Charlie’s gone, but Clemson will be tough

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, March 24, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

Clemson Tigers
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For decades now, the Clemson Tigers football program has resided in a place called "Average".

The Tigers are always pretty good, never great. They always go to a lower-tier bowl, knock off at least one highly-ranked team during the regular season, and earn respect from the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

But since 1982 - when a Tiger squad featuring William "The Refrigerator" Perry and coached by Danny Ford upset star-studded Nebraska (Mike Rozier, Irving Fryar, Roger Craig, Dave Rimington, Mike Munchak, Dean Steinkuhler) 22-15 in the Orange Bowl to win a national championship - Clemson has never really been a title contender. That could change this year.

Actually, Clemson came close to BCS-hood last season behind QB Charlie Whitehurst. The Tigers' four losses were inflicted by a total of 14 gut-wrenching points -- two of them in overtime -- making Bowden's squad perhaps the most star-crossed in America.

The Tigers started out 2-0 in 2005, then lost 36-30 to Miami in three overtimes. The following week, they dropped another overtime decision, 16-13 to Boston College, then fell to 2-3 with a 31-27 loss to Wake Forest. After rebounding to beat North Carolina State and Temple, Clemson then fell 10-9 to Georgia Tech before closing with a rush, dominating Duke, Florida State (35-14) and South Carolina to finish 7-4, then beating Colorado 19-10 in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Whitehurst is gone, having established 46 new school records (who knew that teams even had that many records to establish?!), and will no doubt be playing in the NFL this fall. His replacement is Will Proctor, rated as a better runner with a less-potent throwing arm.

But that's the bad news. Otherwise, the Tigers will be loaded on offense, including the return of all five starters on the offensive line. Running back James Davis was the ACC Freshman of the Year last season with 897 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, and ran all over Colorado (150 yards) in the postseason. Backup Reggie Merriweather was almost as good, accumulating 715 yards and seven touchdowns.

Proctor's chief target will be Chansi Stuckey, the ACC's top returning receiver (64 catches, 700 yards, four TDs), but Aaron Kelly caught 47 balls from Whitehurst and true freshman Jacoby Ford has made an impact in spring drills.

Guard Roman Fry, center Dustin Fry and tackle Nathan Bennett will be three of the ACC's top O-linemen this season. The 6-4, 290-pound R. Fry, who also played center and tackle at times last season, had a scary 18 knockdown blocks in the victory over Florida State, 98.5 (according to Clemson's stat keepers) overall.

On defense, Bowden needs to replace cornerback Tye Hill (a probable first-round NFL draftee) and safety Jamaal Fudge, but safety Michael Hamlin was a freshman All-American last season and converted offensive players Duane Coleman and C.J. Gaddis have settled into cornerback slots. Linebacker Anthony Waters is the ACC's leading returning tackler with 109, while DE Gaines Adams has become one of Mel Kiper's darlings.

Adams played eight-man football in high school at a small private school near Greenwood, S.C. At 6-5, 260, he probably counted for two men.

Finally, placekicker Jad Dean returns for his senior season after setting a school record (Charlie Whitehurst missed one?) as a junior with 24 field goals. In the season-opening victory over Texas A&M, he was 6-for-6.

In short, the always-boisterous Clemson fans can't wait. This year, the place called Average may not be big enough to contain their Tigers.
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