100 Things Clemson Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die

Bourret.

Contents

Foreword by Dabo Swinney

Preface by Danny Ford

Acknowledgments

Introduction by Tim Bourret

Author Credits

Precis by Lou Sahadi

1. 1981 National Championship

2. 1982 Orange Bowl

3. IPTAY—Lifeblood of Clemson Athletics

4. Walter Riggs—Father of Clemson Athletics

5, John Heisman

6. Memorial Stadium

7. 1940 Cotton Bowl

8. 1948 Season—11–0

9. Frank Howard

10. Danny Ford

11. Jess Neely

12. Steve Fuller

13. Banks McFadden

14. Jerry Butler

15. Fred Cone

16. Terry Kinard

17. Jeff Davis

18. C.J. Spiller

19. The Early Years

20. The Rock

21. Historic Riggs Field

22. The Hill

23. Alma Mater

24. 1903 Game with Cumberland

25. The Probation

26. 1949 Gator Bowl

27. 1981 Georgia v. Clemson

28. 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl

29. 2014 Orange Bowl

30. 1978 Gator Bowl

31. Orange Pants and Shoes

32. Clemson’s First All-American

33. 1978 Season

34. 1951 Orange Bowl

35. 1989 Florida State v. Clemson

36. 1986 Georgia v. Clemson

37. 2003 FSU Win

38. 1979 Notre Dame Game

39. 1977—The Catch

40. The Catch II

41. 1988 Citrus Bowl

42. 1989 Citrus Bowl

43. Head Coach Dabo Swinney

44. Tajh Boyd

45. Sammy Watkins

46. Brian Dawkins

47. Anthony Simmons

48. Fan-Mania and the Tiger Paw

49. Perry Tuttle

50. Terry Allen

51. Joe Blalock

52. Frank Johnstone Jervey

53. Rodney Williams

54. Homer Jordan

55. Raymond Priester

56. The Humor of Frank Howard

57. 2011 ACC Champions

58. The Perry Brothers—The Fridge and Michael Dean

59. Bennie Cunningham

60. Woody Dantzler

61. Da’Quan Bowers

62. Dwayne Allen

63. Chris Gardocki

64. ACC Trifecta 1986–88

65. 1981: Clemson 29, South Carolina 13

66. 2003: Clemson 63, South Carolina 17

67. 2004: Clemson 29, South Carolina 7

68. 2007: Clemson 23, South Carolina 21

69. 1992 Virginia Game

70. 1959 Sugar Bowl

71. 1959 Bluebonnet Bowl

72. Panthers Meet the Tigers

73. 1977 Gator Bowl

74. Josh Cody

75. E.J. Stewart

76. Charley Pell

77. 1952 Gator Bowl

78. Bruce McClure

79. Bubba Brown

80. 2013 Georgia Win

81. 2000 USC Win

82. 1995 USC Game

83. 1997 USC Game

84. Charlie Whitehurst

85. Andre Ellington

86. Hootie Ingram

87. Red Parker

88. Daniel Rodriguez

89. 1957 Orange Bowl

90. Dwight Clark

91. 1979 Peach Bowl

92. 2013 FSU Loss

93. 2013 USC Game

94. 2009 USC Game

95. Kalon Davis

96. Buck George

97. Tommy Bowden

98. Ken Hatfield

99. Tommy West

100. Big Thursday

Sources

Foreword by Dabo Swinney

I have been at Clemson as an assistant coach and head coach since 2003, but my ties to Tiger football feel a lot longer.

There has been a tie between the Clemson and Alabama football programs since 1931 when former Alabama player Frank Howard became an assistant coach under first-year head coach Jess Neely. Howard was in his first year out of school after playing on Alabama’s Rose Bowl team of 1930, but he landed the job thanks to high praise from then Alabama head coach Wallace Wade.

Howard was a top assistant under Neely for nine seasons. In his final season as head coach, Clemson defeated Frank Leahy and Boston College in the Cotton Bowl. After that season, Neely decided to take the head coaching job at Rice, and Howard became Clemson’s head coach. He kept the job for 30 years, leading Clemson to eight conference championships, still more than anyone else.

