Hill Watch...15 days!!!

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2008 History lesson reprise:

Aug 20, 2023, 7:55 AM [ in reply to 15 years ago ]

2008: Barack Obama is elected the first black President in US history, defeating Republican nominee John McCain. This was hailed worldwide as THE news story of 2008. McCain had chosen a woman, former Alaska governor and beauty pageant winner Sarah Palin as his running mate. This led to no end of skits on the popular “Saturday Night Live” TV show, where Tina Fey played Palin to perfection.

Also high on the world news list was China hosting their first ever Olympic Games in Beijing. China also made the news in a spectacularly bad way when a huge earthquake killed over 70,000 people in the Sichuan province, also leaving over 5 million people homeless. A “Bird Flu” outbreak kills over 100 people, and forces a quick ramp-up of production of Bird Flu specific vaccines. Terrorists made world news again, as a Pakistan based terrorist group killed 160 people and injured over 300 in attacks in Mumbai, India.

There was a whole lot of parity in ACC football in 2008. Virginia Tech won the title despite only going 5-3 in the Coastal Division. They defeated Boston College, who won the Atlantic Division, also with a 5-3 conference mark. The Hokies would ultimately finish the season at 10-4, ranked 14th in the UPI, and 15th in the AP, winning a 20-7 Orange Bowl over No. 12 Cincinnati. BC would finish the season unranked, as a result of losing to Vanderbilt (!) 16-14 in the Music City Bowl. Other ranked ACC teams were 21st Florida State, and 22nd Georgia Tech, both at 9-5 on the year.

National Champions for 2008 were the 13-1 Florida Gators of Coach Urban Meyer. They were led by junior QB Tim Tebow, who was now firmly in command of Florida's RPO offense. Their only defeat came in the third game of the season, an upset 31-30 loss to Ole Miss. Tebow was so upset after this loss that he made his famous speech, vowing that the Gators would play up to their potential the rest of the way, with him leading the way. He, and the rest of the team lived up to it. They defeated then No. 1 ranked Alabama 31-20 in the SEC Championship Game, and then took down No. 2 Oklahoma 24-14 in the Orange Bowl / BCS Championship Game to win the Natty.

At Clemson, the outlook going into the 2008 season was far different for Willy Korn than 2007. He had suffered a broken collarbone in mop up duty against Furman early in the previous year, effectively ending his season. This news was kept under wraps for the most part, as Tommy Bowden did not want opposing teams knowing that we were one bad hit on Cullen Harper away from being down to our 3rd string quarterback. Korn quietly received a medical redshirt. Although he was ready to go at the start of 2008, Cullen Harper returned for his senior season, and was the starter. Willy Korn was content to be the backup at this point, staying out of the spotlight. A talented two sport athlete named Kyle Parker was now also in the mix at QB.

This team had loads of offensive skill position talent, as senior James Davis and junior CJ Spiller returned as Thunder and Lightning, and a talented freshman named Jamie Harper was also on the scene at running back. Tyler Grisham, Jacoby Ford, and Aaron Kelly manned the wide receiver positions, and Michael Palmer was a fine Tight End. The Tigers were also stacked defensively, having gotten the No. 1 recruit in the nation, DaQuan Bowers, to go along with Jarvis Jenkins and Ricky Sapp on the D-Line. Deandre McDaniel and Brandon Maye were also on this roster. Seniors Michael Hamlin and Chris Clemons led a defensive back group that included six future NFL picks. In all, there were 22 players on this 2008 roster that would eventually go on to be NFL draft picks. With this much talent around, there was great anticipation for the season, even after the disappointing way 2007 ended. 2008 was finally going to be our year.

The Pollsters agreed, and we started out the season with a lofty No. 9 ranking, to face a No. 24 ranked Alabama team under 2nd year Head Coach Nick Saban. This was THE marque game to open the season, the “Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game”. College Gameday was on hand for the beginning of the Clemson Coronation at the Georgia Dome. Instead, the national audience saw Nick Saban's Tide just totally humiliate the Tigers, taking an easy 34-10 win. The term “Clemsoning” was now being heard weekly, accompanied by snide jokes and chuckles. At Clemson, we had seen this movie before, and nobody was the least bit happy about seeing it again.

Dropped down to No. 22 for the home opener, we rebounded for an as expected 45-17 rout of The Citadel on Military Appreciation Day. But, even there, no one was happy about a defense with our potential giving up 17 points to The Citadel. The Pollsters agreed, as they dropped us one spot down to No. 23, for a 27-9 noon victory in the Valley over the eventual last place in the Atlantic Division Wolfpack of NC State on “Hall of Fame” Day. Our 3rd straight game at home for the now 21st ranked Tigers was a gimme 54-0 win over SC State on Youth Day. We would get bumped up to No. 19 for the last game of the home stand against the Maryland Terrapins.

