CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Final 2005 Clemson Football Notes

Final 2005 Clemson Football Notes


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2005 (8-4, 4-4 ACC)

Champs Sports Bowl Champions

09/03 Texas A&M 25-24W
09/10 @Maryland 28-24W
09/17 Miami 36-30L
09/24 BC 16-13L
10/01 @Wake 31-27L
10/13 @NCSU 31-10W
10/22 Temple 37-7W
10/29 @Ga Tech 10-9L
11/05 Duke 49-20W
11/12 FSU 35-14W
11/19 @USC 13-9W
12/27 Colorado 19-10W

ROSTERS

  Alphabetical

  Numerical

Overall Team

Ranked 21st in final AP and Coach's polls. It marked the second time in three years and third time since 2000 that Clemson had been ranked in the final top 25 of both polls.

Clemson had three wins over top 20 AP teams (#17 Texas A&M, #17 Florida State and #19 South Carolina), the first time Clemson has done that since 1989 and just the fourth time in school history Clemson has beaten three top 20 teams in the same season. The 1981 National Championship team had three wins over top 10 Associated Press teams and the 1950 team also had three wins over top 20 teams.

Clemson's three top 20 wins tied for fourth in the nation in 2005, trailing only LSU, Georgia and Southern Cal and tied with National Champion Texas.

When Clemson defeated the 19th ranked Gamecocks in the final regular season game it gave Clemson consecutive wins over top 20 teams for just the third time in school history. The Tigers also did it in 1982 and 1983 when they defeated top 20 teams from North Carolina and Maryland each year.

First Clemson team to defeat a ranked South Carolina team in Columbia.

Defeated South Carolina for the fourth consecutive year and for the eighth time in the last nine years. First time since the 1934-42 era Clemson has defeated South Carolina eight out of nine years.

Closed the season with six wins in the last seven games for the first time since 1991. Included in the stretch was a 35-14 win over ACC Champion Florida State, Clemson's second victory in the last three years over the Seminoles.

Defeated four teams that won at least seven games in 2005. The Tigers ranked tied for sixth in the nation in victories over teams who had at least seven wins. This was just the fifth time in Clemson history the Tigers defeated four teams that won at least seven games.

Clemson finished the 2005 season as one of six teams in the nation without a loss by at least seven points in 2005. The others to achieve this were Southern Cal, Penn State, Texas, LSU and Georgia. This is the first time Clemson has gone through an entire regular season without a loss of more than six points since 1982.

The 2005 schedule tied for the toughest schedule in Clemson history in terms of playing top 25 teams. The Tigers had five games against top 25 teams, something only the 1988 team duplicated.

This Clemson team overcame a fourth quarter deficit to win three times (Texas A&M, Maryland and South Carolina). This tied for the second most fourth quarter comebacks in Clemson history (2004 team also had three). The record is four by the 1958 team.

Clemson lost four games by a combined 14 points. This was the closest Clemson has been to a perfect season since the 1988 season when Clemson lost two games by a total of 10 points.

Defense

Ranked 11th in the final scoring defense statistics for the 2005 season, the highest national finish since the 1995 team finished 10th in the nation in scoring defense. The 17.6 points per game allowed was the best in 11 years.

Ranked 20th in the nation in the final total defense, 25th in rush defense and 18th in pass efficiency defense. First time since 1990 and just the third time in Clemson history the Tigers ranked in the top 25 in all four of the major defensive categories. Team also ranked 25th in sacks and 13th in tackles for loss.

Held Colorado to 124 yards total offense and just 17 yards rushing, the best total defense and best rushing defense of the 56 teams that played in a bowl game in 2005. Both figures were Clemson records for a bowl game.

Allowed the opposition just one touchdown in their combined final 43 offensive possessions.

First college team to hold Steve Spurrier and Bobby Bowden without a touchdown in the same year.

Offense

Ranked tied for first in the ACC in total offense in conference games with Miami (FL).

