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2007 Clemson Tigers football team

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2007 Clemson Tigers football
Chick-fil-A Bowl, L 20–23 OT vs. Auburn
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
DivisionAtlantic Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 22
APNo. 21
Record9–4 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRob Spence (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorVic Koenning (3rd season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium (c. 80,301, grass)
Seasons
← 2006
2008 →
2007 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Atlantic Division
No. 10 Boston College x   6 2     11 3  
No. 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
No. 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 (FL)   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

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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

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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

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 38:00 p.m.No. 19 Florida StateESPNW 24–1881,993
September 81:00 p.m.Louisiana–Monroe*No. 25
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
ESPNGPW 49–2677,628
September 151:00 p.m.Furman*No. 20
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
ESPNGPW 38–1080,419
September 2212:00 p.m.at NC StateNo. 15LFSW 42–2056,903
September 293:30 p.m.at Georgia TechNo. 13ABCL 3–1354,635
October 66:00 p.m.No. 15 Virginia TechNo. 22
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
ESPNL 23–4182,047
October 2012:00 p.m.Central Michigan*dagger
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
ESPNUW 70–1481,361
October 273:30 p.m.at MarylandABCW 30–1750,948
November 312:00 p.m.at DukeNo. 25ESPNGPW 47–1020,457
November 1012:00 p.m.Wake ForestNo. 20
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
ESPN2W 44–1082,422
November 177:45 p.m.No. 18 Boston CollegeNo. 15
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
ESPN2L 17–2083,472
November 247:00 p.m.at South Carolina*No. 21ESPN2W 23–2182,410
December 317:45 p.m.vs. No. 22 Auburn*No. 15ESPNL 20–23 OT74,413
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

[4]

Game summaries

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No. 19 Florida State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Seminoles 0 3 8 7 18
Tigers 14 10 0 0 24

Louisiana-Monroe

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1 2 3 4 Total
Warhawks 7 3 3 13 26
No. 25 Tigers 14 14 14 7 49

Furman

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1 2 3 4 Total
Paladins 0 3 0 7 10
No. 20 Tigers 10 7 7 14 38

At NC State

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 15 Tigers 0 0 0 0 0
Wolfpack 0 0 0 0 0

At Georgia Tech

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 13 Tigers 3 0 0 0 3
Yellow Jackets 7 0 3 3 13

No. 15 Virginia Tech

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 15 Hokies 17 14 0 10 41
No. 22 Tigers 0 8 0 15 23

Central Michigan

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1 2 3 4 Total
Chippewas 7 0 7 0 14
Tigers 7 28 28 7 70

At Maryland

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1 2 3 4 Total
Tigers 0 0 0 0 0
Terrapins 0 0 0 0 0

At Duke

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 25 Tigers 3 23 14 7 47
Blue Devils 7 0 0 3 10

Wake Forest

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1 2 3 4 Total
Demon Deacons 7 0 3 0 10
No. 20 Tigers 10 17 10 7 44

No. 18 Boston College

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 18 Eagles 0 3 0 17 20
No. 15 Tigers 7 0 3 7 17

At South Carolina

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 21 Tigers 0 0 0 0 0
Gamecocks 0 0 0 0 0

Vs. No. 22 Auburn (Chick-fil-A Bowl)

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1 2 3 4OT Total
No. 15 Clemson Tigers 0 7 0 103 20
No. 22 Auburn Tigers 3 0 7 76 23

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
APRV2520151322RVRVRV25201521161521
Coaches PollRVRV20141322RVRVRV24201622171622
HarrisNot released1322RVRVRVRV2016221816Not released
BCSNot released252115221615Not released

Depth chart

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

Coaching staff

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  • 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

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  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". Archived from the original on January 9, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
  4. ^ "2007 Clemson Football Stats". Clemson University. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2011.