When I was a youngster growing up in Pelham, Alabama, my parents and I met Frank Howard at a dinner. Little did I know that many years later I would become the head coach of the program he built. It was not just the victories and championships Coach Howard accomplished; he set a standard in many other areas of the program. He had players who went on to success in the NFL, but he had many more who were success stories in many areas outside athletics.

Of course there are many other ties between Clemson and Alabama. Charley Pell and Danny Ford were both products of Bear Bryant’s system. Pell coached Clemson to its most significant turnaround season in 1977, leading the Tigers to their first bowl game and final top 20 ranking in 17 seasons. I have gotten to know Danny Ford during my career, and we all took great joy in his induction into the Clemson Ring of Honor in 2013. Leading Clemson to the 1981 national championship is the most significant accomplishment in Clemson athletics history.

Lou Sahadi’s documentation of the unique ties between Clemson and Alabama over the years is just one of the many stories in 100 Things Clemson Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. The book recounts our great history from the days of John Heisman to our back-to-back top 10 seasons of 2012 and 2013. Lou has a close relationship with Clemson, and you can feel it in this book. After the national championship season of 1981, he authored the book, 1896 to Glory, a book I still recommend to all Clemson fans. That year he spent many months documenting Clemson history through his research and through his interviews with Clemson greats, including Coach Howard.

As you will see, this book covers it all, whether it be the exciting plays and games, the special color and pageantry of a Clemson football weekend, or the personalities that have made Clemson a special place.

I was recently honored with a long-term contract to remain at Clemson. I look forward to the opportunity to add to the glory that is Clemson football.

ALL IN.

—Dabo Swinney

Preface by Danny Ford

There are many reasons you fall in love with Clemson.

Clemson is all about family. Everyone pulls together and bonds together as one. It is also a great place to raise a family. I know that Deborah and I have had a great time raising our children and grandchildren in this area.

We also fell in love with Clemson because of its unique atmosphere. It’s a small town, but it has big opportunities. The Tigers play big-time sports, but yet it has a college-town atmosphere. Young people come to Clemson from small towns and large cities and they graduate and become very successful in varied occupations. It’s fun to see how this place changes people for the better.

It’s hard to describe what Clemson has meant to the Fords. But I know that I love calling Clemson and the surrounding area my home, and I would not want to be anywhere else.

Winning the national championship in 1981 has meant a lot to me and to Clemson. I am so thankful that I was a part of this and I will never forget it.

I have been very blessed in my years at Clemson as a coach and now as a farmer.

Clemson means the world to me, and I am thankful that I’m a Tiger and will always be a Tiger.

—Danny Ford

Acknowledgments

Amy Blalock, a priceless assistant; Kathryn Everett; Denise Largo; Allison Dalton; Susan Moran; Karen O’Brien, a punctilious editor; Noah Amstadter and Tom Galvin, who shared my vision; Mitch Rogatz, who supported it; and everyone at Triumph Books for their efforts.

Introduction by Tim Bourret

Clemson Football History

Football has always been important at Clemson. The school opened its doors in 1889, and just seven years later it had a football team. Four years after that, in 1900, it hired John Heisman as its head coach, and the man they named the trophy after led Clemson to an undefeated season and a conference championship. Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama were among the conquests in Heisman’s first season.

A second future Hall of Fame coach led Clemson to a landmark season in 1939 when Jess Neely developed Banks McFadden into one of the top all-around football players in the nation. The Tigers completed a 9–1 season with a No. 11 ranking with a 6–3 victory over Frank Leahy’s Boston College team.

Frank Howard followed Neely and led Clemson to six conference titles, two undefeated seasons, and the 15th-best record in college football in the 1950s. His legendary personality promoted the Clemson team, the university, and the game of football in the state of South Carolina for 30 years.

As impactful as the sport was at this agricultural and military school during its first 80 years, the last 36 have brought the program to new heights. It has been my good fortune to work in the Clemson athletic department for all 36 and witness some of the great moments and great players in the history of the sport.