Ranked first in the ACC in completion percentage with a school record 65.8 percent, and second in total offense in all games.

Improved its total offense by nearly 90 yards per game over 2004, the fourth best one-season improvement in Clemson history and the eighth most improved offense in the nation in 2005.

Led the ACC in scoring in the red-zone percentage, the Tigers scored once they got in the red-zone 43 of 47 red-zone opportunities for a 91.5 percentage.

Ranked eighth in the nation in fewest turnovers committed (14) and fourth in the nation in fewest lost fumbles (5).

Had two 700-yard rushers and three 500-yard receivers, first Clemson team in history to do that.

Individual Notes and Honors

Tye Hill was named first-team All-American by four services including The Sporting News and the Walker Camp Foundation. He was invited to the Senior Bowl.

Hill was named one of three finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award as the top defensive back in the nation.

Gaines Adams established school record for pass deflections by a defensive linemen (9). He also recorded team best 15 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.

Charlie Whitehurst established a Clemson record for completion percentage in a season with a 67.4 mark, the seventh best completion percentage in ACC history.

Whitehurst became first Clemson starting quarterback to post a 4-0 record against South Carolina and first ACC quarterback to post a winning record against Florida State (Min of 3 starts). Overall, he finished with 25 victories, second in Clemson history.

Whitehurst closed his Clemson career with 42 records, including the season and career completion percentage marks.

Whitehurst finished his Clemson career ranked third in ACC history in career total offense and fourth in career passing yardage.

Running back James Davis was named the MVP of the Champs Sports Bowl, the ACC Rookie of the Year, and was a two-time National Freshman of the Week by Rivals.com. He set a Clemson record for touchdowns by a freshman with nine. Davis had 150 yards rushing in the win over Colorado, 84 more than any other running back had against the Buffs defense all year.

Chansi Stuckey led the ACC in receiving and was a first-team All-ACC selection.

Jad Dean established a Clemson record for field goals in a season with 24 and he was third in the nation. That is tied for second most in a season in ACC history. He broke Obed Ariri's record with two in the Champs Sports Bowl against Colorado.

Dean was named a finalist for the Lou Groza Award and led the ACC in scoring with 106 points.

Dean was named national Player of the Week by USA Today when he booted a Clemson record six field goals, including the 42-yard game winner with just two seconds left, against Texas A&M.

Overall Program

Ranked second in the nation among bowl teams and fourth overall in graduation rate in study released by the NCAA in December of 2005. Clemson had a higher graduation rate for its football program than Stanford, Duke, Vanderbilt and Northwestern.

Head Coach Tommy Bowden

Guided Clemson to a top 25 finish in the polls for the third time in the last six years, the second time he accomplished the feat without a preseason ranking.

Defeated former national championship coaches Steve Spurrier and Bobby Bowden in 2005, giving him seven wins over coaches who have won the national championship in the last three years.

Has a 6-1 career record over Clemson rival South Carolina. All six wins have come against future College Football Hall of Fame Coaches (Holtz and Spurrier).

Earned his 50th win at Clemson when he defeated Florida State and his father, 35-14 on November 12. It was Clemson's largest margin of victory over the Seminoles.

Defeated three of the top 10 winningest active Division I coaches entering the 2005 season (Dennis Franchione, Bobby Bowden, Steve Spurrier).

Bright Outlook for 2006

All five starters in the offensive line return for 2006, the first time Clemson has been in that situation since the 2000 season and just the fourth time in 25 years.

Clemson returns two 700-yard rushers and a 700-yard receiver for the first time in school history.

The top two rushers and four of the top five receivers return in 2006.

Clemson returns 17 starters overall, eight on offense, seven on defense and both kickers.

Clemson achieved its 8-4 record while playing 22 first year or red-shirt freshmen.

Four Clemson freshmen were named first or second-team freshmen All-Americans in 2005, most by a Clemson team since 1988.

Clemson is one of just 10 schools with a four game winning streak or more entering the 2006 season.

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