A Look Back
The Tigers won four in a row, six of the last seven, to finish 8-4 overall and third place in the Atlantic Division with a 4-4 league mark … defeated Colorado 19-10 in the Champs Sports Bowl … finished the season ranked No. 21 in both polls … 2005 marked the third straight year that the Tigers won at least five of their last six games … TB James Davis rushed for a team-high 879 yards and became the fifth Clemson player and the first since Anthony Simmons in 1995 to be named ACC Rookie of the Year … WR Chansi Stuckey was third in the ACC in receiving yards (770) and was the second straight Tiger to lead the ACC in receptions (64).
Who’s Gone
Gone are seven starters with 193 combined career starts … included among the seven starters were two All-ACC performers - QB Charlie Whitehurst and CB Tye Hill … as a four-year starter, Whitehurst set 46 school records and finished his career third on both the ACC’s all-time passing yardage (9,665) and total offense yardage lists (9,759) … Hill, a three-year starter and a 2005 consensus All-American, had three interceptions and 43 tackles and earned first team All-ACC recognition.
Sophomore Running Back
James Davis
Photo by Vern Verna
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Who’s Back
Tommy Bowden welcomes back 17 starters - the second-highest total in the ACC … included are the team’s top two rushers - James Davis and Reggie Merriweather - who combined to rush for 1,594 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2005 - the ACC’s leading receiver - Chansi Stuckey (64-for-770 yards) and five starters along the offensive line who have a combined 90 career starts … eight starters return defensively, including the team’s top three tacklers - LB’s Anthony Waters, Tramaine Billie and Nick Watkins.
Numbers
2 - Clemson forced two-or-more turnovers in eight straight games to close out the regular season and was second in the ACC in turnover margin (+0.75).
3 - The Tigers had three wins over Top 20 teams for the first time since the 1989 season.
4 - Four freshmen - DT Rashad Jackson, S Michael Hamlin, DE Phillip Merling, TB James Davis - earned national freshmen All-American honors in 2005.
5 - Clemson returns all five starters on the offensive line for the first time since 2000.
18 - Rushing touchdowns by RB Reggie Merriweather over the past two seasons … has rushed for 1,385 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry in 2004 and 2005.
89.0 - Clemson finished second in the ACC in total offense averaging 384.6 yards per game, an improvement of 89.0 yards per game from 2004.
106 - Points scored by PK Jad Dean in 2005 … Dean made a school-record 24 field goals in 2005 and led the ACC in scoring (8.8).
213 - Clemson leads all ACC schools with 213 wins in conference play … since 1953, the Tigers are 213-118-6 (64.1) in league play.
575 - WR Aaron Kelly was second on the team with 47 catches for 575 yards and two touchdowns … the 575 yards was the ninth-best single-season total by a freshman in ACC history.
879 - ACC Freshman of the Year James Davis led the Tigers and was fourth in the ACC with 879 yards rushing … had four games of 100 yards or more, averaged 5.3 yards per carry and tallied nine rushing touchdowns.
