Harper and Hamlin Named Permanent Captains

Junior quarterback Cullen Harper and junior safety Michael Hamlin were named permanent captains of the 2007 Clemson football team on Saturday by Head Coach Tommy Bowden. The captains were selected by a vote of the 2007 team.

It marked the first time since 1977 that two non-seniors were named offensive and defensive captains of the Clemson football team in the same year. Thirty years ago junior quarterback Steve Fuller and junior linebacker Randy Scott were named the permanent captains.

The Tigers finished the regular season with a 9-3 record and is ranked 15th in the Associated Press poll entering its Chick-fil-A Bowl game with Auburn on December 31 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA.

"We had a lot of leaders on this football team," said Bowden. "We had more people receive votes than in any other season since I have been at Clemson. The fact that we had a lot of players receive votes tells me that we had a lot of leaders this year and that was a reason for our 9-3 record thus far."

Harper is the fourth quarterback under Bowden to be named a permanent offensive captain. Brandon Streeter (1999), Woody Dantzler (2001) and Charlie Whitehurst (2005) were also named permanent captains. Harper is the first underclassman named since Louis Solomon in 1994.

Harper ranked first in the ACC in passing efficiency this year with a 146.9 figure. He had a school record 27 touchdown passes against just six interceptions, and threw for 2,887 yards. He completed 67 percent of his passes and set 22 school records overall. He has led Clemson to nine wins, the most by a first-team year starter at quarterback since 1990 when Dechane Cameron quarterbacked Clemson to a 10-2 record.

Hamlin, a junior from Summerville, SC, ranked second on the team in tackles with 83. He led the team in takeaways with six and also had 10 passes defensed. Hamlin was a big reason Clemson ranked in the top 10 in the nation in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense.