CLEMSON 26, FSU 10: Tommy Bowden gets first win against father Bobby, keeping 'Noles from clinching ACC title.
By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published November 9, 2003
[AP photo]
Clemson fans take down the goal post after upsetting third rank Florida State 26-10.
CLEMSON, S.C. - Though five seconds remained on the clock Saturday night, Clemson fans couldn't wait any longer and poured onto the field at Memorial Stadium to celebrate.
Forgive them. They had been waiting a long time for this. So had their coach, Tommy Bowden.
Bowden had lost four straight to father Bobby Bowden and Florida State, adding to the 11 consecutive losses to the Tigers' ACC rivals, but he finally got one on his old man. A big one. One he and his program desperately needed.
The Tigers whipped the No.3 Seminoles 26-10, denying FSU the ACC title outright - for at least a week - but derailing its national title hopes.
Son of a gun.
"We got a real good beating tonight," Papa Bowden said. "It wasn't a fluke. His job ought to be good for another five days."
After an embarrassing loss last week to Wake Forest, the younger Bowden clearly has reduced the heat on his job - for at least a week - if the reaction from the crowd and the fallen goal posts were an indication. The goal post in the west end zone came down in minutes. Fans eventually carried it across the field, up the famed hill toward Howard's Rock.
"When you beat a Florida State, a Bobby Bowden-coached Florida State team, you've beaten the best," said Tommy Bowden, who was doused with water in the waning moments. "From a professional standpoint, that's rewarding. But it's more of a backburner to how I feel for the players.
"Thank goodness they didn't listen to the media or read the newspaper or the Internet because they wouldn't have (thought they'd have) a chance. You like to see players respond when their backs are against the wall."
And that's what worried Papa Bowden, whose Seminoles (8-2, 6-1) need a win Saturday against North Carolina State to claim the league crown and the lucrative Bowl Championship Series berth that goes with it.
The up-and-down Tigers (6-4, 4-3) were coming off a 45-17 loss to Wake Forest, in which they fell behind 45-0, and FSU was coming off a shutout at Notre Dame.
"We played so good against Notre Dame; they played so bad," Bobby Bowden said. "You put those two against each other you and you get a brain transplant every daggum time. ... They looked like No.3, we looked unranked."
Like many other teams, the Tigers seemed intent to stop the FSU running game first and, a week after Wake ran roughshod through them (321 rushing yards), they held FSU to 11 yards. That forced the inconsistent Chris Rix to beat them through the air.
He didn't. Facing constant blitzes, Rix completed 16-of-31 for 194 yards and threw two touchdowns. He also lost a fumble and was sacked three times.
"I'll look and see where we failed," Bowden said. "There was entirely too much heat on him. And he was not hot."
But the defense had its problems, too.
Up 6-0 on two short Aaron Hunt field goals, the Tigers faced a second and 14 from midfield with 5:45 left in the half and converted when cornerback Rufus Brown was called for pass interference on Kevin Youngblood. Defensive tackle Darnell Dockett rushed over and, taking a shove in the back from sophomore tight end Bobby Williamson (East Lake), he plowed forearm head-high into Youngblood. The officials ejected Dockett, the heart and soul of the Seminoles defense.
"The Clemson guy pushed me from behind and I ran into one of their receivers; that's what happened and they called a flagrant foul," Dockett said. "It was a terrible feeling standing on the sidelines and not being able to help my team."
Safety Jerome Carter stopped the Clemson drive with his first career interception, but the Tigers again held on defense, and Whitehurst followed with a 51-yard pass to Youngblood. Whitehurst scored on a 1-yard run fora 13-0 halftime lead.
The Seminoles missed a chance to get on the board early in the third quarter when Xavier Beitia, a semifinalist for the Groza Award out of Jesuit, missed a 40-yard field goal. Aided by pass interference and roughing the passer penalties, the Tigers added a 32-yard field goal by Hunt midway through the third quarter for a 16-0 lead.
The Seminoles finally answered as Beitia hit a 46-yard field goal, but Whitehurst responded with a 58-yard touchdown to Derrick Hamilton. After a Rix fumble, his third turnover of the game, Hunt added a 37-yard field goal for a startling 26-3 lead with 8:29 left. A 71-yard touchdown from Fabian Walker to Chauncey Stovall provided a cosmetic touch.
"We didn't play our best and didn't do the things we needed to do to win the game," said linebacker Michael Boulware, another South Carolina native. "Now our backs are against the wall."
