Wednesday September 07, 2005

A little Clemson Football History

Since this is the week we play Maryland, lets look back at a historic Maryland game.

The Date: November 12, 1983

The Place: Death Valley

The Weather: Sunny, Cool 52º

Yes, this was the famous balloon release of 1983 called “Rising Above” where 363,729 balloons were released during the pregame putting Clemson in the Guiness Book of World Records. A huge task that took 3,000 student volunteers, 400 cylinders of helium, 250 miles of string and a cost of $28,000 raised by IPTAY through a direct mail request of a $5 donation from each IPTAY member.

As for the game, this was a huge game with Maryland coming to town without a conference defeat. Maryland did however have a loss to Auburn the week before and was looking for redemption. Lead by coach Bobby Ross (yes the same Bobby Ross to lead Georgia Tech to a national championship just 7 years later) Maryland had an overall record at that point of 7-2. The quarterback for Maryland was none other than Boomer Esiason who later went on to quarterback for the Bengals, Jets and Cardinals during a 14-year NFL career. Esiason was lead by first year offensive coordinator Ralph Friedgen.

Clemson, on the other hand, comes into this game with an impressive unbeaten streak at home of 19 games under coach Danny Ford. The Tigers record at that point was 7-1-1 with a loss to Boston College and a tie with Georgia.

Lead by quarterback Mike Eppley this rout of Maryland got started with a pass to Kenny Flowers, who ran down the sidelines for 64 yards and the TD.

Eppley also set the Clemson single-season TD pass mark (12) with a 13 yard pass to K.D. Dunn. Kevin Mack also had a great afternoon, on his way to 186 yards on 30 carries. Overall the Tigers rushed the ball for a total of 350 yards, giving and overall offense yardage of 544 yards! When it was all over the score was:

Maryland – 27
Clemson – 52

And yes, the goalpost did come down that afternoon.

That was 22 years ago. Where were you 22 years ago? I was at that game. Just for fun here was where our coaches were:

Tommy Bowden – Quarterbacks coach at Duke
Brad Scott – Head coach at DeSoto County High in Arcadia, FL
Vic Koenning – Pro football player with the Denver Broncos
Rob Spence – Offensive Coor/JV head coach at Iona Prep in New Rochelle, NY
David Blackwell – Just 12 years old, might have been at the game.
Burton Burns – Apparently away from coaching during that period
Jack Hines – DC and defensive backs coach at Morgantown High
Marion Hobby – Just 17 years old

That’s all for now, stay tuned for more….

A little Clemson Football History