2007 Clemson Tigers football team

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.

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
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 →

2007 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	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

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
September 8	1:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe*	No. 25	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPNGP	W 49–26	77,628
September 15	1:00 p.m.	Furman*	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPNGP	W 38–10	80,419
September 22	12:00 p.m.	at NC State	No. 15	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (Textile Bowl)	LFS	W 42–20	56,903
September 29	3:30 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	No. 13	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	ABC	L 3–13	54,635
October 6	6:00 p.m.	No. 15 Virginia Tech	No. 22	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPN	L 23–41	82,047
October 20	12:00 p.m.	Central Michigan*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPNU	W 70–14	81,361
October 27	3:30 p.m.	at Maryland		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	ABC	W 30–17	50,948
November 3	12:00 p.m.	at Duke	No. 25	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ESPNGP	W 47–10	20,457
November 10	12:00 p.m.	Wake Forest	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPN2	W 44–10	82,422
November 17	7:45 p.m.	No. 18 Boston College	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPN2	L 17–20	83,472
November 24	7:00 p.m.	at South Carolina*	No. 21	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry )	ESPN2	W 23–21	82,410
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
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[4]

Game summaries

No. 19 Florida State

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

See also: 2007 Florida State Seminoles football team and Clemson–Florida State football rivalry

Louisiana-Monroe

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

See also: 2007 Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks football team

Furman

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

See also: 2007 Furman Paladins football team

At NC State

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

See also: 2007 NC State Wolfpack football team and Textile Bowl

At Georgia Tech

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

See also: 2007 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team and Clemson-Georgia Tech football rivalry

No. 15 Virginia Tech

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

See also: 2007 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

Central Michigan

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

See also: 2007 Central Michigan Chippewas football team

At Maryland

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

See also: 2007 Maryland Terrapins football team

At Duke

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

See also: 2007 Duke Blue Devils football team

Wake Forest

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

See also: 2007 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team

No. 18 Boston College

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

See also: 2007 Boston College Eagles football team and O'Rourke-McFadden Trophy

At South Carolina

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

See also: 2007 South Carolina Gamecocks football team and Palmetto Bowl

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

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 15 Clemson Tigers	0	7	0	10	3	20
No. 22 Auburn Tigers	3	0	7	7	6	23

See also: 2007 Auburn Tigers football team, Chick-fil-A Bowl, and Auburn-Clemson football rivalry

Rankings

See also: 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	25	20	15	13	22	RV	RV	RV	25	20	15	21	16	15	21
Coaches Poll	RV	RV	20	14	13	22	RV	RV	RV	24	20	16	22	17	16	22
Harris	Not released				13	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	20	16	22	18	16	Not released
BCS	Not released							—	—	25	21	15	22	16	15	Not released

Depth chart

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

Defense FS Chris Clemons Chris Russell WLB MLB SLB ⋅ Antonio Clay ⋅ Kavell Conner Kevin Alexander ⋅ Cat Michael Hamlin DeAndre McDaniel CB Crezdon Butler Byron Maxwell DE DT DT DE Ricky Sapp Dorrell Scott Rashaad Jackson Phillip Merling Kwam Williams Jock McKissic Antwon Murchison Jamie Cumbie CB Chris Chancellor Haydrian Lewis Offense WR Aaron Kelly Xavier Dye WR Rendrick Taylor Tyler Grisham LT LG C RG RT Barry Richardson Chris McDuffie Barry Humphries Thomas Austin Chris Capote Chris Hairston Jamarcus Grant Bobby Hutchinson Brandon Pilgrim Cory Lambert TE Michael Palmer Akeem Robinson WR Jacoby Ford La'Donte Harris QB Cullen Harper Willy Korn Key reserves RB Sadat Chambers RB James Davis C. J. Spiller

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

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.