Clemson-NC State Notes

Oct. 7, 2000

*Clemson had lost 13 games by a touchdown or less prior to today’s victory over N.C. State. The last time Clemson had won a game by seven or less was against NC State in 1997, 19-17 in Raleigh. That note is a little flawed from the standpoint that Clemson did win an overtime game in 1997 against Duke. But the Tigers scored a field goal, then had a defensive return for a touchdown to win by 9. Since that Duke game Clemson had lost 11 in a row by a touchdown or less.

*This was the fourth straight year Clemson and NC State played a game decided by seven points or less. The two teams have split the four games over that period.

*Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler had his fourth straight game with at least 100 yards rushing and at least 300 yards total offense. He is the first player in Clemson history to do that.

*Including today’s game, there have been 19 games in which a Clemson individual has had 300 yards of total offense. Dantzler now has six of them, including four in a row.

*Next week Dantzler will attempt to tie the Clemson record for consecutive 100-yard rushing games by any Tiger player. The record is five by Kenny Flowers in 1985 and Raymond Priester over the 1996 and 1997 seasons.

*Woodrow Dantzler broke the Clemson record for yards rushing in a season by a quarterback in this afternoon’s game. He had 103 for the game and now has 732 for the season. He broke the previous mark of 649 by Steve Fuller in 1978.

*Dantlzer now has 732 yards rushing and 1085 yards passing for six games this year. He is on pace to finish an 11-game schedule with with 1342 rushing and 1989 passing for the season. No player in NCAA Division I history has ever had 1000 yards rushing and 2000 yards passing in the same season.

*Dantzler went over the 4000 yard mark in career total offense with his performance today. Dantzler now has 4077 career yards of total offense, sixth best in Clemson history. He started the season 26th. He should move into the top five with a 150 yard performance against Maryland. That would put him ahead of DeChane Cameron.

*Dantzler had three more touchdowns today in terms of TD responsibility. He had two rushing and one passing and now has 19 for the season, 10 rushing and nine passing. He has already tied the Clemson single season record for touchdown responsibility. Mark Fellers had 19 touchdowns in that category in 1974.

*Wide receiver Rod Gardner had his most productive game of the season with 10 catches for 137 yards. He was just one catch off the single game record for catches, a mark he co-holds. The 137 yards receiving were one off his career high of 138 receiving yards at South Carolina last year. Gardner now has 137 career receptions, 25 short of tying the Clemson career record of 162 by Terry Smith in 1990-93. Gardner is fifth in career receptions. Gardner jumped two spots today to number four on the career reception yardage list. He now has 1865 and moved ahead of Tony Horne and Brian Wofford. He trails only Terry Smith, Perry Tuttle and Jerry Butler.

*Gardner had a career hihg 201 yards of all-purpose running in today’s game. He had 137 receiving and 64 on kickoff returns. He is the first Clemson receiver to have a 200-yard all-purpose running game since Tony Horne had 229 against Duke in 1997.

*Clemson ran 94 offensive plays today, third highest single game total in Clemson history. The record is 98 against Maryland in 1992 (a game Clemson lost by 30 points).

*Clemson had at least 200 yards passing and 200 yards passing in today’s game. Clemson is now 33-0-1 in history with at least 200 of each in the same game. It was the seventh time in 18 games Clemson has done this under Bowden.

*Keith Adams had two tackles for loss in today’s game, the 18th straight game he has had at least one tackle for loss. That broke the record of 17 straight games with a tackle for loss held by Anthony Simmons (1996-97).

*Travis Zachery gained a career high 147 yards on a career high 31 rushing attempts in today’s game. His previous best was 141 yards rushing against Duke last year. He scored three touchdowns, giving him 32 for his career, tying him for the career record with Lester Brown, who had 32 from 1976-79. Zachery had two receptions (including a touchdown catch), giving him 11 for the year and 42 for his career. He needs just four receptions to become Clemson’s career leader in receptions by a running back.

*Clemson now has its first 6-0 start since 1987. Clemson has not been 7-0 since 1981, the year Clemson won the National Championship. The Tigers are now 4-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1983. Clemson was 7-0 against ACC teams that year.

*Clemson has now scored at least 30 points in six consecutive games a first in Clemson history.

*Today marked the first time in Clemson history that the Tigers had two 100-yard rushers and one 100-yard receiver in the same game.

*Clemson now has six straight games with at least 450 yards of total offense, a first in school history.

*NC State freshman quarterback Phillip Rivers has now thrown at least two touchdown passes in five straight games, the first Wolfpack quarterback in history to do that.

*Koren Robinson has caught at least one pass in 12 straight games. He now has 9 career touchdown passes, tying him for 7th in school record.

*Rivers threw three touchdown passes today against Clemson’s number-one ranked pass defense. He now has 16 for the season and career. He is already 11th in school history on a career basis.

*Rivers threw for 370 yards, the sixth best passing yardage game against Clemson in history.

*The pass play from Phillip Rivers to Ray Robinson in the first period of 81 yards tied for the fourth longest ever against Clemson, longest since Jamie Barnette hit Torry Holt on an 85 yard scoring pass at Clemson two years ago. It was the longest reception ever by a running back against Clemson.