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June 27, 2000

The Citadel at Clemson

September 2 Series: Clemson leads 28-5-1 IPTAY/Tiger Cub Club Day

This will be the first meeting between Clemson and The Citadel since 1986 when the Tigers won 24-0 at Death Valley…Clemson has won each of the last 13 meetings dating to a 6-0 The Citadel victory at Florence, SC in 1931…after that loss first-year coach Jess Neely met with Clemson supports in a car outside the stadium and that meeting led to the birth of IPTAY…Clemson defeated The Citadel in 1978 by a 58-3 margin, Clemson’s first win in a 11-1 season…the Tigers connected on 15-17 passes that day, including 9-9 by Steve Fuller…that is still the best team single game passing completion day in school history…the last time the two teams met (1986), The Citadel’s Kip Allen attempted 57 passes (completed 24) the most in the history of Death Valley for a single game…Clemson had a record 18 PBUs in the game…the Citadel has scored just 35 points in the last 12 games against Clemson…the closest the Bulldogs have come to beating Clemson since 1931 came in 1973 when the Tigers took a 14-12 victory in the season opener…Clemson also took a narrow 10-7 triumph in 1976…Bobby Ross, now coach of the Detroit Lions, was the coach at The Citadel for both of those close games in the 1970s…he had replaced Red Parker at The Citadel…this will be Clemson’s season opener…Clemson is 78-18-8 in season openers over the years, including victories in 15 of the last 17…Clemson has won 34 in a row over Southern Conference teams dating to a 6-0 loss to South Carolina in 1952…Clemson has won 43 in a row over teams currently in the Southern Conference…11 of the last 13 Southern Conference teams have failed to score a touchdown against Clemson.

Missouri at Clemson

September 9 Series: Clemson leads 2-1 Hall of Fame Day

This will be just the fourth meeting between the two teams, the second since 1950…Missouri won the last meeting in 1996, 38-24 in Columbia, MO…this is the return game for that contest…Justin Watts is the only active Tiger who played in that game at Missouri in 1996…Missouri defeated a talented Clemson team that day, 11 of the Tigers who played in that game were on NFL rosters in 1999…Missouri was a common opponent for the Tigers in two undefeated season, 1948 and 1950…Clemson defeated Missouri 24-23 in the January 1, 1949 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL, including a perfect season for Frank Howard’s team…Jack Miller booted a 32-yard field goal in the fourth period for what proved to be the winning points…the two coaches in those two meetings were Howard for Clemson and Don Faurot at Missouri…each school’s field is named in their honor today…Clemson hada 9-0-1 record in 1950 when it defeated Missouri 34-0…Clemson had three backs gain over 100 yards that day, one of just four times in Clemson history that has happened…Clemson gained 420 yards rushing in 57 attempts for the day…Jackie Calvert led the way with 175 yards rushing, including 81 for a touchdown on Clemson’s first possession…Ray Mathews added 120 and Fred Cone had 111 and two touchdowns…Clesmon had 525 yards of total offense for the game…Missouri was ranked 18th in the AP preseason poll, but was not ranked when the two teams met….Clemson is 4-7 lifetime against the teams in the Big 12…the Tigers are 2-1 vs. Missouri and have victories over Oklahoma and Nebraska…Clemson is one of the few schools to own wins over Nebraska and Oklahoma in the 1980s…Clemson will induct 10 former greats into its Hall of Fame on this day…the list includes former football players Rodney Williams and Michael Dean Perry….the Clemson vs. Missouri game will start at 3:30 PM and will be televised by ABC.

