The Series: Clemson vs. Kentucky
Kentucky holds a 7-4 advantage in the series
with Clemson, but the Tigers have won two of the
last three. Kentucky won the last regular-season
meeting 26-7 in 1985, but Clemson won the meeting
in the Peach Bowl 14-13 in Atlanta in 1993. Clemson
won the regular-season meetings in 1981 and 1982,
a two-year home-and-home series.
The first meeting took place in 1925 and the
Wildcats won in Lexington 19-6. The first six games
of the series were played in Lexington, and Kentucky
won five of the six. The greatest upset in the series took place in 1929 when Kentucky defeated a 6-0
Tiger squad 44-6 in Lexington.
In the 1985 game, Clemson had seven
turnovers, including four fumbles and three
interceptions. It tied for the most turnovers by a
Danny Ford-coached Clemson team in his 11 years
as head coach. The Tigers gained just 230 yards of
total offense that October 5 night in Lexington, while
Kentucky had 309 yards. Reserve quarterback
Kevin Dooley completed 15-23 passes for 142 yards
and a touchdown to place the Wildcat offense, while
Joe Worley kicked four field goals. Brian Williams
returned a punt 57 yards for a score as well.
Ray Williams provided the only spark for
Clemson on offense with a 25-yard run for a third quarter
touchdown. Randy Anderson and Rodney
Williams, Clemson’s young quarterbacks, completed
just 10-24 passes for 92 yards. Clemson dropped
to 1-3 with the loss, then Ford moved Williams, a
freshman, into the starting lineup the next week
against Virginia. Williams went on to win 32 games
as the starting quarterback, most in ACC history.
Clemson defeated Kentucky in 1982 at
Clemson by a 24-6 score and in 1981, Clemson’s
National Championship season, by a 21-3 score.
Cliff Austin scored three touchdowns and ran for 116
yards on the ground to pace the offense to the 1982
win. Mike Eppley made his first career start and
completed 9-13 passes for 95 yards.
Kentucky stymied the Clemson offense for the
first half in 1981 and led 3-0 at halftime. But the
Tigers stormed back for 21 second-half points behind
touchdowns by Kevin Mack, Homer Jordan, and
Chuck McSwain. Clemson held Kentucky to 97
second-half yards. The Tigers ran their record to 4-
0 with the win and moved into the top 10 in the polls
for the first time since 1959 after the victory.
Last Meeting in Peach Bowl
Heading into the 1993 Peach Bowl against
Kentucky, Clemson owned the seventh-best bowl
winning percentage in history (61.1). The Tigers
upped that percentage in an exciting way, with a 14-
13 victory over the Wildcats. Tommy West also
became the first coach in NCAA history to win his first
game for a school in a bowl game without serving as
a coach in that program during the regular season.
A tandem of running backs who hailed from
Pensacola, FL led the Tiger rushing attack, as starting
tailback Rodney Blunt rushed for a season-high 58
yards on 15 carries to lead the team. But, it was redshirt
freshman fullback Emory Smith who was named
the Tigers’ Offensive MVP, as he rushed for 45
yards, including a two-yard touchdown run.
After taking over at its own two, quarterback
Dexter McCleon engineered a 98-yard scoring drive
that culminated in a one-yard run by Smith.
The Wildcats drove back down the field on their
next possession, this time reaching the Clemson
one again, where they decided to go for it on fourth
down. The Clemson defense held once again, as
defensive tackle Brentson Buckner stopped the ball
carrier for no gain. Buckner was named Defensive
MVP of the Peach Bowl after tallying 12 tackles,
including three tackles for loss, in his final game at
Clemson. Buckner became just the fourth Tiger
defensive lineman in the last eight years to total at
least 12 tackles in a game.
The Tigers were forced to punt after taking over
at the one, and Kentucky got on the scoreboard with
a 34-yard field goal by Nicky Nickles. The score
heading into the half stood at 7-3.