Maryland beat four ranked teams in 2008, and yet finished the season with a 4-4 conference mark, and an 8-5 overall record. In other words, they were playing just as inconsistent as we were. Clemson rushed out to a 17-6 lead at halftime. But, despite James Davis rushing for 126 yards total, we did not score in the 2nd half, and allowed two touchdowns on defense, as Maryland took a 20-17 lead with over ten minutes to go in the 4th quarter.

Clemson could not manage enough of a drive to even kick a field goal that would have tied the game. The game really came down to a 4th and a foot from the Maryland 40 with 5 minutes remaining. The Tigers came up short on the QB sneak by Cullen Harper, on a debatable spot of the football. Tommy Bowden challenged, but the play was upheld. The Terps took over, and were able to mount a drive that killed the remaining time in the game. The sight of the Maryland team gathering in the corner of the end zone to celebrate in Death Valley was enough to sicken even the stoutest of Clemson fans.

Next up, Wake Forest on the road, a 7:45 ESPN game. The TV audience watched a Clemson team get totally shut down on offense, despite all the talent on the field. The Tigers could only dent the scoreboard once. Wake actually dominated the game in the stats, but were not able to capitalize until Riley Skinner hit DJ Bolden for a touchdown with 5:28 to go in the game to take the lead, and ultimately win by a score of 12-7. The Clemsoning jokes were now in full flight, and I, as an Alumnus and huge football fan, was literally sick to my stomach.

I, and about 10,000 of my contemporaries, had had enough. I sat down at my computer, in the dead of night after the end of the game that Thursday night, and penned a long, impassioned electronic letter to Clemson University President James F. Barker, and Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips. The plea was simple. A change HAD to be made at the Head Coaching position. We were the laughingstock of all of college football, the fallback funny line if there was need of one. Our once proud football history was in shambles, and we were being mocked outright on national TV, again and again.

I like to believe that it was my email that pushed things over the top, because on Monday October 13, 2008, news began to circulate that Tommy Bowden had resigned as Clemson's football coach. I cried no tears for him, as he was being given a four million dollar parachute to soften his landing in the unemployment line. I had barely even heard of this Dabo Swinney guy who was being given the reigns as Interim Coach. But, as young as he was, it was obvious that AD Terry Don Phillips saw something special in him, since he had never even been any kind of coordinator, other than recruiting coordinator.

Interim Coach Swinney raised some eyebrows when his first “hit the ground running” move was to immediately fire Offensive Coordinator Rob Spence. AD Phillips had told Swinney to BE the Head Coach for the next six weeks, and whatever direction he wanted to take the program, he would back him up. So, Coach Swinney quickly set about trying to instill some sense of order into the chaos that swirled in the immediate aftermath of Tommy Bowden's sudden departure.

We had six more games to play in the season, and more immediately, had Georgia Tech coming to town in less than a week. His very first move, that would later become a rallying cry for all future Clemson teams, was to hold a team meeting, where he challenged his players to be “All-In” for the rest of the season. He promised to honor their scholarship if they wanted to leave the team and remain in school, but if they were going to continue to play football, he would accept nothing less than their maximum effort and dedication to their teammates. Not a single man decided to leave.

Coach Swinney instituted some other, simple, team bonding type things, such as The Tiger Walk, and the linked arms walk on the field before each game. The FairyTale ending would have the team rising up and defeating Georgia Tech in that next game. But, reality was different, as Tech held on late to take a 21-17 win. One change that Coach Swinney made was doomed immediately, as Willy Korn got the start at QB, but 14 plays into the game, he was injured on a play where he literally almost got his arm taken off by a Tech defender, tearing his labrum, and ending his season. So, the team awkwardly had to go right back to Cullen Harper, who had just lost his starting job. He played well under the circumstances, and even though the game was lost, the team did look different to me. If nothing else, we played with a little more discipline, a little more purpose. Penalties had KILLED us at some key points of games under Tommy Bowden. Dabo Swinney would preach about in-game discipline, and avoiding penalties with the ardor of a tent revival minister.

So, after seven games, in a season which started with such high hopes, Clemson sat at 3-4, ACC title dreams gone, and post season dreams of any kind a bet that Vegas would probably stay away from. CJ Spiller had been injured in the Wake Forest debacle, but he vowed to his coach that he would be back for the next game at Boston College. Luckily, we had a bye week after the Georgia Tech game, giving him an extra week to get healthy. Spiller would later say that he alternated between being embarrassed and angry at the fact that the team had played so poorly that they had cost their Head Coach his job.

The Clemson and Boston College administrations had gotten together and created a trophy named after two greats from their respective pasts, The O'Rourke-McFadden Trophy, that would be awarded annually to the winner of this game. It would become known as “The Leather Helmet Game” to most fans. At Chestnut Hill, Clemson played some inspired football in the beginning, using long plays by CJ Spiller and James Davis to jump out to a 17-0 lead in the 1st half.

