Clemson Tigers vs. The Citadel Bulldogs Post-Game Notes

Sept. 6, 2008

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With today’s victory, Clemson improved its overall advantage in the all-time series with The Citadel to 30-5-1. It was the first meeting between the teams since 2000, and continued the series that began in 1909. The Tigers also have a 21-0 all-time mark against Football Championships Sub-Division (formerly Division I-AA) teams, outscoring them by a 694-111 margin (33-5 average).

Clemson displayed a balanced and potent offense in today’s win, tallying 252 yards on the ground and 273 yards through the air. All time, the Tigers are undefeated with a 50-0-1 record when totaling at least 200 yards of each. This marks the 24th time that a Tommy Bowden-coached Clemson team has had at least 200 yards rushing and passing in the same game.

Also of note, Clemson is 53-0-1 in games in which it totals over 500 yards of total offense. Today, the Tigers tallied 525 yards of total offense.

With The Citadel’s touchdown at 1:42 in the second half, the Bulldogs broke a scoreless streak against the Tigers. In fact, the 17 points scored today are the most points by a Bulldog team against the Tigers since 1924, when The Citadel won a 20-0 decision. Prior to today, The Citadel had not scored a touchdown against Clemson since the 1976 meeting between the teams also at Memorial Stadium. In fact, The Citadel had not scored against the Tigers since a field goal in 1978.

James Davis’ rushing touchdown with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter was his 37th career rushing touchdown. In only the first quarter of today’s game, he racked up 93 yards on 10 carries. For the game, the senior from Atlanta, GA, tallied 107 yards on 13 carries for an 8.2 yards per carry average. He ranks first among active ACC players in career rushing yards, and is also first among active ACC players in rushing touchdowns (37) and total touchdowns (39). Davis also moved up in Clemson’s career touchdown responsibility list to sixth with 39 touchdowns.

At the 11:30 mark in the second quarter, CJ Spiller rushed 37 yards to score the Tigers’ second touchdown of the game. Spiller scored his second rushing TD with a one-yard gain at 4:25 remaining in the second quarter. He now has 1788 yards rushing, 944 kickoff return yards, 540 receiving yards and 185 in punt return yards. He now ranks fifth on Clemson’s all-time list for all-purpose yards with 3,457 career all-purpose yards, behind teammate James Davis (4th/3,592 yards). Michael Hamlin tallied three interceptions against the Bulldogs, to give him a total of 11 interceptions for his career. His third interception at the 4:14 mark of the third quarter tied Clemson’s single game record for interceptions in a game. Hamlin intercepted a Bulldog pass at the 3-yard line and returned it 29 yards to end the second quarter and a Citadel drive. His second interception occurred at the 13:00 mark in the third quarter. He recorded a 37-yard return on that interception. He joins four other Tigers (Kit Jackson, Leomont Evans, Brian Dawkins, Alex Ardley) with three picks in the same game. Hamlin also moved into second on Clemson’s all-time interception return yard list. Rex Varn, who played from 1976-1979, is Clemson’s career leader for interception return yards with 275 yards on 10 interceptions.

Jacoby Ford’s five receptions was a career-high for the junior from Royal Palm Beach, FL. Ford tallied 60 yards receiving, for an average of 12 yards per catch. He has 39 career receptions for 610 yards, 25 rushes for 288 yards, 286 punt return yards and 677 kickoff return yards.

Cullen Harper connected with Michael Palmer at 4:09 in the third quarter to give the Tigers a 35-7 lead. It was the second career touchdown for Palmer, a junior from Stone Mountain, GA. He finished the game with two catches for 41 yards (20.5 average) and one touchdown. Harper’s completion to Palmer moved him into a tie for ninth on Clemson’s career list for touchdown responsibility with 33 touchdowns. For the day, Harper tallied 192 yards on 14 completions (18 attempts), averaging 13.7 yards per pass.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Willy Korn made his first appearance of the 2008 season during the third quarter. Korn completed seven of 11 passes for 81 yards, with a long of 36.

Jamie Harper scored his first career touchdown as a Tiger at the 13:44 mark of the fourth quarter. He had six carries for 38 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per touch. Mark Buchholz gave the Tigers a 45-10 lead with his 21-yard field goal at the 3:57 mark of the fourth quarter. The graduate student from Alpharetta, GA, has 24 career field goals in his Clemson career, along with a perfect 54-54 on PAT kicks.