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 (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Rob Spence (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Vic Koenning (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (c. 80,301, grass)
Seasons ← 2006 2008 →

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 played against the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest in November and played the 2006 Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan for the first time. The 2007 season saw Clemson meeting Louisiana-Monroe and Central Michigan for the first time, with Clemson beating both of them.

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 p.m.	No. 19 Florida State		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)	ESPN	W 24–18	81,993[4]
September 8	1:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe*	No. 25	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPNGP	W 49–26	77,628[4]
September 15	1:00 p.m.	Furman*	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPNGP	W 38–10	80,419[4]
September 22	Noon	at NC State	No. 15	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (Textile Bowl)	LFS	W 42–20	56,903[4]
September 29	3:30 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	No. 13	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	ABC	L 3–13	54,635[4]
October 6	6:00 p.m.	No. 15 Virginia Tech	No. 22	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPN	L 23–41	82,047[4]
October 20	Noon	Central Michigan*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPNU	W 70–14	81,361[4]
October 27	3:30 p.m.	at Maryland		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	ABC	W 30–17	50,948[4]
November 3	Noon	at Duke	No. 25	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ESPNGP	W 47–10	20,457[4]
November 10	Noon	Wake Forest	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPN2	W 44–10	82,422[4]
November 17	7:45 p.m.	No. 18 Boston College	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 17–20	83,472[4]
November 24	7:00 p.m.	at South Carolina*	No. 21	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (Palmetto Bowl)	ESPN2	W 23–21	82,410[4]
December 31	7:45 p.m.	vs. No. 22 Auburn*	No. 15	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (Chick-fil-A Bowl / rivalry)	ESPN	L 20–23 OT	74,413[4]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Depth chart[]

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

Coaching staff[]

• Tommy Bowden – Head Coach
• Rob Spence – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
• Vic Koenning – Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs
• Brad Scott – Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line
• David Blackwell – Linebackers
• Andre Powell – Running Backs
• Billy Napier – Tight Ends/Recruiting Coordinator
• Chris Rumph – Defensive Line
• Dabo Swinney – Wide Receivers
• Ron West – Outside Linebackers
• Mike Dooley – Defensive Video Graduate Assistant
• Andy Ford – Defensive Graduate Assistant
• Paul Hogan – Offensive Graduate Assistant
• Willie Simmons – Offensive Video Graduate Assistant

References[]