Dantzler Dazzling Again

Oct. 15, 2001

Complete Dantzler Records And Stats

Updated Dantzler Bio

Clemson quarterback’s performance in the Tigers 45-37 victory in Raleigh last week is hard to put into words. It was the greatest combination of rushing and passing for a Clemson football player in history and ranks among the best in college football history.

How can we make such a statement? A look to the NCAA record book tells us that only one player in one game has ever had at least 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing in the same game. Washington’s Marques Tuiasosopo had 302 yards passing and 207 rushing against Stanford on October 30 ,1999, the only player in history to achieve the 300/200 in the same game.

Last week, Dantzler passed for 333 and 184 net yards rushing. Had it not been for two sacks in the second quarter, one of 13 yards and another of 11, Dantzler would have joined Tuiasosopo in that exclusive club. As it was, Dantzler’s performance was the fifth best in ACC history in terms of total offense, and a Clemson record. The ACC mark is 554 yards of total offense by Rusty LaRue for Wake Forest against NC State in 1995.

Dantzler did more than just pick up yardage, he led the Tigers to six touchdowns. He ran for two and passed for four, and the six touchdowns combined broke the Clemson single game record that had stood since 1947. Dantzler tied the Clemson single game record for touchdown passes in a single game, a mark he now co-owns with his backup, Willie Simmons.

It was Dantzler’s top passing game as a Tiger, and in many ways the best by any Clemson quarterback. The graduate student from Orangeburg, SC completed 23-27 passes for 333 yards and four touchdowns. His passing efficiency rating of 237.6 was a Clemson record for a minimum of 20 attempts. His stats included a 79-yard pass to freshman Airese Currie, the longest pass play for the Tigers in five years.

Dantzler achieved the 517 yards of total offense one game and two weeks after gaining 418 yards in Clemson’s thrilling 47-44 win over a ninth ranked Georgia Tech team in Atlanta. Obviously it is the top total offense figure for consecutive games in Clemson history.

Here is a list of Clemson Records Dantzler Set in the win at NC State *Single game passing efficiency (Min 20 attempts) — 237.58 *Single game total offense — 517 yards (333 passing, 184 rushing) *Single game touchdown responsibility – 6 *Tied single game touchdown passes – 4 *Single game completion percentage (min 20 attempts) — .851 *Career total offense – 6874 *Career total offense vs. same team – 1127 vs. NC State

Dantzler Stats Similar to Ward Heisman Numbers Woodrow Dantzler received rave reviews for his performance against NC State on October 13th.

N.C. State strongside linebacker Brandon Jamison told The State Newspaper, “He has got to be one of the best athletes in America…That is why he is up for the Heisman. The man can run. He can pass. He has moves. He has speed. He can break tackles. There is nothing bad you can say about him.”

During the broadcast on Jefferson Pilot television, guest commentator and legendary former ACC coach Bill Dooley remarked, “If I had him as a quarterback, I’d get back into coaching.” Another person who was impressed was NC State coach Chuck Amato. “I had the fortune to be around Charlie Ward (at Florida State, 1992-93) and Dantzler has more athletic ability. He is their football team. He’s their inspiration.

“He put on a display out there today that I don’t know if we’ll ever see again in this stadium. I hope not by an opposing quarterback. I can’t imagine a better player in the country in America. We must have set a record for missed tackles on him.”

Ward, now the starting point guard for the NBA’s New York Knicks, won the Heisman Trophy in 1993 when he led Florida State to the national championship and a 12-1 record. He did so with an all-around game as he had the ability to run as well as pass.

Dantzler has had similar success as a runner and passer this year. A look to the stats shows that Dantzler is ahead of Ward’s pace in total offense/game, touchdown responsibility per game, rushing yards per game. They have similar stats in passing efficiency and completion percentage.

Dantzler Ranked in Top 25 in Five Categories Woodrow Dantzler is ranked in the top 25 in the nation in five different statistical categories, including second in two important areas. The Tiger signal caller who now owns 30 school records is second in the country in total offense, second in completion percentage, sixth in scoring responsibility, 12th in passing effiency and 25th in rushing. That’s right, 25th in rushing. Dantzler is the only player in the nation ranked in the top 25 of both passing efficiency and rushing.

