Oct. 1, 2008

By Jim Sumner
theACC.com

The Clemson Tigers defeated the NC State Wolfpack 13-6 on November 15, 1958. Clemson had a pair of non-conference games left but the win wrapped up the ACC part of their schedule and clinched the Tigers' second ACC title in three seasons.

Asked for the secrets to his team's success, Clemson head coach Frank Howard responded, "Depth and luck. Every team we play is as good as we are. I ain't had a game in four years when I could relax."

We'll get to the depth part of that equation later on but let's look at that luck part. At the time Howard made those remarks, Clemson was 5-1 in the ACC, 6-2 overall. All six of Clemson's wins were by a touchdown or less... Last-second victories, come-from-behind victories, victories in shoot-outs, victories in defensive duels.

Harvey White, the second-team All-ACC quarterback on that team, just laughs at Howard's comments. "That sounds just like Howard. He knew how to sell tickets. The ol' country boy who didn't know anything was just an act. He was very theatrical. He loved being on the stage. But we had some good players. Lots of them."

All-ACC center and captain Bill Thomas adds, "We had the kind of team that just won by just enough. We did what we had to do."

Now, about those good players and that depth. White says, "You start with the line. We dominated inside. We just wore people out."

Fullback Rudy Hayes agrees. "Howard loved that running game. We had good linemen all along the line. One time to the left, one time to the right, one time up the middle... Pick up four or five yards every time, keep the ball moving, score some points. That would make Howard happy. The backs would tell the linemen to `make your blocks and get out of our way quickly or we'd run up your backs'. But they gave us room to run and that's all we asked for."

Certainly the pollsters recognized Clemson's talent. The Tigers were coming off three consecutive seven-win seasons. They had captured the 1956 ACC title and had finished third the previous season. Clemson began the 1958 season ranked 18th in the AP poll.

The pollsters weren't so impressed after the opening week. Clemson opened at home against a woeful Virginia squad which would end the season 1-9. But the Tigers struggled, trailing 15-14 before putting together a late 91-yard drive, culminated by Bill Mathis' short touchdown run. Clemson dropped out of the poll after its 20-15 squeaker.

It didn't take long to turn it around. North Carolina was next, again at Death Valley. The Tar Heels were coached by Jim Tatum, a thorn in Howard's side from the days Tatum coached at Maryland.

The game had a curious sidebar. A new NCAA rule allowed teams to run or pass for two points after a touchdown. Coaches were not quite sure of how to play the odds yet and Howard definitely was intrigued. Clemson went for a two-point conversion after each of their four touchdowns.

And they needed all four. The Tar Heels led 6-0, 14-8, and 21-20. They kicked the extra point after their third touchdown, after going one for two on two-point conversions earlier.

It could have been worse for Clemson. The Tigers' first score came when Jim Payne blocked a quick kick and Jim Padgett picked up the loose ball and ran 28 yards for the score. Trailing 14-8, Clemson stopped North Carolina on downs at the Clemson one and then tied the game at 14 with a second left in the first half.

For the second consecutive week, Clemson needed a late drive and again they found a way. Hayes kept the drive alive by picking up 11 yards on a fourth-and-two run from the UNC 13. George "Pogo" Usry scored from the two and the final was 26-21.

Temporary bleachers enabled Clemson to seat a school-record 40,000 fans for that game, Howard's 100th career victory.

Maryland was next, in College Park. Clemson moved the ball up and down the field to the tune of 18 first downs and 332 yards of total offense. But they lost the ball on downs at the Maryland 4, lost a fumble at the Maryland 26, and missed a 31-yard field goal. The Clemson defense returned the favor, recovering three fumbles. White finally connected with Wyatt Cox on a 50-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. A two-point conversion made the final 8-0.

Clemson was in the top 10 when it traveled to Nashville to play Vanderbilt. Penalties and turnovers kept the teams scoreless for a half. Vanderbilt took a 7-0 lead in the third quarter on a 9-yard run by future Green Bay Packer Tom Moore. White scored on a short-run early in the fourth quarter but his two-point conversion pass was intercepted.

Clemson got a stop on defense and got the ball back on their 31. White, Hayes, and Usry picked up yards on the ground, with White taking it over from the three. Only nine seconds were left when White scored.

White rushed for 104 yards and passed for 60 more. He says, "This was a special one. I still remember Howard telling us we were going to give him a heart attack."

Arch-rival South Carolina was next for the 4-0 Tigers. In those days the two ACC teams met in Columbia on Big Thursday, as part of the South Carolina State Fair. Howard didn't especially like that arrangement and the two schools began a more traditional home-and-home series following the 1959 season.