My first year was 1978, and it was a remarkable year that saw the Tigers finish with an 11–1 record. Thanks to the efficient play of quarterback Steve Fuller and receiver Jerry Butler, Clemson finished the year tied for sixth in the final UPI poll with Notre Dame, my alma mater, for whom I had worked as a student the previous year.

Tying Notre Dame in a final poll, just a year removed from an Irish national championship, brought national acclaim to Clemson. A victory over Ohio State in the 1978 Gator Bowl in what proved to be Woody Hayes’ final game as head coach of the Buckeyes also improved Clemson’s national profile.

Clemson was coached by 30-year-old Danny Ford, another coach who is destined to join Heisman, Neely, and Howard in the Hall of Fame someday.

Ford’s grand accomplishment and the most noteworthy of Clemson seasons took place in 1981 when the Tigers won the national championship. The final of three wins over top 10 teams that year took place in the Orange Bowl, a 22–15 conquest of Nebraska and future Hall of Fame head coach Tom Osborne.

A pair of 9–1–1 seasons followed, and by the end of the decade Clemson had the third-best winning percentage in college football for that 10-year interval. Barry Switzer of Oklahoma, Joe Paterno of Penn State, Bobby Bowden of Florida State, and Vince Dooley of Georgia were all Hall of Famers who lost to Ford’s Tigers.

Now Clemson has returned to glory days with a 32–8 record over the three most recent years under head coach Dabo Swinney. The program won an ACC Championship in 2011 with a resounding victory over Virginia Tech and future Hall of Fame coach Frank Beamer.

The 2012 and 2013 seasons saw the Tigers register 11–2 seasons that have been culminated by victories over top 10 programs LSU and Ohio State.

The manner in which the Tigers have gained victory over the last five years has been exciting thanks to the highlights of All-Americans C.J. Spiller, Dwayne Allen, Sammy Watkins, and Tajh Boyd.

With Swinney’s enthusiasm, the enhancement of all facilities, including the legendary Death Valley, and the enduring traditions such as rubbing Howard’s rock and running down the Hill, Clemson is a program that has a firm foundation and will continue to bring great joy to its fans for many years to come.

In these pages, Clemson fans will re-live some of these memorable years of Clemson football. Enjoy.

—Tim Bourret

Author Credits

The Long Pass (World Books; Bantam Paperback)

Miracle in Miami (Henry Regnery Books)

Pro Football’s Gamebreakers (Contemporary Books)

Broncos! (Stein & Day)

Super Sundays I-XII (Contemporary Books)

Steelers: Team of the Decade (New York Times Books)

Super Steelers (New York Times Books)

Super Sunday’s XV (Contemporary Books)

L.A. Dodgers (William Morrow)

The 49ers (William Morrow)

The Clemson Tigers: From 1896 to Glory (William Morrow)

The Redskins (William Morrow)

Johnny Unitas: America’s Quarterback (Triumph Books)

One Sunday in December (Lyons Press)

Affirmed…The Last Triple Crown (St. Martins Press)

Autobiographies

Len Dawson: Pressure Quarterback (Cowles Books) by Len Dawson with Lou Sahadi

The Winning Edge (EP Dutton; Popular Library Paperback) by Don Shula with Lou Sahadi

They’re Playing My Game (William Morrow; St. Martins Paperback) by Hank Stram with Lou Sahadi

Say Hey! (Simon & Schuster; Pocketbook Paperback) by Willie Mays with Lou Sahadi

Winning My Way (Tiger Press) by Jim Donnan with Lou Sahadi

They’re Playing My Game (Revised—Triumph Books) by Hank Stram with Lou Sahadi

Television Credits

Remembering Marshall (ESPN; November 2001)

Precis by Lou Sahadi

When Triumph Books approached me to write this book, I was ecstatic. I had been the only author to write a tome on Clemson’s 1981 championship season. Writing that book was quite an invigorating challenge because I had never written anything about college sports. I asked my literary agent, Who would want to read a book about Clemson football? She informed me that Clemson had a huge, passionate fan following, among the best in the nation.

I found that out the day I arrived in Clemson to begin my research. Every way I looked I was mesmerized by waves of orange. In the week that I was there, I discovered a history of Clemson football that I had never imagined. It was deep and emotional.