Neither squad scored in the third quarter, and
barely into the fourth quarter, Kentucky took the lead
with a 46-yard touchdown drive. After an interception,
the Wildcats upped their lead to 13-7 on a 43-yard
scoring drive, culminating in another field goal.
With time running down in the fourth quarter,
quarterback Patrick Sapp came off the bench. The
two teams exchanged punts before the Tigers got
the ball at their own 18 with 3:50 left. On the first
play of the drive, Sapp threw a screen pass to Emory
Smith, who rumbled for 57 yards.
With under a minute left, Kentucky linebacker
Marty Moore intercepted Sapp’s pass. But on the
return, Stacy Seegars jarred the ball loose and Brent
LeJeune recovered for Clemson. With 20 seconds
left, Sapp connected with Terry Smith on a 21-yard
score and Nelson Welch kicked the PAT for the win.
Smith finished with four receptions for 56 yards and
that final touchdown of his career.
Clemson’s Bowl History
Clemson has a rich bowl tradition. The Tigers
have a 15-13 record in bowl games, and the 15 bowl
victories are in a tie for 17th-most in NCAA history
with Florida and Washington. Clemson’s first bowl
game was the 1940 Cotton Bowl when the Tigers
defeated Frank Leahy and Boston College 6-3.
Clemson’s appearance in the Music City Bowl
will be the 12th different bowl game the Tigers have
played in. Clemson has a 7-4 record the first time it
appears in a bowl.
Clemson has beaten some of the top programs
in college football history in bowl games. The list of
schools Clemson has beaten in a bowl game
includes prominent programs Colorado, Miami (FL),
Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State,
Stanford, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
Clemson won its first three bowl games, wins
over Boston College, Missouri, and Miami (FL). The
three coaches Clemson defeated in those games
were Leahy, Don Faurot, and Andy Gustafson, and
all three are in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Clemson has a football program that has been
steady over the years in bowl games, no matter who
has been head coach. No less than six different
head coaches (Jess Neely, Frank Howard, Danny
Ford, Ken Hatfield, Tommy West, and Tommy
Bowden) have won bowl games for the Tigers.
Overall, eight of Clemson’s 15 bowl victories
have come against coaches who are in the College
Football Hall of Fame. Clemson has four bowl
victories over coaches who are in the 200-victory
club. Woody Hayes of Ohio State, Tom Osborne of
Nebraska, Joe Paterno of Penn State, and Don
Nehlen of West Virginia are all coaches with at least 200 wins who lost bowl games to Clemson.
Clemson in Nashville for First Time Since 1960
This will be Clemson’s first appearance in
Nashville since the 1960 season. The Tigers have
played four games at Vanderbilt over the years
(1905, 1908, 1958, 1960). Clemson’s only win in
Nashville came in 1958, an exciting 12-7 victory over
the Commodores. Harvey White scored the gamewinning
touchdown with just three seconds left for
the win. It is still the latest game-winning touchdown
in Clemson history in a game decided in regulation.
James Davis’ score with eight seconds left to beat
No. 9 Florida State this year is the second latest.
Bullet Notes on the 2006 Tigers
• Clemson is the only ACC team and one of just 11
teams nationally to record two wins over top-15
teams (at time of the game) in 2006. Tigers
defeated #9 Florida State on the road and #13
Georgia Tech at home. Clemson was ranked #10
in the nation with a 7-1 record after a 31-7 win
over Georgia Tech on October 21.
• Rated #24 in the Sagarin computer ratings entering
the bowl season, including second among ACC
teams (behind Virginia Tech).
• Only ACC team to defeat both teams that played
in the 2006 ACC Championship game. Clemson
handed Wake Forest and Georgia Tech two of their
combined three league losses this year.
• Scored has 52 touchdowns (including six on
returns), the second-highest total in school history.
• First ACC team to defeat Florida State three out of
four years.