Wake Forest at Clemson

September 16 Series: Clemson leads 50-14-1 Youth Day

This will be the 1000th game in Clemson football history…the Tigers have won 20 of the last 23 contests in the series…Wake Forest has won in Death Valley just twice since 1961, but both have come in recent years, 1993 and 1998…current Wake Forest coach Jim Caldwell has both of those wins….Clemson has held Wake Forest under 21 points 10 of the last 11 meetings, including last year when Clemson won 12-3 at Wake Forest….Clemson earned its 50th win in history over Wake Forest with that 12-3 victory in 1999…Clemson has a 28-7 overall record in games played at Clemson against the Deacons, including 24-7 mark in games played in Death Valley…Clemson has beaten Wake Forest more than any other team in Death Valley since the facility was opened in 1942.Clemson and Wake Forest first met in 1933, a 13-0 Clemson victory in a contest played in Charlotte, NC…Clemson won last year behind the relief quarterbacking of Brandon Streeter, who led Clemson to nine points in the fourth quarter…current fullbackTerry Witherspoon had a season high 76 yards on 11 rushes in Clemson’s win at Wake Forest in 1997…Robert Carswell, then a freshman, now a senior, had 11 tackles in that 1997 Clemson victory…a year ago, Woodrow Dantzler connected on 22-32 passes for 201 yards, but could not get the Tigers into the endzone…Travis Zachery had 23-72 rushing against the Deacs in 1999, he had 9-49 and a touchdown against Wake Forest as a freshman…Rod Gardner had his first career touchdown, a 41-yard leaping reception, at Wake Forest in 1997….Clemson’s top five tacklers in the 1999 Tiger win are all back for this year…Clemson was led in tackles by Chad Carson, who had a career high tying 16 tackles last year…Terry Jolly had a career high 11 tackles from his defensive tackle position to pace the defensive line that held Wake Forest to 111 yards rushing.

Clemson at Virginia

September 23 Series: Clemson leads 33-5-1

The Tigers won the first 29 games of the series, but Virginia has a 5-4-1 advantage in the 10 meetings in the decade of the 1990s…Virginia Coach George Welsh has all five of Virginia’s wins in history against Clemson…the Cavs have won at least seven games 13 years in a row, something only three other schools in the nation can claim..Clemson won last year at Clemson 33-14, jumping out to a 33-0 lead…that was the first time fans got to see Clemson’s spread offense at its best…Clemson has a 14-3 advantage in the series in games played at Virginia…Clemson has always played well at Virginia, Clemson’s three losses at Charlottesville have been by a combined 18 points…Clemson lost by three at Virginia in 1994 and by two in 1998…Clemson had losing seasons both of those years…Clemson won the 1996 meeting between the two teams in Charlottesville, 24-16 over a 15th-ranked Wahoo team…that is Clemson’s last win in Charlottesville….Clemson had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the contest, Raymond Priester and Kelton Dunnican, something Clemson has not done since…Clemson offensive lineman Akil Smith is the only native of Virginia on the Tiger roster…Braxton K. Williams has played well against the Cavs each of the last two years…as a freshman he had 1.5 sacks against the Cavs, and last year he dove to keep a fumble in bounds allowing a teammate to recover and change the momentum of the game…Brandon Streeter set a Clemson record for passing yardage (343) in the win over Virginia last year at Clemson…last year’s Clemson win was the first triumph of the Bowden era and his first win over a ranked team as a college coach…Keith Adams led Clemson tacklers last year with 16, while Chad Carson added 14 and Robert Carswell had 11…Adams also had four tackles for loss…Pat Cyrgalis caught a 15-yard scoring pass in the first quarter, the first touchdown by a Clemson tight end in 10 years.