For me, this book is a homecoming and yes, one can come home again, so much so that Tim Bourret and Sam Blackman are still there. When I informed them about my offer to write this book, they resoundingly said that I should accept. They, along with Bob Bradley, led me on a wonderful journey into what Clemson football was all about in 1982, beginning one evening at 93 Fish Camp, where Bradley introduced me to catfish for the first time.

In December 2013, I returned to Clemson to see how much had changed since I was there in 1982. I looked for some of the places that I had experienced—Bob Higby’s Esso Club, Mr. Knickerbocker, Ibrahim’s Tiger Shop, Pixie & Bill’s, Calico Corners, and the Holiday Inn where Coach Frank Howard hosted his daily morning coffee klatch with four or five of his cronies. I was a perfect foil for Howard, who addressed me as the Yankee from New York. We had a warm, jovial camaraderie.

I don’t have a drop of likker to offer you, but I can offer you a good chew of tobacco, he drawled in his best country twang the first time I met him.

That was then. My December Clemson observance was so much different. It appeared as if the town had doubled in size. There were more banks, hotels, restaurants, traffic lights, and yes, students. The campus was overgrown, so much that I had a difficult time finding the Jervey Athletic Center. And through the years, Clemson football also grew to the extent that it is looked upon across the country as a football power.

Over the years, I relished the relationship I nurtured, not only with Bourret and Blackman, but with others like Danny Ford, Allison Dalton, Frank Howard, and B.C. Inabinet, one of Clemson’s biggest boosters.

My kinship with Inabinet was special, a bonding one. He wanted me to live in Myrtle Beach and offered to provide a house. When I told him I couldn’t because my literary agent was in New York, he told me, So what, Mickey Spillane lives in Myrtle Beach, why can’t you?

I couldn’t give him an answer. Unfortunately, B.C. died at a young age before I saw him again. I received the news of his death after I attended a Mass on a Sunday morning. I was shocked. I sat down in my backyard and cried. That’s the effect B.C. had on me and what makes the Clemson populace so special.

Several years later, his widow, Kitty, and daughter, Dixie, visited me on a trip to New York. They hired a limo to come to my home in Palisades, New York, some 20 miles from the city. That said a lot. With tears in our eyes, we reminisced about B.C. I didn’t know when I would go back to Clemson again.

But it happened unexpectedly a year later. My daughter, Elizabeth, couldn’t find a college to attend during a late week in May. Yet, I did. I called Clemson and got an acceptance over the phone. She left home and never returned. Elizabeth did her part at Clemson one year by being one of the basketball team’s statisticians under Tim Bourret’s supervision.

A year after graduating, Elizabeth married, not in her hometown, but her new one, Clemson. She settled in Easley, is a third grade teacher at Chastian Road Elementary in Liberty, and raised four beautiful children—Hannah, Bennett, Sam, and Emma.

I hope Clemson fans will enjoy what I have lived and am now reliving. Go Tigers!

­—Lou Sahadi

1. 1981 National Championship

The 1980 campaign, when Clemson stumbled into mediocrity with a 6–5 record, haunted Coach Danny Ford all winter. He had believed his squad was capable of being in a bowl game that year, but three close losses to Georgia, North Carolina State, and North Carolina by a combined total of 13 points had made it only an average season.

Yet, after preseason practice was over, Ford had a good feeling about the 1981 campaign with 53 returning lettermen waiting. He didn’t know how good. The Tigers went unbeaten and won the national championship for the first time in their history. Nobody could ask for more.

Game 1: Wofford

The season-opening game against Wofford was truly an accommodation by the small South Carolina school. Villanova was originally scheduled to play Clemson; but when the Philadelphia school abruptly dropped its football program, it left Clemson with an Opening Day void. Quickly, Clemson athletic director Bill McLellan reached for the phone and called Wofford’s athletic director George Buddy Sasser, who also happened to be the Terriers’ football coach, and he agreed to the game.

Under a hot sun, Wofford received the opening kickoff of the 1981 season. Donald Igwebuike buried the kick in the end zone, and the Terriers put the ball in play on the 20-yard line. They surprised the sold-out crowed by keeping the ball for more than 8:00 and reaching the Clemson 7-yard line before being stopped. Don Hairston gave the Terriers a 3–0 lead with a 24-yard field goal.