• Clemson and Ohio State are only teams in the
nation in the top 15 in total offense, total defense,
scoring offense, and scoring defense. It is the first
Clemson team since 1978 to be in the top 15 in all
four categories in the same season.
• Clemson and Louisiana State are only teams in
the nation to be in the top 10 in the nation in fewest
yards per play allowed on defense and most yards
per play on offense.
• Has 14 touchdowns of 50 yards or more (offense
and returns), a Clemson single-season record.
• Suffered just one loss by more than six points in
2006. Clemson has had just one loss by more
than six points in the last 30 games. This 29-of-30
stretch is the best by Clemson since the 1980-84
era. Clemson had a streak of 26 ended by Virginia
Tech. That was the best streak in 100 years.
• Clemson lost two games by one point, the only
team in school history to lose two one-point games.
• Achieved an 8-4 record this year despite having
seven starters injured for a total of 40 missed
games. Eleven players missed 57 total games.
• Clemson has 38 players on its current roster who
have played in a bowl game, including 15 who have
started a bowl game.
• Clemson played the most difficult ACC schedule
among conference teams. The Tigers’ ACC
opponents were a combined 33-23 in conference
games (excluding games against Clemson).
• Clemson’s 20-man senior class will include 12
players with their degrees when the Tigers meet
Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.
• Clemson’s senior class has eight wins over top-20
teams in their careers, tied for the school record in
a four-year period.
• Clemson has outgained the opposition by an
average of 141.6 yards per game this year,
seventh-best in the nation and third-best in
Clemson history for a season.
• The 2006 season marked the first time Clemson
has won eight games in consecutive seasons since
the 1990-91 era.
• Fifth among top-25 teams in graduation rate at the
time the ratings were released in October.
• Clemson had five First-Team All-ACC players, the
most since 2000. Clemson tied Wake Forest for
the most First-Team All-ACC players.
• With this year’s winning season, Tommy Bowden
became the first coach in school history to lead
the Tigers to seven consecutive winning seasons.
Individual Notes
• James Davis has tied the Clemson single-season
record for rushing touchdowns (17).
• Davis was named National Player-of-the-Week by
Walter Camp Foundation for his 216-yard game
against Georgia Tech. That is the most rushing
yards in a game by an ACC player this year.
• C.J. Spiller set the Clemson record for touchdown
plays of 50 yards or more in a season with six and
is just one short of the career record of seven held
by Derrick Hamilton.
• Spiller has established Clemson freshman records
for touchdowns, 100-yard rushing games, and allpurpose
running yards. He needs 86 yards in the
bowl game to give Clemson a second running back
with 1,000 yards in 2006.
• Spiller has averaged 7.37 yards per rush in 2006,
the highest average by an ACC running back since
Warrick Dunn had a 7.48-yard average in 1995.
• Thomas Hunter had 305 reception yards, most by
a Tiger tight end since Bennie Cunningham in 1975.
• Freshman defensive end Ricky Sapp has four
sacks, tying the record for a Clemson first-year
freshman (William Perry in 1981).
• Will Proctor is first in Clemson history in career
passing efficiency, and his 135.0 figure for this year
is sixth-best in a single season in Clemson history.
• Chansi Stuckey is second to Calvin Johnson in
receptions and reception yards per game in the
ACC. He earned First-Team All-ACC honors for
the second straight year, the first Tiger wideout to
make the team in consecutive years in 25 seasons.
• Gaines Adams leads the ACC and is 10th in the
nation in sacks. His 10.5 sacks are tied for second
in Tiger history in a season. Adams is a unanimous
first-team All-American, just the second one in
school history (Terry Kinard in 1982 was the other)
• Adams was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award
and the Hendricks Award, and he was a semifinalist
for the Lombardi Award. He was also named ACC
Defensive Player-of-the-Year.
• Jad Dean has 51 career field goals, fifth-most in
Tiger history. He is sixth in Clemson scoring (250)
and fourth in ACC history in field-goal percentage.
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