Clemson at Duke

September 30 Series: Clemson leads 28-15-1

Clemson has won 15 of the last 18 games against Duke, including last year’s 58-7 Tiger win, the most points scored by a Clemson team against the Blue Devils… in that game current Clemson linebacker Keith Adams had six tackles for loss and four sacks, all-time Clemson single game records in both areas…Clemson defeated Duke 29-20 in overtime in 1997, the first and still only overtime game in Clemson history…that was first overtime game involving two ACC teams in history… Clemson outside linebacker Rahim Abdullah returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown to clinch the overtime victory in 1997….current Duke defensive coordinator Bobby Trott was Clemson’s defensive coordinator in 1990…while Clemson has dominated the series at Clemson (10 straight Tiger wins in Death Valley dating to 1980), the Tigers have struggled at Duke…the series record is 11-11 in games at Duke and the Tigers are just 2-3 at Duke since 1989…Clemson has averaged just 16 points a game over those five games…Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden was an assistant coach at Duke from 1984-86…this is a battle of second year head coaches at Duke’s Carl Franks and Clemson’s Tommy Bowden both entered the league last year…current Clemson wide receiver Rod Gardner had 10 catches for 122 yards against Duke last year…Clemson had 558 yards total offense against Duke in 1999, its high figure since 1992…current Tiger running back Travis Zachery had 17-141 and four touchdowns against Duke last year, just the third Tiger since 1950 to score four touchdowns in a single game…Terry Jolly had two tackles for loss, including a sack and a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown against Duke last year…that was the first interception return for a touchdown by a Clemson defensive lineman in 35 years.

North Carolina State at Clemson

October 7 Series: Clemson leads 42-25-1 Textile Bowl/Team Reunion Weekend

NC State has defeated Clemson each of the last two years in high scoring games, 46-39 in 1998 and 35-31 in 1999…the 1998 game the highest scoring game by the Tigers in a loss in history, then Clemson lost at Georgia Tech 45-42 in 1999…the two teams combined for 35 points in the first quarter last year, the highest scoring first quarter in Clemson history for the two teams cmbined…Clemson’s last win over NC State took place at State in 1997 by a 19-17 score…Clemson’s last win in the series at Clemson was 40-17 in 1996…Clemson has a 13-10 lead in the series in games played at clemson….this will be a battle of former Florida State assistant coaches…Tommy Bowden coached under his father, Bobby, at Florida State 1978-79 and 1981-83…first-year NC State head coach Chuck Amato was an assistant coach under Bobby Bowden at Florida State from 18 years 1982-99…Amato is coaching his alma mater, he is a 1969 NC State graduate…this is the 20th annual Textile Bowl, Clemson has a 12-7 lead in the series since it was named the Textile Bowl in 1981…Woodrow Dantzler had an outstanding day at State last year, leading Clemson to 31 points…Dantzler was 23-41 for 284 yards and two scores…Rod Gardner caught 6-63 and Travis Zachery had 18-82 and twoscores…Clemson had five possession in the second half with a chance to take the lead, but failed to do so.

Maryland at Clemson

October 14 Series: Clemson leads 26-20-2 Homecoming

Clemson is 25-2-2 on Homecoming over the last 29 years with the only losses coming to Georgia Tech in 1989 and to Virginia in 1995. ..Clemson has taken the lead in the series with Maryland 26-20-2…the Terps always held the lead between 1971-93…since the Terps scored 53 against Clemson in 1992, they have scored just 42 points against Clemson and 30 came last year when Clemson won 42-30…Clemson had consecutive shutouts of the Terps in 1993-94-95…Clemson has won 12 of the last 13 games and seven in a row from Maryland….Clemson has outscored Maryland 179-42 during the seven game stretch…this is the longest winning streak for Clemson over Maryland in the history of the series…Maryland has scored just two touchdowns in Death Valley in the last 13 years, covering a span of six games…Robert Carswell had 11 tackles and three passes broken up in his first college start at Maryland in 1997……the Terps have not scored a TD in Death Valley since a 40-7 Clemson victory in 1991, the game that Clemson won to clinch its last ACC championship…current Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler had a school record 435 yards of total offense and 183 yards rushing at Maryland last year…he broke a 52-year-old school record in the total offense area…Altroy Bodrick had 11 tackles at Maryland last year, his career high…Travis Zachery had 24-95 rushing and scored three touchdowns at Maryland in 1999…Robert Carswell has recorded 29 tackles in three years against Maryland…Maryland’s Lamont Jordan scored four touchdowns against Clemson last year in the Tigers victory.

