Clemson handles Citadel, takes step in right direction

CLEMSON — A convincing win over The Citadel does not purge the rancid taste of a horrid performance seven days earlier.

It does not eliminate the criticism and the questions that came from a beatdown against Alabama.

All Saturday's 45-17 victory gave Clemson was a good night's sleep for its coach and a little relief for its players.

"I'll sleep good for eight hours. I know that," coach Tommy Bowden said. "And our players will feel good for about 24 hours."

After a nightmarish week that followed the 34-10 humiliation against the Crimson Tide in Atlanta, the Tigers just needed to get on the field and get on with life. They orchestrated the domination that was expected against an overmatched team, rolling up 525 yards (273 passing, 252 rushing) while averaging 8.3 yards per play.

Clemson (1-1) entered halftime with a fairly tenuous 21-7 lead, but two touchdowns in the third quarter eliminated any remaining suspense. The Tigers were able to smile and laugh as they walked out of Memorial Stadium, even if they did allow The Citadel (1-1) to amass 427 yards (338 passing).

Clemson's record against teams from the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) improved to 21-0.

"This week felt like the longest week

I've had since I've been here," said senior safety Michael Hamlin, who tied a school record with three interceptions. "Coaches have been down our throats. Teachers have been down our throats. Students have been down our throats."

After a summer full of love from pundits and fans, the Tigers saw the exact opposite after the meltdown in the opener. No one could comprehend how a team could get beaten up so thoroughly and show so little fight.

"Every time you turned on ESPN, you've got Mark May and Lou Holtz talking about how Clemson got manhandled," said senior quarterback Cullen Harper, who was 14-of-18 passing for 192 yards and a touchdown.

Citadel quarterback Bart Blanchard had a big day, throwing for 279 yards on 22-of-35 passing with one touchdown and three interceptions.

"Our offense moved the ball at times, but our defense turned the football over," Citadel coach Kevin Higgins said. "I told the guys in the locker room that there were enough good points into today's game that give us hope for the season. Unfortunately, we had too many penalties on defense and turnovers on offense that we need to work on."

Bowden said earlier in the week that he wanted to see more attitude and nastiness, but he said after the game that the relative weakness of the opponent made it hard to judge.

He wasn't happy with three fumbles (two of them lost) and an inability to convert in short yardage on an early possession. He was concerned about lack of pressure by the defensive line, and he said the Bulldogs passed for "way too much yardage."

But this was a game as much about Clemson's psyche as anything else. The Tigers open ACC play Saturday against North Carolina State.

"I thought they did pretty good," Bowden said. "You need to have a win where you feel a little bit good about yourself. Surely we didn't play a perfect game, but that's a team that had 15 starters coming back, that had Wisconsin 21-21 at half (last season)."

After being held to 20 yards rushing on eight carries against Alabama, tailbacks James Davis and C.J. Spiller combined for 182 yards on 19 carries Saturday in front of an estimated 76,000 fans. Davis had 107 yards rushing, 38 of them on a touchdown to open the scoring with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. Spiller had three rushing touchdowns while averaging 12.5 yards per carry and finished with 75 yards.

"Most people said we're supposed to do this, and we went out and did what we're supposed to do," Spiller said. "We'll take a win regardless of who's out there on the field."

Davis said offensive coordinator Rob Spence paid a Friday night visit to the hotel room occupied by Davis and Spiller.

He talked to us and said, "We've got to bring Thunder and Lightning back," Davis said, a reference to the moniker the duo earned two seasons ago.

Spence said Saturday represented a "small step" in his unit's development. The Tigers had just 188 yards against Alabama, including zero yards rushing, so no doubt Saturday's output felt better. Much better.

"We prayed this morning that God would breathe some spirit and life into us, and that we would have some enthusiasm," Spence said. "We lived with it all week long."

Reach Larry Williams at lwilliams@postandcourier.com and check out the Clemson blog at www.charleston.net/blogs/tiger_tracks/