Dantzler Dazzles Maryland As Tigers Win, 42-30

Oct. 16, 1999

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) – Woodrow Dantzler amassed a school-record 435 yards of offense, including 183 on the ground, and Clemson used a 21-point run in the second half Saturday to beat Maryland for the seventh straight time, 42-30.

Dantzler, who replaced injured starter Brandon Streeter two weeks ago, also set a Clemson record for rushing yardage by a quarterback. His total yardage broke the mark of 374 yards set in 1947 by Bobby Gage.

Clemson (3-3, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) never trailed after Travis Zachery scored on a 13-yard run to make it 28-24 midway through the third quarter. Bernard Rambert then scored twice from inside the 5 to help the Tigers to pull away.

LaMont Jordan ran for career-highs of 177 yards and four touchdowns for the Terrapins (4-2, 1-2), who put on a rare offensive show against Clemson but still came up short.

Clemson won its previous six games against Maryland by a combined 137-12 score. The Terrapins, blanked in four of those games, needed only 19 minutes to put up 14 points against a young defense that starts four sophomores.

Dantzler, however, had little difficulty generating enough offense to overcome Jordan and the Terrapins. When the 5-foot-11 sophomore wasn’t bobbing and weaving through the Maryland defense, he passed the ball with surprising ease.

Dantzler went 16-for-23 for 252 yards. His longest completion, a 44-yarder to Rod Gardner, set up Zachery’s 13-yard TD run.

The first half, which featured five touchdowns and 435 yards of offense, ended with Clemson clinging to a 21-17 lead.

Jordan capped Maryland’s first possession with a 4-yard touchdown run, but the Tigers responded with an 80-yard drive in which Dantzler went 3-for-3 in the air and scored on a 23-yard run.

An 11-yard touchdown run by Zachery put Clemson up 14-7. The Terrapins came right back to tie it on a 49-yard run down the right sideline by Jordan, who was fortunate to gain control of the ball after a Clemson player deflected the pitchout.

Clemson then moved 88 yards to take a 21-14 lead midway through the second quarter. Dantzler started the march with a 46-yard run and also completed a 23-yard pass on third-and-2.

Maryland went ahead for the last time by taking the second-half kickoff and moving 80 yards in only 70 seconds. Calvin McCall completed two passes for 60 yards before Jordan scored on a 17-yard run.