Give Him Five! Dantzler Accounts For Five TD’s In Clemson’s 59-31 Win Over Duke

Dec 1, 2001

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By PETE IACOBELLIAP Sports Writer

CLEMSON, S.C. – Woodrow Dantzler had a hand in five touchdowns and ran for 135 yards to become the first NCAA player to pass for 2,000 yards and run for 1,000 in a season as Clemson beat Duke 59-31 Saturday, the Blue Devils’ 23rd straight loss.

Dantzler needed 131 yards on the ground to reach 1,000 for the second consecutive season for Clemson (6-5, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). He hit the 2,000-1,000 milestone with a sweeping 18-yard touchdown run in the third quarter as fans at Death Valley chanted “Woo-dy! Woo-dy!”

He was swarmed by teammates on the sidelines, then lifted on their shoulders. He had a big smile and held his helmet in the air as the crowd stood and cheered.

Meanwhile, Duke (0-8 ACC) ended 0-11 for the second straight season and left head coach Carl Franks 3-30 in three years at his alma mater. Its losing streak, the nation’s longest, tied Northern Illinois for seventh all time.

Dantzler, who was 12-of-20 for 243 yards passing and four touchdowns, finished the year with 2,360 yards through the air. He left to a second standing ovation a series after his achievement, people cheering, “Way to go Woody, way to go,” over and over.

And there could be more for Dantzler this year, although postseason stats won’t count toward his feat. The victory made Clemson bowl eligible, with a trip to Orlando, Fla., for the Tangerine the most likely possibility.

Tangerine Bowl executive Dylan Thomas said a decision between North Carolina State (7-4) and the Tigers would come Sunday.

Travis Zachery ran for three touchdowns and caught one, while freshman Roscoe Crosby – a second-round draft pick of the Kansas City Royals last spring – had his best game of the year with TD catches of 47 and 58 yards.

Duke looked ready to hand Clemson it’s fourth straight loss at Death Valley when quarterback D. Bryant threw a 69-yard pass to Ben Erdeljac and a 9-yard score to Khary Sharpe to lead 7-0 with less than two minutes gone.

But Clemson scored 31 points the next 15 minutes to end the drama.

Dantzler started with a 39-yard TD pass to J.J. McKelvey to tie the game on the Tigers’ first drive. Zachery ran through safety Anthony Roberts for a 52-yard touchdown. Dantzler threw to Zachery for a 22-yard score and, a series later, hooked up with Crosby for a 47-yard touchdown to lead 31-10 with 13:29 left before halftime.

Before reaching 2,000-1,000, Dantzler topped Nealon Greene’s single-season passing mark of 2,212. Dantzler’s 37 career touchdown passes are two better than Greene.

Duke had hoped for one last chance to put together a winning effort in the game rescheduled from Sept. 15 after terrorist attacks on the United States. But little went right for the Blue Devils here, who gave up 50 points for the fourth time in five games.

Bryant hit on only 16 of 41 passes in the first half. Two Duke drives in Clemson territory were stopped by interceptions. When Ronnie Hamilton looked like he would score for the Blue Devils on a 64-yard punt return in the third quarter, he got jammed up by teammate Kyle Moore and was caught on the Tigers 13.

The drive ended two plays later with Clemson’s Nick Eason recovering Bryant’s fumble.

Duke trailed 52-10 before three fourth-quarter TDs closed the gap.