland contest…opened the season as a starter, then went to a reserve role, then got starting job back in 1997 Spring practice…third on the team in sacks with six for losses of 41 yards…fourth on the team in tackles for loss with nine…had 53 yards in tackle for loss yardage, third on the team…recovered a fumble on a punt return against N.C. State and returned it nine yards for a touchdown….three of his six sacks in 1996 came against Furman when he had three for 13 yards of lost yardage…first Clemson freshman in history to record three sacks in a game and it tied Clemson single game record regardless of class…in the first game of the season against North Carolina he recorded his first career interception…named Clemson’s Chevrolet Player-of-the-Game in that contest, he also had a tackle for loss and a pass broken up, all in the first quarter…played best all-around game of his freshman season versus South Carolina with a season high eight tackles, two tackles for loss, one PBU, and one quarterback pressure…did not start that game, but played a season high 60 snaps in the contest..his previous best tackle totals of six came against Furman and Wake Forest…in Clemson’s win over 15th ranked Virginia, he caused a fumble, had one sack, and made three tackles…has put on 35 pounds since he came to Clemson, he was 195 pounds when he first reported in 1995.
In 1995: Red-shirted the 1995 season as a reserve outside linebacker…had an excellent 1996 Spring Game with six tackles including half a sack…his tackle total tied for third best in the game…tied for first among Clemson outside linebackers that season in the leg sled with 1000-pound figure.
In High School: Ranked as one of the top eight defensive ends in the Dixie region by Max Emfinger…rated as the 20th best LB in eastern region by Plyler’s Football Recruiting Newsletter…Bluechip Illustrated All-American selection…member of SuperPrep’s Florida 75…USA Today Honorable Mention All-American…high school teammate of current Clemson player John Thompson…his first name means “merciful” in Arabic, but he does not live up to that on the field…born Rahim Fahim Abdulluh on 3-22-76…majoring in speech and communciation.
1996 ABDULLAH Game-by-Game Stats
Date Opponent Plays Hit Ast Tot TFL Sacks QP PBU 8-31 at North Carolina *56 1 1 2 1-2 0-0 0 1 9-7 Furman *35 5 1 6 3-13 3-13 1 0 9-21 at Missouri *25 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 1 0 9-28 Wake Forest 43 4 2 6 2-16 1-14 0 0 10-5 at Florida State 16 3 0 3 1-4 0.5-4 0 0 10-12 at Duke 14 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 1 0 10-19 Georgia Tech 21 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 2 0 11-2 Maryland DNP 11-9 at Virginia 17 2 1 3 1-7 1-7 0 0 11-16 N.C. State 10 1 1 2 1-4 0.5-3 0 0 11-23 South Carolina 60 6 2 8 2-7 0-0 1 1 12-28 LSU (Peach Bowl) 13 0 0 0 0-0 0-0 0 0 Totals 310 26 10 36 11-53 6-41 6 2
1997 ABDULLAH Game-by-Game Stats Date Opponent Plays Hit Ast Tot TFL Sacks Int QP PBU 9-6 APPALACHIAN STATE *42 3 2 5 9-13 at N.C. State *47 3 2 5 1 9-20 FLORIDA STATE *48 4 2 6 1-4 2 1 9-27 at Georgia Tech *51 4 2 6 10-4 TEXAS-EL PASO *51 1 3 4 2 1 10-11 VIRGINIA *47 2 4 6 1 10-25 at Maryland *53 4 3 7 1-3 1-3 11-1 at Wake Forest *53 5 3 8 2 11-8 DUKE *76 6 5 11 1-9 1-9 1-63 2 1 11-15 NORTH CAROLINA *67 2 5 7 2 11-22 at South Carolina *58 2 3 5 1-1 Auburn *78 3 0 3 1-12 1-12 4 2 Totals 671 39 34 73 4-28 3-24 1-63 16 5
Note: Had one fumble return for 74 yards and a touchdown at N.C. State; touchdown on interception against Duke; one recovered fumble against North Carolina; one punt return for 20 yards against Auburn; two blocked kicks against Auburn
1998 ABDULLAH Game-by-Game StatsDate Opponent Plays Hit Ast Tot TFL Sacks QP PBU9-5 Furman *39 3 2 5 2-8 1-4 29-12 Virginia Tech *57 4 3 7 2-16 1-149-19 at Virginia *54 2 3 5 1-1 0.5-1 19-26 Wake Forest *55 4 5 9 1-110-3 at N. Carolina *47 2 3 5 110-10 Maryland *39 2 3 5 1-3 110-17 at Florida St. *52 10 5 15 1-3 1 110-24 at Duke *56 6 5 11 2-11 1-8 110-31 NC State *48 5 4 9 1-7 1-711-12 Georgia Tech *57 7 4 11 2-9 2-9 111-21 S. Carolina *62 4 3 7 2-2 1-1 3
Totals 566 49 40 89 15-61 7.5-44 8 4
RAHIM ABDULLAH CAREER STATS Year GP-GS Plays Hit Ast Tot TFL Sacks Int QP PBU CF-RF TD BK 1996 11-3 310 26 10 36 11-53 6-41 1-4 6 3 1-1 1 0 1997 12-12 671 39 34 73 4-28 3-24 1-63 16 5 0-2 2 2 1998 11-11 566 49 40 89 15-61 7.5-44 0-0 8 4 2-0 0 0 Totals 34-26 1547 114 84 198 30-142 16.5-109 2-67 30 12 3-3 3 2
Clemson Sack Leaders Rk Name, Pos Years No. 1. Michael Dean Perry, MG 1984-87 28 2. William Perry, MG 1981-84 27 3. Adrian Dingle, DE 1995-98 23 4. Brentson Buckner, MG 1990-93 22 5. Chester McGlockton, MG 1989-91 20.5 6. Levon Kirkland, OLB 1988-91 19 Wayne Simmons, OLB 1989-92 19 8. Anthony Simmons, LB 1995-97 18.5 9. Jim Stuckey, DT 1976-79 18 10. Steve Durham, DT 1977-80 17 11. Rahim Abdullah, OLB 1996-98 16.5
Clemson Tackles for Loss Leaders Rk Name, Pos Years No. 1. Michael Dean Perry, MG 1984-87 61 2. William Perry, MG 1981-84 60 3. Anthony Simmons, LB 1995-97 52 4. Rob Bodine, MG 1989-91 48 5. Brentson Buckner, MG 1990-93 46 6. Adrian Dingle, DE 1995-98 45 7. Randy Scott, LB 1975-78 43 8. Levon Kirkland, OLB 1988-91 40 9. Chester McGlockton, MG 1989-91 39 10. Jim Stuckey, DT 1976-79 36 Wayne Simmons, OLB 1989-92 36 12 Ed McDaniel, LB 1988-91 30 Rahim Abdullah, OLB 1996-98 30
Clemson Career Takeaway Return Yardage Leaders Player, Pos Years Int-Yds Fum-Yds Totals Antwan Edwards, CB 1995-98 8-195 2-104 10-299 Rex Varn, DB 1976-79 10-275 10-275 Don Kelley, DB 1969-71 6-178 6-178 Rahim Abdullah, OLB 1996-98 2- 67 3-83 5-150 Terry Kinard, FS 1978-82 17-147 2-0 19-147 Johnny Rembert, OLB 1981-82 8-143 8-143 Peter Ford, CB 1993-96 11-138 11-138 Leomont Evans, FS 1992-95 5-115 1-20 6-135
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