Dantzler trails only Florida quarterback Rex Grossman in passing efficiency and is second only to Wes Counts of Middle Tennessee State in completion percentage. Counts is 114-159 so far this year for a 71.7 completion percentage. Dantzler has hit on 102-148 for a 68.92 percentage.

Dantzler has gained 516 yards on the ground for an average of 103.2 yards per game. He is second among quarterbacks nationally on a per game basis to Keith Boyea of Air Force, who has averaged 111 yards per game through five contests.

No Clemson player has ever ranked in the top 25 in the nation in five different categories for the course of the season. Dantzler was 21st in passing efficiency and 25th in scoring responsibility last year. Keith Adams (1999), Tony Horne (1997), Nelson Welch (1992) and Chris Gardocki (1989) are the only players to rank in the top 25 in three different areas in the same year. Dantzler is trying to become the first Clemson quarterback to rank in the top 25 in the country in total offense since Steve Fuller finished 21st in 1978.

Dantzler on Pace for 2000/1000 Season Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler has averaged 343 yards per game in terms of total offense, second in the nation as listed above. That is over 100 yards per game ahead of his own Clemson single season pace of 241.6 yards per game set last year.

As he has done in the past, Dantzler is doing it with balance between the running game and the passing game. He has 516 yards rushing and 1199 passing for 1715 total. That is an average of 103.2 yards per game rushing and 239.8 yards per game passing. That is a pace to reach 2638 yards passing and 1135 yards rushing for the course of an 11-game season.

If Dantzler can keep the pace up he would become the first quarterback in Division I college football history to have 2000 yards passing and 1000 yards rushing in the same season. He had 947 rushing and 1691 passing last season during the regular season. If he is to achieve the distinction he will have to do it in the regular season as NCAA records do not count bowl games.

The closest to achieve the milestone is Brian Mitchell of Lousiana-Lafayette, who had 1311 rushing and 1966 passing in 1989.

Healthy Dantzler Means Success for Clemson Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler is running a little ahead of his record pace of 2000 before he suffered a lower leg injury. Dantzler was among he leading contenders for the Heisman Trophy and ranked in the top 25 in the nation in passing and rushing at this time last year. Then he suffered an injury at North Carolina. After averaging over 300 yards a game in total offense for the first seven games, he had three straight games of less than 100 yards, as he played limited time in games eight, nine and 10.

Now healthy again, Dantzler has run off five straight games of at least 200 yards total offense, including three in a row of at least 300. He has gotten better and better each week this year and has increased his total offense figure by nearly 100 yards each of the last two weeks. That will be a challenge this week, as a 100-yard increase over last week would mean a 600 yard game. That won’t happen against a defense as sound as North Carolina’s.

Still, it is interesting to note that Clemson has won 12 of its last 13 games with a healthy Dantzler in the lineup. That dates back to the last game of the 1999 regular season, a win at South Carolina. He played sparingly in the loss to Mississippi State in the 1999 Peach Bowl. The Tigers went 7-0 with a healthy Dantzler to open last year and are 4-1 with a healthy #1 this year.

That computes to a 12-1 record. The only loss a 26-24 defeat to Virginia when the Cavaliers scored on the last play of the game. He has been very productive in those 13 games, averaging 313.2 yards a game in total offense, 104 per game on the ground and 209.2 through the air. He has been very consistent in those 13 games, recording at least 250 yards of total offense in 11 games and accounting for at least two touchdowns in all but one of the contests. He has accounted for 37 touchdowns in those 13 games rushing and passing.

Dantzler Reaches 4000/2000 mark Now Owns 30 Clemson Records Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler became the first quarterback in ACC history to pass for 4000 yards and rush for 2000 when he had his 517 yard total offense game at NC State. He needed just 57 yards rushing in that game to do it and he shattered the barrier with 184 yards on the ground.

