Clemson vs. Kentucky Game Notes

Dec. 18, 2006

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Clemson-Kentucky Series Notes

Kentucky holds a 7-4 advantage in the series with Clemson, but the Tigers have won two of the last three. Kentucky won the last regular-season meeting 26-7 in 1985, but Clemson won the meeting in the Peach Bowl 14-13 in Atlanta in 1993. Clemson won the regular-season meetings in 1981 and 1982, a two-year home-and-home series.

The first meeting took place in 1925 and the Wildcats won in Lexington 19-6. The first six games of the series were played in Lexington, and Kentucky won five of the six. The greatest upset in the series took place in 1929 when Kentucky defeated a 6-0 Tiger squad 44-6 in Lexington.

In the 1985 game, Clemson had seven turnovers, including four fumbles and three interceptions. It tied for the most turnovers by a Danny Ford-coached Clemson team in his 11 years as head coach. The Tigers gained just 230 yards of total offense that October 5 night in Lexington, while Kentucky had 309 yards. Reserve quarterback Kevin Dooley completed 15-23 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown to place the Wildcat offense, while Joe Worley kicked four field goals. Brian Williams returned a punt 57 yards for a score as well.

Ray Williams provided the only spark for Clemson on offense with a 25-yard run for a thirdquarter touchdown. Randy Anderson and Rodney Williams, Clemsonâ^TMs young quarterbacks, completed just 10-24 passes for 92 yards. Clemson dropped to 1-3 with the loss, then Ford moved Williams, a freshman, into the starting lineup the next week against Virginia. Williams went on to win 32 games as the starting quarterback, most in ACC history.

Clemson defeated Kentucky in 1982 at Clemson by a 24-6 score and in 1981, Clemsonâ^TMs National Championship season, by a 21-3 score. Cliff Austin scored three touchdowns and ran for 116 yards on the ground to pace the offense to the 1982 win. Mike Eppley made his first career start and completed 9-13 passes for 95 yards.

Kentucky stymied the Clemson offense for the first half in 1981 and led 3-0 at halftime. But the Tigers stormed back for 21 second-half points behind touchdowns by Kevin Mack, Homer Jordan, and Chuck McSwain. Clemson held Kentucky to 97 second-half yards. The Tigers ran their record to 4- 0 with the win and moved into the top 10 in the polls for the first time since 1959 after the victory.