Clemson at North Carolina

October 21 Series: Clemson leads 30-17-1

The Tigers have won 10 of the last 14 in the series, including 31-20 at Clemson last year…but Clemson broke a three-game losing streak to North Carolina with that victory…Clemson defeated North Carolina with a healthy Ronald Curry in 1999…Curry had 162 yards passing, but threw four interceptions against the Tigers…Woodrow Dantzler came off the bench to lead the Tigers, he had 213 yards of total offense in just over two quarters of play…Dantlzer’s 56-yard run for a touchdown clinched the win in the fourth period for Clemson…the Tigers must go to Chapel Hill, where they have not won since 1994…Clemson won at North Carolina in Tommy West’s first year in a big upset…North Carolina was ranked 12th heading into the game and Clemson ended that year with a 5-6 record, but the Tigers came away with a 28-17 victory thanks to five field goals by Nelson Welsh…Travis Zachery had 129 yards rushing on 28 attempts in Clemson’s win over the Tar Heels last year…Chad Carson 15 and Robert Carswell 13…Carswell has 29 career tackles in three games against North Carolina…Clemson had seven sacks of Curry in the 1999 victory…Clemson had scored just 34 points in four games against North Carolina in the four games prior to 1999…Clemson has a 12-9-1 record at Kenan Stadium…Rod Gardner had 7-127 and a touchdown to lead Clemson receivers against North Carolina last year…Keith Adams had five tackles for loss, tied for the second most in a game in Clemson history, against the Tar Heels last year…North Carolina’s staff includes new offensive coordinator Mike O’Cain, who defeated Clemson each of the last two years as NC State’s head coach…O’Cain played for the Tigers from 1973-76, he was the team MVP in 1976.

Georgia Tech at Clemson

October 28 Series: Georgia Tech leads 42-20-2 Tiger Pride Day

Clemson and Georgia Tech have played four heart stoppers in a row…each of the last four meetings between the two teams have been decided by at least three points…Tech and Clemson have played eight games that have been decided by four points or less since 1990…Clemson is 3-5 in those games…that includes last year’s incredible scoring binge, a 45-42 victory by Georgia Tech…that is the only game in Clemson history in which both teams scored at least 40 points…Woodrow Dantzler had a 305-yard game in terms of total offense, he was over 100 yards rushing and 100 yards passing in the same game…Travis Zachery had another three touchdown game against Tech last year…Joe Hamilton had 410 yards of total offense against Clemson in 1999, most in history against the Tigers…Hamilton has graduated…Clemson’s top receiver against Tech in 1999 was tight end Pat Cyrgalis, the first tight end to lead Clemson in receiving in a single game since 1985…when Clemson won over the Yellow Jackets in 1994 it was the coaching debut of George O’Leary….Tech’s has won at Death Valley just once since 1989….Tech won at Clemson by a 24-21 score in 1998 in the first home Thursday night game in Clemson history…Tech is one of Clemson’s oldest rivals, the two teams first met in 1898, a 23-0 Clemson win……Georgia Tech has a 39-10-2 advantage over Clemson in games played at Georgia Tech over the years, including 31-6-1 in Bobby Dodd Stadium, but Clemson has a 7-3 advantage in games at Clemson…Tech beat Clemson in 1989 on Clemson’s homecoming, one of just two homecoming losses for the Tigers since 1970…Georgia Tech never played at Clemson until 1974 and the 36 games played between the two teams between 1908 and 1973 were contested in Atlanta….Terry Witherspoon had 12-61 rushing against Georgia Tech in 1997.

