Clemson to Face Kentucky in Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Presented by Bridgestone Tires

Dec. 3, 2006

Clemson, SC – Clemson and Kentucky will meet in the 2006 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Presented by Bridgestone Tires on Friday, December 29 at 1:00 Pm (eastern). The contest will be televised by ESPN. This will be Clemson’s first appearance in the Music City Bowl and it will be the second appearance for Kentucky.

This will be the second meeting between Clemson and Kentucky in a bowl game. The only previous meeting took place in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta in 1993. Clemson won that thrilling contest by a 14-13 score on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Sapp to Terry Smith with just 20 seconds remaining. Brentson Buckner, playing in his last game, was named defensive player of the game.

Overall, this will be the 12th meeting on the gridiron between Clemson and Kentucky. The Wildcats hold a 7-4 lead, but Clemson has won three of the last four. The last regular season meeting took place in 1985, a 26-7 Kentucky win in Lexington. Clemson won in 1981 and 1982. The 1981 victory was Clemson’s fourth victory of the season on the way to the school’s only national championship.

Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden, who has been to Nashville during his career as an assistant coach in the SEC, including the 1990 season with Kentucky, is pleased with the selection of his team for the Music City Bowl.

“I’ve been to Nashville many times with teams from the SEC. It is one of the great cities in the South. It will be a new city for many of our fans and is a great entertainment city. Our players and fans will enjoy this bowl.

“I don’t know that much about Kentucky at this time, but I know Kentucky’s offense is one of the best in the nation when it comes to the passing game. They have the top quarterback in the SEC in terms of total offense in Andre Woodson. This will be a challenge for our team. Kentucky won four of its last five games and won four games in the SEC, which is a very good conference.”

Kentucky had a 7-5 record this year, including wins over Mississippi, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Georgia. They lost their last regular season game 17-12 at Tennessee. The Wildcats are led on offense by quarterback Andrew Woodson who ranks 15th in the nation in passing efficiency and 13th in total offense. He leads the SEC in total offense with 258.4 yards per game. Keenan Burton is the top receiver with six receptions per game, good enough for 14th in the nation. He is also 15th in reception yards per game with an 83.8 average. Wesley Woodyard leads the defense with 9.2 tackles per game, 22nd best in the nation.

Clemson enters the Music City Bowl with an 8-4 record. The Tigers were 5-3 in the ACC and finished second in the Atlantic Division behind ACC Champion Wake Forest. The Tigers defeated both teams played in the ACC Championship game, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, by double digits. The Tigers rank ninth in the nation in scoring offense, 13th in total offense, 12th in total defense and 15th in scoring defense. Clemson and Ohio State are the only teams in the nation ranked in the top 15 in the nation in all four of those major team categories and this is the first time Clemson has ranked in the top 15 in all four of those categories in the same year since 1978.

The Tigers had four first-team All-ACC players on offense in running back James Davis, wide receiver Chansi Stuckey and offensive linemen Barry Richardson and Nathan Bennett. Running back Dustin Fry.

Davis led Clemson in rushing with 1134 yards and an ACC best 17 touchdowns. He had 216 yards rushing in a victory over Georgia Tech in October and was named the National Offensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Foundation. Spiller was Clemson’s most effective rusher at the end of the year as he had consecutive 150-yard rushing games, including a 155-yard game against South Carolina on just 10 carries. He set a Clemson record for touchdowns by a freshman with 12 and 100-yard rushing games (5) and was name a freshman All-American by Rivals.com.

Stuckey was the top receiver for the Tigers with 45 catches for 607 yards in nine games. He missed three games with a broken foot. Will Proctor is the Clemson quarterback. Ranked second in the ACC in passing efficiency with a 135 figure, his career efficiency of 136.5 is first in Clemson history. He has been Clemson’s starter in every game this year as a red-shirt senior.

Clemson’s defense is led by first-team All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Year Gaines Adams. The senior from Greenwood, SC leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the nation in sacks with 10.5 Linebacker Nick Watkins is the team’s top tackler with 108, while safety Chris Clemons had 98.

This will be Clemson’s 29th appearance in a bowl game, the seventh in eight years under head coach Tommy Bowden. Clemson has a 15-13 all-time record in bowl games. The Clemson program is 17th on the all-time list in bowl game victories. The Tigers have won each of their last two bowl games, a 27-13 win over Tennessee in the 2003 Chick-Fil-A Bowl and a 19-10 win in the 2005 Champs Sports Bowl.

Clemson’s 2006 senior class can become the first Tiger class to win three bowl games since the seniors of 1990 had a 4-0 bowl record if the Tigers defeat Kentucky.