Perry Tuttle immediately made his presence felt. He returned Hairston’s kickoff 38 yards to position a Clemson field goal. Igwebuike displayed a powerful leg when he tied the game with a 52-yard field goal.

It wasn’t until six minutes had gone by in the second period that Clemson got the lead. It came suddenly and dramatically. Homer Jordan and Tuttle combined on a picture-book 80-yard touchdown pass that had Tigers fans roaring. Bob Pauling’s conversion gave Clemson a 10–3 edge. The next time they got the ball the Tigers scored again. Jordan completed an eight-play, 76-yard drive by running the last 14 yards around left end on a keeper. Pauling’s kick made it 17–3 minutes before the first half ended.

Clemson received the second half kickoff and marched 73 yards for a touchdown. Jordan hit wide receiver Frank Magwood with an 11-yard throw. Pauling’s kick stretched Clemson’s lead to 24–3. Just before the third quarter ended, Clemson scored again. Jordan scored his second touchdown by going over from three yards out. Pauling added the extra point to give the Tigers a 31–3 lead.

On its first series in the final period, Clemson scored its fifth touchdown. Chuck McSwain sped around left end for five yards to complete a 56-yard drive. Igwebuike converted; and the Tigers led 38–3. Wofford finally scored again when it recovered a fumble on the Clemson 39-yard line. Ten plays later, Barry Thompson hit tight end Dirk Derrick with a 15-yard scoring pass. Hairston’s conversion made it 38–10. Clemson closed out the scoring a minute from the end when Jeff McCall broke over right tackle for 10 yards for a touchdown. Pauling booted the extra point that made the final score 45–10.

Game 2: Tulane

There were two areas of concern that confronted Ford as he began his preparations for Tulane.

For one thing, Clemson had never played a game indoors before. That wasn’t all. It was playing its first night game in five years, which didn’t seem too important except for the fact that it allowed the players a lot of free time before the game in the city’s famed French Quarter—a nearby distraction.

Playing in the Superdome, the Astroturf, a night game, that’s all new to us, Ford said.

Clemson received the opening kickoff but couldn’t do much. The offense managed to reach Tulane’s 37-yard line but Igwebuike’s 55-yard field-goal attempt was short. Tulane took over at that point and drove to Clemson’s 28-yard line before stalling. However, Vince Manalla booted a 46-yard field goal that provided Tulane with a 3–0 lead.

Misfortune struck Clemson following the kickoff. After failing to produce a first down, Dale Hatcher was sent in to punt from the 26-yard line. However, the ball was snapped over his head and rolled into the end zone. Hatcher managed to cover the ball for a safety that gave Tulane a 5–0 lead.

It wasn’t until midway through the second period that Clemson finally scored. Defensive end Joe Glenn made it possible. He recovered a Tulane fumble on the 25-yard line to set up tailback Cliff Austin’s four-yard touchdown run. Pauling converted to give the Tigers a 7–5 edge, which they kept when the half ended.

Clemson had an opportunity to score first in the third period but lost it. It recovered a Tulane fumble on the 33-yard line following the kickoff. Clemson got to the Tulane 16, which was close enough for Pauling to attempt a 33-yard field goal. Unfortunately, the snap was bad, and Pauling never got the kick off. When the quarter ended, the score remained 7–5 and neither team could produce a serious scoring threat, although Clemson was driving at the end.

On the very first play of the fourth quarter, Pauling was on the field again. This time his 31-yard field-goal attempt was good, and Clemson led 10–5. It was apparent at this point that the tenacious Tigers defense would have to control the game. They met the challenge by intercepting a Tulane pass two plays after the kickoff. Minutes later, Pauling returned to the lineup. He looked at a 37-yard field goal try and came through to give the Tigers a 13–5 lead with just more than 12:00 remaining in the game. Nobody realized at the time that the game would end that way. Clemson’s defense was the deciding factor, limiting Tulane to just five first downs and 177 total yards. Ford was relieved when it was over.