Including bowl games, Dantzler has 2216 rushing and 4658 passing in his four-year career. So far this season, Dantzler has 516 yards rushing and 1199 passing for 1715 total, an average of 343 yards per game in total offense. He ranks first in the conference in total offense per game and is second in the nation. Additionally, he is first in the ACC in passing efficiency and is third in rushing.

The graduate student has connected on nearly 69 percent of his passes this year, a record pace, and is now at 58.9 percent for his career, also best in school history.

Dantzler became Clemson’s all-time leader in total offense with his performance at Tech and now has 6874 career yards, ahead of the previous record held by Nealon Greene.

Dantzler also has jumped into the lead in terms of career passing efficiency. His big game against Georgia Tech boosted his efficiency rating to 133.43, best in school history by a couple of percentage points.

Dantzler on Clemson career Records ListsRank/Category/Figure Left for Record *1st, quarterback rushing (2216) has record *1st, completion percentage (.589) has record *1st in touchdown responsibility (52) has record *1st in total offense (6874) has record *1st in passing efficiency (133.43) has record *2nd in interception avoidance (2.62) 2.55 percent *2nd in total plays (1082) 77 plays *2nd in completions (359) 100 completions *2nd in passing yards (4658) 1064 yards *3rd in touchdown passes (29) 7 TD passes

Clemson Records Held by Dantzler (30)Single Game (8) *Touchdown Responsibility-6 vs. NC State, 2001 *Total Offense-517 vs. NC State, 2001 *Completion % (Min 20 attempts)–.851 vs. NC State, 2001 *Completion % (Min 15 attempts)–.941 vs. The Citadel 2000 *Yards rushing by a quarterback-220 vs. Virginia, 2000 *Passing Efficiency (Min 15 attempts)-247.2 vs. The Citadel, 2000 *Passing Efficiency (Min 20 attempts)-237.6 vs. NC State, 2001 *Touchdown Passes-4 vs. NC State, 2001

Season (13) *Total offense-2899, (2000) *Quarterback rushing-1028, (2000) *100-yard rushing games by a quarterback-4 (2000) *Touchdowns rushing and passing-24 (2000) *200-yard total offense games-9 (2000) *300-yard total offense games-4 (2000) *Consecutive 200-yard total offense games-7 (2000) *Consecutive games throwing a TD pass-6 (2000) *100-yard rushing, 300-yard total offense games-4 (2000) *Most yards rushing in series of 3 games-520 (2000) *Most yards rushing in series of 4 games-623 (2000) *Most total offense/game in season–241.6 (2000) *Most total offense plays in season-434 (2000)

Career (9) *Completion percentage in career–.589 *Career passing efficiency-133.4 *Total offense–6874 *Yards rushing by a quarterback in a career–2216 *100-yard rushing games by a quarterback-8 *Most total offense/game in career-214.8 *Most 300-yard total offense games in career–8 *Most 100-yard rushing, 300-yard total offense games in a career-8 *Most touchdowns rushing and passing in a career–52

Dantzler Named National Player of the Week Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler was named National Player of the Week by USA Today.com for his performance against Georgia Tech. Dantzler gained 418 yards of total offense in Clemson’s 47-44 victory at Atlanta, 164 rushing and 254 passing. He ran for two scores and threw for two. His 11-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw on the last play of overtime gave the Tigers the victory.

It marked the first time a Clemson player had won the National Player of the Week from USA Today.com. Dantzler was also the ACC Player of the Week according to the site, the third time in three years he has won that honor. He was the ACC Player of the Week according to the site in 1999 for his 435-yard performance against Maryland, and in 2000 when he led the Tigers to a 62-9 win over Missouri.

Dantzler was named National Player of the Week in 2000 by cnnsi.com for his performance at Virginia. He had 220 yards rushing, an all-time ACC record for a quarterback, and 154 passing in Clemson’s 31-10 win over the Cavs.

Dantzler is the first Tiger in history to be named a National Player of the Week twice. A Clemson player has been named National Player of the week 10 times in history, including Dantzler’s performance last week. Here is a listing: