Clemson Comes Up Short In Bowden’s Debut

Sept. 4, 1999

By MARK PRATT Associated Press Writer

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) – Doug Chapman scored on a 7-yard run with 1:10 to play to give Marshall a 13-10 victory over Clemson on Saturday night.

Chapman scored the winning touchdown after quarterback Chad Pennington kept the 11-play, 74-yard drive alive by completing 6-of-6 for 81 yards and rushing for 12 yards on a third-and-10.

Pennington was 29-for-44 for 333 yards and Chapman, a 1,000-yard rusher each of the last three seasons, had 47 yards.

Clemson had a shot to send the game into overtime, but Chris Campbell’s 34-yard field goal with 10 seconds to play was wide left. Two Clemson kickers missed a combined three field goals in the game played in front of more than 80,000.

The Tigers took a 10-6 lead in the defensive struggle with a little more than seven minutes to play on Javis Austin’s 3-yard run. The 10-play drive covered 67 yards but wasn’t enough to make Clemson coach Tommy Bowden a winner in his debut with the Tigers.

The Thundering Herd moved the ball with ease in the first half, compiling 151 yards of offense in the first quarter and 205 in the half. But all they had to show for it were two field goals by Billy Malashevich and a 6-3 halftime lead.

Pennington was 9-for-13 for 114 yards in the first quarter.

Clemson’s defense gave away some big plays but twice stiffened inside its 20 in the first quarter.

The Herd moved to the Clemson 7 on their first possession but had to settle for a 24-yard field goal after safety Charles Hafley deflected a third-down pass into the end zone.

Marshall moved 80 yards to the Clemson 3 on its second possession, but Robert Carswell and Chad Carson dropped Chapman for a 2-yard loss on second down and Carswell broke up Pennington’s third-down pass in the end zone intended for James Williams.

The high-powered offense that was so successful for Bowden at Tulane never appeared in the first half. Clemson certainly looked the part, lining up quarterback Brandon Streeter in the shotgun formation almost exclusively in the first quarter and going with three, four and five wideout sets.

The look belied the end results however, as Clemson had just one first down and 13 yards in the first quarter.

Streeter, 23-for-36 for 186 yards, was replaced by sophomore Woody Dantzler in the second half, but the sophomore had no more success and Streeter was back on the field for Clemson’s go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter.

Clemson’s best drive of the first half was 43 yards, capped by Tony Lazzara’s 42-yard field goal in the second quarter.