Tigers RB Spiller joins exclusive company
CLEMSON — Clemson's C.J. Spiller joined an exclusive club Saturday.
Actually, Spiller's 60-yard reception formed the exclusive group, which had just included one member prior to the TCU game.
Spiller became the second player in college football history to record career totals of 1,000 receiving yards (1,067), 2,500 yards rushing (2,623), 1,500 kickoff return yards (1,534) and 500 yards in punt returns (541).
The other player? Former Southern California running back and Heisman winner Reggie Bush. Spiller also passed Travis Zachery (1,057 — 1998-2001) for the most receiving yards by a Clemson running back.
Two plays after the catch, Spiller scored his first rushing touchdown of the season.
It was part of another outstanding showing for Spiller, who led the team in receiving yardage (79 yards, three catches) and rushing, 112 yards on a career-high 26 carries.
Spiller is playing through turf toe, though he said the injury is improving and that he felt 'great' Saturday.
He was in the locker room for treatment on at least one occasion in the first half. He also suffered hamstring cramps in the second half.
Hairston, Hughes MIA
It turns out both Chris Hairston and Jerry Hughes went missing in action Saturday.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said all week Hairston was to be a game-time decision. Hairston sprained his left knee against Boston College last week, an injury that typically requires several weeks of rest.
Clemson's left tackle did not appear to be close to 100 percent in pregame warmups and did not play Saturday against TCU and Hughes, the edge-rusher extraordinaire.
Without Hairston, the Tigers did an effective job neutralizing Hughes, who led the nation in sacks last season (15) and had already tallied 4˝ through two games this season.
Hughes finished the day with two tackles and did not have a sack. Landon Walker did a solid job in one-on-one situations against Hughes, and Cory Lambert also spent some time late at right tackle.
The Tigers' plan was apparently to utilize as many different blocking schemes as possible. The Tigers double-teamed and ran at Hughes early in the game to keep him on his heels. On the initial drive, the Tigers also featured an unbalanced line with tight ends taking Hughes one-on-one.
Morrison transition
Danny Morrison was on hand for the game on his last day with TCU. The former athletic director starts his new job Tuesday as president of the Carolina Panthers.
Morrison is a former Wofford College athletic director and Southern Conference commissioner. The Panthers hold their training camp at Wofford, and Panthers owner Jerry Richardson is a former Wofford football player.
Plenty of good seats still available
Despite the country's No. 15 team visiting Death Valley, and that the game was not televised, Clemson announced a crowd of 70,000 — exactly 70,000.
It was Clemson's lowest attendance of the season.
Against Middle Tennessee, Clemson drew 75,000, and 77,000 observed the Boston College game. The attendance was 85 percent of Memorial Stadium's 81,500 capacity. The left and right flanks of the upper decks were sparsely populated. The weather no doubt hurt Saturday's attendance figures.
The few, the proud, the Horned Frogs
TCU has just 3,625 male students. With 120 players on the TCU football roster, 3.2 percent of its male students are football players. If Ohio State, which has one of the largest enrollments in the country, had the same student-to-football player ratio, the Buckeyes would have a 1,000-strong member football roster.
Did you know?
TCU was way ahead of the trend of minor league baseball teams and colleges in creating unusual mascots for marketing purposes. In 1897, four TCU students helped make the decision to adopt the Horned Frog as the mascot. TCU was then called AddRan Christian University, renamed Texas Christian in 1902.
Sammy who?
With the win, TCU quarterback Andy Dalton moved into third place on the school's all-time win list at 20, 10 behind former Horned Frog and Philadelphia Eagles star Sammy Baugh. Dalton finished with 86 yards on 19 carries and completed 17 of 26 pass attempts for 226 yards.
Extra Points
Clemson freshman defensive end Malliciah Goodman sacked Dalton in the third quarter, stalling a TCU drive. It was Goodman's first sack and third tackle-for-loss this season. … Backup Clemson quarterback Willy Korn did not play in the game.