Game 3: Georgia

It may have appeared insignificant at the time, but by winning its first two games Clemson achieved something it hadn’t been able to do since 1970. More significant was the fact that the Tigers had to face Georgia in Death Valley. The Bulldogs were the No. 1 college team in 1980 and owned the nation’s longest winning streak that stood at 15 games.

The game was expected to be close. It began that way with a scoreless first quarter. Georgia did manage to threaten toward the end of the period. They had a first down on the Clemson 17-yard line; after gaining four yards, Walker fumbled and safety Jeff Suttle recovered.

Even when the second period began, Jordan had trouble moving the offense. However, with about 9:00 left, he was given a great opportunity when safety Tim Childers intercepted Buck Belue’s pass on the Georgia 18. After moving to a first down on the 8-yard line, Jordan threw a touchdown pass to Tuttle that got the crowd of 62,000-plus to its feet. Pauling converted to give Clemson a 7–0 lead.

Near the end of the half, Clemson struck again. Walker again fumbled and middle guard William Perry recovered on the Georgia 35-yard line. Three plays later, with only 11 seconds showing on the clock, Igwebuike booted a 39-yard field goal to provide Clemson with a 10–0 halftime advantage that made Tigers followers happy.

However, Georgia managed to come back with the second half kickoff. The Bulldogs marched 56 yards, basically on two plays—a 21-yard run by Herschel Walker and a 14-yard pass completion from Belue to Lindsay Scott, before being stopped. A 40-yard field goal by Kevin Butler managed to trim Clemson’s lead to 10–3.

Early in the final period, Igwebuike gave Tigers fans more to cheer about. With 14:01 left in the game, he was accurate with a 29-yard field goal that extended Clemson’s margin to 13–3. From then on, it was up to the defense, and they responded with swarming intensity to intercept Belue five times before the game ended while keeping Walker out of the end zone. Tigers fans celebrated well into the night.

It was the biggest win I’ve ever had in football, beamed a happy Jordan. It’s going to be a lot easier going back to Athens. I can go home and talk a little bit.

Game 4: Kentucky

The convincing victory over Georgia awakened the nation’s pollsters. After the third week of the young season, Clemson cracked the top 20 and was ranked 18th by United Press. The Clemson triumph was so impressive to the United Press that Ford was also voted the Coach of the Week by its panel of experts.

While the United Press poll, the one voted on by a panel of coaches, picked the Tigers 18th, the Associated Press in its poll of writers ranked Clemson a notch below, at 19th. Clemson was beginning to generate some national recognition.

Unbeaten Clemson lured a sellout crowd of 57,453 fans to Commonwealth Stadium. Neither team could get a first down the first time it had the ball. On their second series, the Wildcats drove 47 yards in 11 plays, at which point Tom Griggs booted a 40-yard field goal that sent Kentucky into a 3–0 lead. When the quarter ended, the troubled Clemson offense had not produced a first down.

Clemson’s offensive woes continued in the second quarter. Yet, the Tigers appeared ready to score when Jeff Bryant recovered a fumble on the Kentucky 16-yard line. They moved for a first down on the 6-yard line where they failed on four successive runs by Cliff Austin. They never seriously threatened the rest of the period except for a 49-yard field-goal attempt by Igwebuike that fell short six seconds from the conclusion of the first half.

Clemson looked like a different team when it took the second-half kickoff and drove 83 yards in 13 plays with Kevin Mack slipping off tackle for a six-yard touchdown run. Pauling added the extra point that gave the Tigers a 7–3 lead.

Some 2:00 later, defensive end Andy Headen positioned Clemson’s second touchdown by recovering a fumble on Kentucky’s 21-yard line. After only six plays, Jordan raced into the end zone from three yards out. Pauling’s kick gave Clemson a 14–3 edge when the third period ended.

Midway through the final period, the Tigers secured their victory. They put together an 87-yard drive in 12 plays that consumed more than six precious minutes. McSwain carried for 41 of the yards, scoring a touchdown from two yards out. Pauling’s kick provided Clemson with its final margin of victory at 21–3.

Game 5: Virginia

Clemson was now entering the second phase of its schedule. The Tigers’ first four wins had