Dean's Last Second Kick Buries #17 Aggies |
CLEMSON - Somewhere near noon on ESPN's Gameday, analyst Kirk Herbstreit had this reasoning for picking Texas A&M to defeat Clemson Saturday night at Death Valley.
"If you get Clemson down," Herbstreit said, "they'll quit." Whether or not any of the Tiger players heard him, ultimately they proved Herbstreit wrong. And they did so in dramatic fashion. Clemson (1-0) rode a school-record six field goals from junior kicker Jad Dean - including the game-winner from 42-yards away with :02 left to play - to a 25-24 upset of the 17th-ranked Aggies. The game was played before a sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium. After the final two seconds elapsed following the ensuing kickoff, thousands of fans swarmed the field as Dean was playfully pummeled by his teammates. Head coach Tommy Bowden, speaking to an ABC television reporter in the midst of the hysteria, tried to play the role of wise old sage. "You stay in this game long enough, you'll win some of these and you'll lose some," he said. Fortunately for Bowden and Co. the Tigers won this one, getting positive momentum rolling into a next three weeks which sees games at Maryland, then home for both Miami and Boston College. And they did it under trying circumstances, some of which might have led a lesser team to succumb to Herbstreit's analysis. For instance: - Backup quarterback Will Proctor led the game-winning drive, having replaced starter Charlie Whitehurst who left the game early in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a mild concussion; - They set up Dean's winning kick by riding freshman running back James Davis on eight consecutive plays on the final drive. Davis finished with 101 rushing yards in his collegiate debut; - The Tiger defense, which gave up a nine-point lead in the second half, held Texas A&M to a three-and-out on its final stand, getting Proctor and the offense the ball back for the final drive; - Finally, holder Cole Chason dug out a low snap from Nic Riddle and got a solid hold down to make Dean's winning kick possible. All in all, it added up to yet another nailbiter, something Bowden saw quite a bit in 2004. "I'm getting used to it, especially with the games we had last year," he said. "I hope the rest of the year doesn't go like it did tonight. Trailing 24-22, Clemson held the Aggies (0-1) on a third-and-three inside their own 20, forcing the punt. The Tigers then turned to Davis, the true freshman from Atlanta, who carried the ball eight straight times to get Clemson into field goal position. The final carry was simply to set the ball in the center of the field at the 25-yard line, giving Dean the best look possible. Chason dug out the low snap and got it set in plenty of time for the junior kicker, who split the uprights from 42 yards away. Dean was 6-of-6 on the night with field goals of 21, 21, 25, 18 and 44 yards before his game winner. The kicks broke the Clemson mark of five set three times by former all-Atlantic Coast Conference kicker Nelson Welch in 1991 against North Carolina State, 1992 against Maryland and 1994 against North Carolina. The comeback offset another strong performance by Aggie quarterback Reggie McNeal, who had over 200 yards of total offense on the day and let Texas A&M on two second-half touchdown drives. Clemson led 16-10 at the half thanks to the first three of Dean's field goals and a 47-yard punt return for a score by Chansi Stuckey. Dean's fourth field goal in the third quarter capped a 95-yard drive and gave the Tigers the 19-10 lead.
A&M Clemson
PLAYER STATISTICS
Aggies (0-1)
Passing
CP/AT YDS TD INT
R McNeal 8/16 112 1 1
J Carter 0/1 0 0 0
Rushing
ATT YDS TD LG
R McNeal 9 99 0 49
C Lewis 17 78 2 34
C Alexander 3 43 0 35
J Carter 4 25 0 19
Receiving
REC YDS TD LG
C Schroeder 1 31 1 31
D Mobley 1 28 0 28
C Lewis 2 26 0 23
J Carter 3 24 0 15
E Taylor 1 0 0 0
Kicking
FG LG XP PTS
T Pegram 1/1 35 3/3 6
Punting
NO AVG I20 LG
Kickoff Returns
NO AVG TD LG
J Carter 3 31.3 0 49
B Leone 1 0.0 0 0
K Smith 1 0.0 0 0
Punt Returns
NO AVG TD LG
Defense
SCK INT FF
C Harrington 1.0 0 0
Tigers (1-0)
Passing
CP/AT YDS TD INT C Whitehurst 14/20 187 0 0 W Proctor 2/4 27 0 0
Rushing
ATT YDS TD LG
J Davis 19 101 0 33
D Coleman 10 21 0 7
R Merriweather 9 21 0 6
K Browning 7 19 0 5
W Proctor 3 18 0 7
C Stuckey 1 2 0 12
C Whitehurst 2 -1 0 3
Receiving
REC YDS TD LG C Stuckey 3 51 0 23 C Baham 3 50 0 21 A Kelly 4 47 0 22 K Browning 1 33 0 33 C Downer 3 24 0 12 J Davis 1 6 0 7 D Coleman 1 5 0 5
Kicking
FG LG XP PTS J Dean 6/6 44 1/1 19
Punting
NO AVG I20 LG C Chason 3 25.3 1 31
Kickoff Returns
NO AVG TD LG D Coleman 3 21.3 0 26
Punt Returns
NO AVG TD LG C Stuckey 2 26.5 1 47
Defense
SCK INT FF S Gilliam 0.0 1 0
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
FG Todd Pegram 35 Yd, 11:40. Drive: 10 plays, 10 yards in 03:20.
2nd Quarter
FG Jad Dean 21 Yd, 14:57.
TD Chansi Stuckey, 47 Yd punt return (Jad Dean kick is good), 12:44.
TD Courtney Lewis, 3 Yd run (Todd Pegram kick is good), 9:44. Drive: 8 plays, 86 yards in 03:00.
FG Jad Dean 21 Yd, 4:58. Drive: 10 plays, 15 yards in 04:46.
FG Jad Dean 25 Yd, 0:03. Drive: 8 plays, 22 yards in 03:39.
3rd Quarter
FG Jad Dean 18 Yd, 3:00. Drive: 13 plays, 37 yards in 07:59.
TD Courtney Lewis, 1 Yd run (Todd Pegram kick is good), 15:00. Drive: 8 plays, 51 yards in 12:00.
4th Quarter
FG Jad Dean 44 Yd, 10:37. Drive: 10 plays, 10 yards in 04:23.
TD Chad Schroeder, 31 Yd pass from Reggie McNeal (Todd Pegram kick is good), 9:22. Drive: 3 plays, 80 yards in 01:15.
FG Jad Dean 42 Yd, 0:02. Drive: 8 plays, 7 yards in 03:58.
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