Clemson 38, Wofford 14

Sept. 8, 2001

*Clemson gained 483 yards in total offense against Wofford, 200 rushing and 283 passing. It marked the eighth time under Tommy Bowden that the Tigers have had at least 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing in the same game. Clemson is 8-0 under Bowden when reaching at least 200 of each. The Tigers are now 34-0-1 in their history when getting at least 200 of each. The first time Clemson accomplished at least 200 of each in the same game was in 1953 when the Tigers had 204 passing and 276 rushing in an 18-0 win over Wake Forest in Death Valley.

*J.J. McKelvey had a career day at wide receiver. The junior from Moncks Corner, SC had eight receptions for 73 yards and two touchdowns. McKelvey had just three receptions for 90 yards prior to today’s game. He had six catches in the second quarter alone after getting three catches all of 2000. His touchdowns were the first two of his career. He became just the second Tiger under Tommy Bowden to catch two touchdown passes in a game. Rod Gardner did it three times, most recently last year at North Carolina when he caught three scores to tie the Clemson single game record.

*Clemson injuries today: Marcus Houskin, strained neck and concussion, Eric Sampson, concussion, Kevin Johnson, sprained shoulder, Roscoe Crosby sprained knee. All will be reevaluated on Sunday.

*Another Mac had a career day on Saturday. Defensive end Bryant McNeal had a career high four tackles for 19 yards. That included two sacks for 15 yards and a caused fumble. It was quite a turnaround game for McNeal, who did not make a tackle in 61 plays last week against Central Florida. *Brian Mance continued his excellence in the return game. The junior had 79 yards on punt returns and 78 on kickoff returns. He touched the ball six times for 157 yards. He now has 276 all-purpose yards for the season, high total for a Clemson player. He has touched the ball 11 times and gained 276 yards in combined returns in the first two games.

*John Leake and Derrick Hamilton were two more young players who had career days on Saturday. Leake had 12 tackles in the game for a career high. Hamilton had four catches for 55 yards, his career high in receptions and yards.

*Clemson had 283 yards passing in today’s game, its high figure since the North Carolina game last year (296), but its second high total in the last 14 games.

*Eric Meekins scored his first career touchdown in today’s game when he raced 29 yards for a touchdown. It marked the first time since the 1998 Clemson vs. Virginia game that a Tiger returned a fumble for a touchdown. Antwan Edwards, now with the Green Bay Packers, raced 93 yards with a fumble return for a touchdown against the Cavs that day in Charlottesville.

*Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler had 207 yards passing today, hitting 21 of 30 passing, 70 percent. It was the third highest completion total of Dantzler’s career, his career high is 23 at NC State in 1999. It marked the first time since last year’s NC State game that Dantzler had passed for at least 200 yards in a game. It marked the sixth time in his career that he had turned the trick. Dantzler had an additional 55 yards rushing, giving him 262 yards of total offense for the game. It marked the fourth straight game and 17th time in his career that he has exceeded 200 yards of total offense in a game.

*Dantzler moved ahead of former Clemson quarterback Rodney Williams on the school’s all-time total offense list. He now has 5621 yards of total offense, ahead of the 5510 recorded by Williams from 1985-88. Williams was able to see Dantzler go ahead of him from close range, as he is the sideline reporter on the Clemson radio network. Dantzler is now third on Clemson’s all-time list trailing only Steve Fuller (6096) and Nealon Greene (6786). *Dantzler now has three touchdown passes and one rushing this season, giving him 41 touchdowns rushing and passing for his career. He needs just three touchdowns to tie Steve Fuller’s record for touchdown responsibility in a career. Fuller had 44 from 1975-78.

*Wofford had 36 yards passing and 276 yards rushing in today’s game. The rushing total was the most against the Clemson defense since Virginia Tech had 286 against the Tigers in Blacksburg in 1999. The passing yardage total was the fewest allowed by the Clemson defense 1991 when Temple had just 15 yards passing in Death Valley.

*Clemson had 26 completions in the game, 21 by Dantzler and five by backup quarterback Willie Simmons. That tied for the most completions for the Tigers in a victory in school history. Clemson also completed 26 in the 12-3 win over Wake Forest in 1999. The Clemson record for completions in a game is 28 in a 31-11 loss at Virginia Tech in 1999. The 26 completions tied for the fourth highest total overall.