But, BC would come out playing some inspired defense of their own in the 2nd half. A pass interception and run set them up on the Clemson 7 yard line. They punched it in, 17-7. Later they blocked a punt and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown, 17-14. Another interception late in the game eventually led to a 16 yard TD pass from Chris Crane to Brandon Robinson, and BC took a 21–17 lead. Were we looking at another Tommy Bowden type late game collapse? CJ Spiller was determined it was not going to happen. GA turned Interim Wide Receivers Coach Jeff Scott had already been told by Coach Swinney that if he got the permanent Head Coaching job, he would be the permanent WR coach. Coach Scott remembers telling Coach Swinney when BC took the lead, “These next few minutes are probably going to determine our coaching futures for the next 10 or 15 years.”

BC had been kicking away from CJ Spiller most of the game, but he got his hands on the ensuing kickoff, and returned it 64 yards to set up the Clemson offense on the BC 15 yard line. A 4 yard TD pass from Harper to Aaron Kelly later gave Clemson the lead back, and a later fumble recovery and field goal by the Tigers provided the final 27-21 victory margin for Dabo Swinney's 1st ever win as a Head Coach, and a Trophy to go along with it.

No. 24 Florida State took down the Tigers 41-27 in Tallahassee, as Pappa Bowden wasn't happy about his son losing his job. But, Clemson came up winners 31-7 over Duke in the Valley, and 13-3 over Virginia on the road, to set up the season finale in Death Valley against South Carolina for some high drama. The team had shown improvement, and that they were responding to the leadership of their Interim Coach. But, the name of the game in coaching is wins and losses in big time college football. Clemson was not going to hire a Head Coach based on “moral victories”. Also, Clemson needed a win to become bowl eligible, as only one of our two “cupcake” wins could count towards bowl eligibility.

South Carolina came into the game at 7-4, and looking to win to go to a better bowl. Also, they had been totally destroyed 56-6 in The Swamp by Steve Spurrier's old school, Florida, in their last game, and since they had a bye week the next week, Spurrier had two long weeks to fume about that loss. Adding another element of interest, this was the 100th consecutive meeting between the schools.

South Carolina had a Smelley quarterback, Chris Smelley, that is. The teams traded turnovers to start the game, a CJ Spiller lost fumble being offset by a Clemson interception of a long Chris Smelley pass. The Clemson offense then got in gear, driving 85 yards for the game's 1st TD. The drive included a 39 yard burst by Spiller, and a 1 yard TD run by James Davis. We blocked a punt deep in Coot territory on the next possession, but their defense held us to a field goal, Clemson now led 10-0. In the 2nd quarter, Chris Clemons intercepted Smelley again at midfield. Later in the possession, Cullen Harper hit Jacoby Ford with a pass as he was being tackled, and Ford streaked 30 yards to the house, Clemson led 17-0. On the next USuk possession, Michael Hamlin intercepted Smelley again, giving Clemson possession on the Gamecock 41. James Davis capped this drive with a 20 yard TD run, and Clemson led 24-0.

But, South Carolina under Steve Spurrier would not quit. They forced a Cullen Harper fumble late in the 2nd quarter, gaining possession on the Clemson 33. A 16 yard TD toss by Smelley got the Coots on the board, and Clemson's halftime lead was cut to 24-7. Then, to open the 2nd half, Carolina put together a 69 yard TD drive, capped off by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Smelley to tight end Weslye Saunders, to close to within 24–14.

But then, the game settled in to a defensive one, as the teams traded punts for several possessions before we finally capitalized on a short field to get a 44 yard TD drive of our own to extend the lead back to 31-14. South Carolina mounted another drive, but it was short circuited when Chris Chancellor got his 2nd interception of the day, the 4th against Chris Smelley overall on the day. That was the Gamecocks last gasp, and Clemson secured the 31-14 win. Clemson leads the series 65-37-4.
Not long after, the “Interim” title was removed, and Dabo Swinney was named the new Head Coach of the Clemson Tigers.

Clemson got an invite to the Gator Bowl, to play Nebraska, in a rematch of our 1981 National Championship game participants. The Tigers led 14-3 at the half, but Nebraska outscored us 20-7 in the 2nd half to lead 26-21. Clemson drove all the way from our own 23, down to the Nebraska 10 yard line, where we had a 1st and goal with two minutes remaining. But, Cullen Harper would be blitzed and sacked for a 16 yard loss, and three more pass attempts failed, as Nebraska held on to win 26-21, putting an end to the wildest season of highs and lows in Clemson in history. The TV Talking Heads called Dabo Swinney a “D+” coaching hire. A whole lot of Clemson people, myself included, were in “wait and see what happens” mode, over the long winter before the 2009 season would begin.

vs. No. 24 Alabama No. 9 L 10–34
The Citadel No. 22 W 45–17
NC State No. 23 W 27–9
South Carolina State No. 21 W 54–0
Maryland No. 19 L 17–20
at No. 24 Wake Forest L 7–12
Georgia Tech L 17–21
at Boston College W 27–21
at No. 24 Florida State L 27–41
Duke W 31–7
at Virginia W 13–3
South Carolina W 31–14

January 1, 2009
Clemson vs. Nebraska
(Gator Bowl)
L 21–26

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15 years ago

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