2007 Clemson Tigers football team

2007 Clemson Tigers football
Chick-fil-A Bowl, L 20–23 OT vs. Auburn
Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
Division Atlantic Division
Ranking
Coaches No. 22
AP No. 21
2007 record 9–4 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach Tommy Bowden
Offensive coordinator Rob Spence
Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Memorial Stadium (c. 80,301, grass)
2007 ACC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Atlantic Division
#10 Boston College x   6 – 2         11 – 3  
#21 Clemson   5 – 3         9 – 4  
Wake Forest   5 – 3         9 – 4  
Florida State   4 – 4         7 – 6  
Maryland   3 – 5         6 – 7  
NC State   3 – 5         5 – 7  
Coastal Division
#9 Virginia Tech x$   7 – 1         11 – 3  
Virginia   6 – 2         9 – 4  
Georgia Tech   4 – 4         7 – 6  
North Carolina   3 – 5         4 – 8  
Miami   2 – 6         5 – 7  
Duke   0 – 8         1 – 11  
Championship: Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 16
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2007 Clemson football team represented Clemson University in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers were led by head coach Tommy Bowden and played their home games in Memorial Stadium.

Notable

Clemson played host to the Florida State Seminoles on Labor Day, Monday, September 3, 2007 in both teams' season opener. The game was played before a primetime national audience on ESPN as the only college football game in that time slot.[1] It was only Clemson's second regular season Monday night game, the last being in 1982 against the University of Georgia.

Clemson opened its season with 3 consecutive home game victories. This is the first time that there have been 3 consecutive home games to open the season since 2003 and only the eighth time since 1923. Clemson will be playing against the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest in November and will play the 2006 Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan for the first time. The 2007 season will see Clemson meeting Louisiana-Monroe and Central Michigan for the first time.

In the pre-season, incoming quarterback Willy Korn was named one of the top-10 impact freshman for 2007.[2]

Achievements

Clemson started 4-0, including a victory in the season and conference opener over the Florida State Seminoles in the ninth "Bowden Bowl", which pits father Bobby Bowden, coaching the Seminoles, against his son, Tommy. Following their 4-0 start, Clemson gave up two losses to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech respectively. Following the two-game losing streak, the Tigers went on to another four-game winning streak. The team then finished the season with its toughest loss of the season (losing in the final seconds to Boston College, 20-17) and greatest triumph (defeating rival South Carolina 23-21 with a last-second field goal). With a record of 9-3, the Tigers received a bid to play in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl.

During the September 8th game against UL-Monroe, Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper threw five touchdown passes, setting a new school record for most touchdown passes thrown in a single game, a feat he has since duplicated. He currently holds numerous school records, including touchdown passes in a season (27).

Harper need only throw for 122 yards, and leading rusher James Davis rush for 8 yards, for this to be the first Clemson team in history to have a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher, and 1,000 receiver (WR Aaron Kelly exceeded 1,000 for the year during game-winning drive against South Carolina).

On December 2, 2007, it was announced that Clemson had accepted a bid to play in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl opposite the Southeastern Conference's Auburn Tigers. The game will be played December 31 in front of a national audience on ESPN. It is Clemson's 7th appearance in the bowl, tying NC State for most appearances in the game. The Clemson Tigers enter the post-season ranked 15th nationally, while Auburn comes in 22nd. The game is particularly notable as it was Walter Riggs who came to coach at Clemson from Auburn and who brought with him many traditions, including the Tiger mascot.[3]

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 3 8:00 PM Florida State Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC (Bowden Bowl) ESPN W 24–18   81,993[4]
September 8 1:00 PM Louisiana–Monroe* No. 25 Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC ESPNGP W 49–26   77,628[4]
September 15 1:00 PM Furman* No. 20 Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC ESPNGP W 38–10   80,419[4]
September 22 12:00 PM at NC State No. 15 Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC (Textile Bowl) LFS W 42–20   56,903[4]
September 29 3:30 PM at Georgia Tech No. 13 Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA (Rivalry) ABC L 3–13   54,635[4]
October 6 6:00 PM No. 14 Virginia Tech No. 22 Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC ESPN L 23–41   82,047[4]
October 20 12:00 PM Central Michigan*dagger Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC ESPNU W 70–14   81,361[4]
October 27 3:30 PM at Maryland Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD ABC W 30–17   50,948[4]
November 3 12:00 PM at Duke No. 24 Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, NC ESPNGP W 47–10   20,457[4]
November 10 12:00 PM Wake Forest No. 20 Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC ESPN2 W 44–10   82,422[4]
November 17 7:45 PM No. 18 Boston College No. 16 Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC ESPN2 L 17–20   83,472[4]
November 24 7:00 PM at South Carolina* No. 22 Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC (Battle for the Palmetto State) ESPN2 W 23–21   82,410[4]
December 31 7:45 PM vs. No. 21 Auburn* No. 16 Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA (Chick-fil-A Bowl) ESPN L 20–23 OT  74,413[4]
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Depth chart

These are the projected starters and primary backups as of 4/9/07.

Defense
FS
Chris Clemons
Chris Russell
WLB MLB SLB
⋅ Antonio Clay ⋅
Kavell Conner Kevin Alexander ⋅
Cat
Michael Hamlin
DeAndre McDaniel
CB
Crezdon Butler
Byron Maxwell
DE DT DT DE
Ricky Sapp Dorrell Scott Rashaad Jackson Phillip Merling
Kwam Williams Jock McKissic Antwon Murchison Jamie Cumbie
CB
Chris Chancellor
Haydrian Lewis
Offense
WR
Aaron Kelly
Xavier Dye
WR
Rendrick Taylor
Tyler Grisham
LT LG C RG RT
Barry Richardson Chris McDuffie Barry Humphries Thomas Austin Chris Capote
Chris Hairston Jamarcus Grant Bobby Hutchinson Brandon Pilgrim Cory Lambert
TE
Michael Palmer
Akeem Robinson
WR
Jacoby Ford
LaDonte Harris
QB
Cullen Harper
Willy Korn
Key Reserves
RB Sadat Chambers
RB
James Davis
C. J. Spiller

Coaching staff

References

  1. ↑ "2007 Clemson Football Schedule Announced". Retrieved February 1, 2007.
  2. ↑ Mark Schlabach, Illinois' Benn, ND's Clausen impact newcomers for 2007, ESPN.com, June 22, 2007.
  3. ↑ Chick-fil-A Bowl
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "2007 Clemson Football Stats". Clemson University.
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