Clemson at Florida State

November 4 Series: Florida State leads 11-2-0

Clemson has lost eight in a row to Florida State with the last win coming in Tallahassee in 1989..in fact, both of Clemson’s wins in the series have taken place at Florida State, the site of this year’s game.. this will be Bowden Bowl II, the second time father and son have coached against each other in college football history…last year, Florida State and Bobby Bowden defeated Clemson and Tommy Bowden, 17-14 in a thrilling game at Death Valley in front of 86,092, the all-time record crowd for Death Valley…that was also the 300th coaching victory in the career of Bobby Bowden…….Clemson wide receivers coach Rick Stockstill and inside linebackers coach Reggie Herring, are both Florida State graduates…Herring is in the Seminoles Hall of Fame and Stockstill was a two-year starter at quarterback (1980-81)…Clemson assistant head coach and tight ends coach Brad Scott was an assistant coach at Florida State from 1985-93 and was the offensive coordinator for the Seminoles 1993 National Championship team…Clemson secondary coach Jack Hines is the son-in-law of Florida State coach Bobby Bowden….Florida State defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews used to be a secondary coach at Clemson…Florida State wide receivers coach Jeff Bowden is Clemson head coach Rod Gardner, is a native of Jacksonville, FL, as is freshman receiver Kevin Youngblood…Clemson starters Alex Ardley (Tallahassee), Tony Lazzara (Ft. Lauderdale), Charles Hafley (Pompano Beach) and Theo Mougros (Tarpon Springs) are also from Florida…altogether, Clemson has 12 scholarship players on its roster for 2000…Keith Adams had 19 tackles against Florida State last year to lead a Tiger defense that held the Seminoles to 98 yards rushing…Woodrow Dantzler had 188 yards of total offense, including 86 rushing, against the Seminoles last year..he helped Clemson to a 14-3 halftime lead at Death Valley a year ago…Clemson has not scored a touchdown at Florida State since the 34-23 victory in 1989…Clemson has just three total points in its last foir trips to Florida State.

South Carolina at Clemson

November 18 Series: Clemson leads 58-35-4

Clemson has won four of the last five meetings and eight of the last 11 meetings…the visiting team had won seven straight games in this series prior to Clemson’s win at Clemson in 1998…Clemson has had .500 or better record entering the South Carolina game, 23 of the last 24 years, South Carolina has had .500 or better record entering the game 14 of the last 23 years…the first 57 games of this series were played in Columbia…Clemson has won six straight games in Columbia dating to 1987…Braxton Williams was member of that team, his son is on this year’s Clemson team…Clemson has won three in a row against South Carolina and has averaged 35.3 points a game in those contests…Clemson has scored at least 28 points five straight games…this will be the 92nd straight year that Clemson and South Carolina have met on the football field…that is the third longest active series in college football, the only ones longer are Kansas vs. Nebraska and Minnesota vs. Wisconsin…South Carolina Head Coach Lou Holtz is 4-1 against Clemson, he was 4-0 against the Tigers as head coach at NC State…Holtz has a 2-0 record in Death Valley, a 29-6 win in 1973 and a 45-7 win over the Tigers in 1975…former South Carolina Head Coach Brad Scott is assistant head coach on the Tiger staff…Scott is the only coach in South Carolina history to win a bowl game…Scott is one of 10 coaches to serve on the Clemson and South Carolina staff over the last 11 years…Charles Hafley had his best career game against South Carolina in 1998…then a freshman, he had eight tackles, an interception and a caused fumble…Rod Gardner had 6 catches for a career high 138 yards receiving at South Carolina last year, including a 29-yard scoring pass on a fourth-down play to ice Clemson’s 31-21 win…that catch put Gardner over the 1000-yard mark for the season, the first Tiger in history to have a 1000-yard receiving season…Woodrow Dantzler had 14-26 for 249 passing…Travis Zachery had 17-105 rushing last year, giving Clemson a 100-yard rusher, a 100-yard receiver and a 200-yard passer in the same game…Keith Adams had a school record 27 tackles at South Carolina last year.

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