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Honoring Clemson Football's Exciting 128 Seasons - And 799 Glorious Victories
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Sep 17, 2024, 12:14 PM
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I posted this recognition to Clemson football’s 128 Glorious seasons on Day 128 in Hill Watch this year. With Clemson sitting at 799 Victories, I hope my fellow TNetters don’t mind my reposting it. It seems appropriate with Clemson football on the verge of such a big milestone victory.
Here’s hoping that victory #800 comes this Saturday!!
Clemson football began in 1896. The first practice began in September. The first game began in October.
It has been quite a ride ever since!
Just to name a few (of the MANY) noteworthy events of the last 129 seasons (the Good and the Bad).
Clemson highlights AND lowlights depending on your perspective:
- A Clemson coach has become the namesake for the award given to the top college football player each season
- A rock from Death Valley and running down a hill become centerpieces for the Most Exciting 25 Seconds in College Football
- Sugar Blues are used for one game – not to be used again
- The Clemson Tiger Paw logo was designed from the paw print of an actual tiger!
- $2 Bills stamped with Tiger Paws
- The Catch (Enough said!)
- An opposing head coach punches a player during a game
- Orange Pants takes on a Magical Meaning
- Another Clemson coach became the youngest head coach ever to win a national championship
- A record number of balloons are released
- Two wins in Japan (Arigato to Japan!)
- Clemson and Maryland play a full game – with neither head coach allowed on the field
- The puntrooskie becomes the commemorative event for high-risk gambles during a game
- Clemson’s hurry-up offense leads the NCAA to change the rules for subbing players
- The Catch II (Enough said – Again!)
- 1st and 35
- A head coach takes a media member to task for misusing the term “##########” (which has since come to mean beating opponents)
- 4th and 16
- A huge win in a hurricane launches a team toward new heights – and an undefeated regular season – the term “B.Y.O.G.” is born
- A string of 12 consecutive seasons with double digit win totals
- Six CFP appearances
- A legendary team takes down the Evil Empire with the glorious “Watson to Renfrow” with 1 second remaining
- A golden-haired young man with a golden arm leads a team to the first 15-0 season in the modern era. The final win leaves NO DOUBT against an opponent previously considered the Greatest Team Ever!
- Clemson’s G.O.A.T. of a head coach now breaks the school record for wins with each victory
I am sure I have missed some big moments. I would love for others to add key moments that I have missed.
Historically, Clemson football is the Top 20 in several key Statistics:
Multiple Top 20 Rankings:
- Top 20 in Win Totals
- Top 20 in National Titles
- Top 20 in Conference Championships
- Top 20 in AP Rankings Appearances
- Top 20 in AP Rankings as #1
From ClemsonTigers.com:
ClemsonTigers.com has a GREAT timeline of fun/interesting events in the history of Clemson football – starting from the very beginning right up to the present day. Here are the first few excerpts:
1890s
Sept. 30, 1896 – A small crowd gathered in one of the barracks rooms and discussed the advisability of organizing a football association and to devise some means of getting a coach. The organization, known as the Clemson College Football Association, was perfected and the following officers elected: President Frank Tompkins, Secretary & Treasurer Charlie Gentry, Manager T.R. Vogel, Temporary Captain Reuben Hamilton. A committee of three was appointed to consult Prof. Riggs as to management of a football team and to ask his aid as coach.
Oct. 5, 1896 – Practice began on campus on a 50’ x 200’ field in front of the college.
Oct. 31, 1896 – Clemson played its first football game, defeating Furman 14-6 in Greenville, S.C. It was the first time that many of the Clemson players had seen a full-sized football gridiron. Charlie Gentry was credited with scoring the Tigers’ first touchdown.
Nov. 21, 1896 – Clemson defeated Wofford 16-0. When the team arrived back on campus that night, the cadet corps along with faculty members led the team around in a buggy led by a torchlight procession and proceeded to go all over the campus. With this win, Clemson claimed the state title.
Nov. 10, 1897 – Clemson defeated South Carolina for the first time and won the school’s second state championship. A total of 2,000 spectators witnessed the 18-6 triumph. Clemson took an early 4-0 lead when South Carolina’s Lee Hagood fumbled on the Gamecock’s 31-yard line and Clemson’s William Brock caught the fumbled ball in the air and raced 30 yards for a touchdown.
Oct. 20, 1898 – The Tigers played their first home game against Bingham. Clemson won 55-0, as W.C. Forsythe kicked every PAT (11). R.T.V. Bowman, the man for whom the field at Clemson is named, was an assistant coach at that time with Clemson and helped referee the game.
Nov. 10, 1899 – The football association stood on a very weak financial basis. The organization could not even afford to hire a coach. W.M. Riggs agreed to coach the Tigers for free.
Dec. 8, 1899 – John Heisman was hired as head coach.
1900s
Oct. 22, 1900 – The Tigers defeated Wofford 21-0. Actually, Clemson scored many more points, but a pregame agreement between the two stated that every point Clemson scored after the first four touchdowns would not count. No one could keep an accurate count after Clemson scored its first 21 points after just six minutes elapsed. All touchdowns Clemson made were called back and the ball given to Wofford deep in Clemson territory on such penalties as running over a Wofford tackler.
Nov. 29, 1900 – Clemson’s 35-0 win over Alabama allowed John Heisman’s team to finish the year undefeated (6-0). It was Clemson’s first undefeated team and was the only team to win all of the games in a season until the 1948 squad went 11-0. Clemson won the SIAA Championship, its first conference title.
Oct. 5, 1901 – Clemson opened the season with a 122-0 win over Guilford, the most points scored in Tiger history. They averaged 30 yards per play and a touchdown every minute and 26 seconds. The first half lasted 20 minutes while the second half lasted only 10 minutes. Legend has it that every man on the team scored a touchdown in the game.
Oct. 30, 1902 – Col. Charles S. Roller Jr., who was football coach of Furman, was the only referee for the Clemson-South Carolina game. Bronco Armstrong, a famous Yale player and official, was to be the umpire, but was in a railroad wreck on the way to Clemson and it was impossible for him to get to the game in time. Not a single penalty was called in the game. A riot between Tiger and Gamecock fans broke out the night after the game. Officials at both colleges called off the football series between the two schools. Clemson and South Carolina did not meet again in football until 1909.
Nov. 27, 1902 – Clemson played in the snow for the first time in a game against Tennessee. The Tigers won the game 11-0 and claimed the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association crown, their second league title in three years.
Oct. 10, 1903 – Clemson beat Georgia 29-0. In the first 10 minutes, Clemson fumbled the ball three times. After the game, the Georgia team made a deal with the Clemson team. They would give the Clemson team a bushel of apples for every point Clemson would defeat Georgia Tech above the score Clemson made against Georgia. The score turned out to be Clemson 73, Georgia Tech 0. Apples were plentiful around Clemson that winter – 44 bushels.”
https://clemsontigers.com/clemson-football-historical-timeline/
This ClemsonTigers.com website goes on to identify many, many GREAT moments! Definitely worth a read if you not yet checked it out!
Ultimately, another great strength of Clemson is the fans! Here’s to spending an Orange Saturday with 80,000 of your closest friends!
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