Clemson vs. N.C. State Football Postgame Notes

Sept. 22, 2007

Clemson vs. NC State Postgame Notes September 22, 2007 Carter Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC

*Clemson improved to 4-0 with today’s win, the first time Clemson has been 4-0 since 2000, but just the second time since 1989. This is Clemson’s 12th season with a 4-0 start, just the fifth since 1958.

*Cullen Harper now has won his first four games as a starting quarterback. He is the first Clemson QB to win his first four games as a starter since Chris Morocco won his first five over the 1988 and 1989 seasons.

*With the win, Clemson won its fourth straight game over NC State. In doing so, the senior class became just the fifth in school history to sweep NC State four straight times. Other Clemson senior classes that have done so were the seniors on the 1951 team, the 1984 team and the 1985 team. The win was also Clemson’s second straight victory in Raleigh of at least 20 points.

*Clemson’s victory was also its first against current NC State head coach Tom O’Brien. The Tigers had previously lost to O’Brien’s Boston College teams in 2005 and 2006, both in overtime.

*Clemson had 608 yards of total offense, its high figure ever against NC State and the most ever by the Tigers in an ACC road game. The previous record for both was 567 yards by the Tigers against NC State in 2001. It was the second most yards in Clemson history in any road game. The record is 615 yards by the Tigers at Georgia Tech in 1903. Clemson’s coach that day was John Heisman. So, this was the most yards by the Tigers in a road game since John Heisman was the Clemson coach.

*Clemson is now 50-0-1 in its history when gaining at least 500 yards of total offense. The only non-victory came in a tie against Virginia in 1991. Clemson is now 104-3-1 when rushing for at least 300 yards.

*Clemson had at least 200 yards rushing and at least 200 yards passing. Clemson is now 47-0-1 in its history when he gets at least 200 of each.

*Overall Clemson’s 608 yards of total offense ranks tied for fourth in Clemson history. The record is 756 by the Tigers against Wake Forest in 1981.

*Clemson had 340 yards rushing today, its high total since the Tigers had 393 against Louisiana Tech just last year. But it was the most for the Tigers in an ACC game since Clemson had 436 against Wake Forest in 2000. It was the most in an ACC road game since Clemson had 402 at Virginia in 1992.

*Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper established a Clemson record for consecutive passes without an interception at the start of a career when he threw his first two passes without a pick. It game him 93 consecutive passes without an interception, breaking Nealon Greene’s record of 92 at the start of a career. Greene played between 1994-97.

He set another record by the end of the game. He threw 39 passes today without an interception, giving him 130 without an interception. The Clemson record streak for passes without an interception was 122 by Rodney Williams in 1988.

*Harper threw one touchdown pass within his first nine passes today. That gave him 13 career touchdown passes for his first 100 career pass attempts. That is a Clemson record, breaking the mark of nine TD passes within the first 100 attempts for Charlie Whitehurst in 2002. He finished the day with two TD passes and now has 12 touchdowns and no interceptions this season.

*James Davis caught a three-yard scoring pass in the first half from Cullen Harper. It was his 30th career touchdown, but his first receiving touchdown. He added a rushing score in the second half and now has 31 career touchdowns. He is now tied for third in Clemson history in career touchdowns with Fred Cone. Travis Zachery has the record with 50 between 1998-01. Davis had a touchdown rushing and a touchdown receiving today, the first time in his career he has had one of each in the same game.

*C.J. Spiller had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the first half. It is the second time in his career he has had a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown in the same game. He also accomplished the feat last year in a victory over Georgia Tech.

*C.J. Spiller and James Davis both scored on pass receptions out of the backfield today. It is the first time two different running backs have scored a touchdown on a pass reception in the same game since the 2001 Clemson at NC State game when Travis Zachery and Chad Jasmin both caught scoring passes from Woodrow Dantzler.

*James Davis went over the 100-yard mark today, the ninth time in his career he has done that, but the first time in a day game. Davis had 166 yards rushing for the day and now has 2,460 for his career. He moved into seventh place, ahead of Ray Yaugers on Clemson’s all-time rushing list.

*Michael Hamlin returned a two-point conversion attempt for a score for the Tigers, the first time in history Clemson has scored two points defensively on an opponent’s conversion attempt.

*Clemson had over 200 yards rushing today and is now 29-1 under Tommy Bowden when it gets at least 200 yards rushing. It was the first time this season that the Tigers had rushed for over 200 yards in a game as they totaled 340 for the day.

*C.J. Spiller also netted over 100 yards rushing, the first time this season and sixth time in his career that he has done so. Davis and Spiller both had over 100 yards in the same game for the second time in their careers. Davis had 216 and Spiller 116 in the win over Georgia Tech last year.

*Chris Chancellor had a diving interception in the first quarter, his first career interception. Michael Hamlin also had a diving interception in the first quarter, his second of the year, his sixth of his career. Hamlin now has three takeaways in the last two games, two interceptions and one fumble recovery. He now has six career interceptions and three fumble recoveries for nine career takeaways. Chris Clemons intercepted a pass in Saturday’s game as well, his second in as many games and the third of his career. Clemons ran the pass back for 31 yards, the longest return of his career, bettering his previous best of 18 yards set last week against Furman.

*Mark Buchholz, who played for the Clemson men’s soccer team against #1 ranked Wake Forest on Friday night at Clemson, had a 46-yard field goal in the first half, the longest of his career. He converted four field goals in the game. Jad Dean was the last Clemson kick to make at least four in a single game when he was 4-for-4 in the Tigers’ win over Maryland on Nov. 4, 2006.

*Clemson had 367 yards of total offense in the first half, just 10 less than it had against Furman last week for the entire game.

*Ricky Sapp recorded two sacks against the Wolfpack on Saturday. They were his first sacks of the season and marked the first time in his career that he had multiple sacks in a single game. Of his six career sacks, three have come against NC State as he had one in last year’s contest as well.

*Tramaine Billie has now recorded 22 total tackles against NC State over his career. Billie recorded 10 in 2004, seven in 2005 and five today. Nick Watkins also added four tackles to his total against the Wolfpack on Saturday and now boasts 38 against NC State.