Howard and South Carolina coach Warren Giese spent much of the build-up feuding in the press over Giese's claim that no one knew where IPTAY's [Clemson's support group] money went. Howard told the press that he would tip his hat to Giese if South Carolina scored. After the Gamecocks pummeled Clemson 26-6, Howard quipped that he tipped his hat so often that his bald head got sunburn.

Clemson shrugged off the Big Thursday debacle and went back to work. Thomas remembers Howard not being in a good mood the following week. "Hard work defined our team. Howard knew what was going on all the time. You couldn't pull anything on him. He didn't like lazy football players. But if you played hard, played up to your capabilities, he would do anything for you."

They did come back to the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium for Wake Forest. The fans got a glimpse of the future in Wake's sophomore quarterback Norm Snead, a strong-armed, drop-back passer. Wake even used three-wide-receivers sets on occasion, stunning for an era when most teams usually split only one receiver.

Clemson took an 8-0 lead on a White run and pass for two points. Wake cut the lead to 8-6 but Clemson pushed it back to 14-6 on a touchdown run by third-team quarterback Johnnie Mac Goff. Clemson tried to kick this time and it was blocked, leaving Wake with a shot.

Snead led Wake 75 yards in the waning minutes, hitting star end Pete Manning for 31 yards to set up a short Snead touchdown run. But Snead was banged up in the effort. Reserve quarterback Charlie Carpenter missed on the two-point conversion and Clemson survived, 14-12.

Georgia Tech shut down Clemson 13-0 in Atlanta, a non-conference loss that dropped the Tigers out of the AP poll again. Clemson piled up 213 yards total offense and advanced inside the Tech 10-yard line four times but couldn't convert its chances.

But there was some good news. After defeating Clemson, South Carolina dropped ACC contests to North Carolina and Maryland, leaving Clemson alone with one conference loss. A win in Raleigh would wrap up the ACC title.

State was having a disappointing year after 1957's ACC title but the Wolfpack still made Clemson work for its championship. Neither team scored in the first three quarters, although Clemson drove to the State 10 before losing the ball on a fumble in the third quarter.

Howard's team drew first blood early in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run by Usry. A three-yard State punt set up Clemson's second touchdown, a 15-yard run by Bobby Morgan. Second-team quarterback Lowndes Shingler kicked the extra point. State got a late touchdown for the 13-6 final.

Clemson vividly demonstrated its depth by using 11 different ball carriers. Mathis rushed for 75 yards on 13 carries. An impressed Earle Edwards claimed that Clemson was "a stronger team than most anybody we've played" and asked Howard if he could borrow some of his running backs.

The ACC champions ended the regular season with a 34-12 win over Boston College and a 36-19 victory over Furman. Following the Furman win, Clemson accepted an invitation to play LSU in the Sugar Bowl.

Most of the college-football universe viewed Clemson as little more than a sacrificial lamb. After all, top-ranked LSU was undefeated and had outscored opponents 275-53. The odds-makers established LSU as a 17-point favorite. White recalls a local newspaper calling the game "the biggest mismatch in Sugar Bowl history."

The lack of respect motivated Clemson and the Tigers were further buoyed by the support of their fans. Thomas remembers "practicing at an itty-bitty high school and there were Clemson fans all over the place. They gave up their holidays to watch us practice."

Hayes says Howard was Clemson's secret weapon. "He had that country thing down. But we never doubted that he was smart. We were always prepared for opponents. When we saw a formation, we had been pretty well schooled on what the other team was doing. Sometimes we got beat man-to-man but we didn't get fooled very often. Give us a month, like we had for LSU, and we knew what they were going to do in every situation."

The Sugar Bowl game was much closer than predicted by the pundits. White gives LSU its due. "They were rough and tough. They loved to hit people. It was like concrete blocks falling from the sky."

The falling blocks kept Clemson pinned up on its side of midfield for the entire first half. LSU, on the other hand, spent much of that time threatening the Clemson goal line.

But Clemson could also play rough and tough. Ray Masneri ended one threat when he recovered a fumble at the Clemson 23. LSU then lost the ball on downs at the Clemson 12. Just before halftime, LSU fullback J.W. Broadnax fumbled as he crossed the goal line and Doug Cline recovered for Clemson. LSU lost star quarterback Warren Rabb when he broke his throwing hand in the first half.

Clemson finally got some offense after intermission. Moving on the ground, the Tigers moved from its 27 to the LSU 20. But Usry lost the ball on a fumble at the end of a run. The Tigers got the ball back but only after a long punt pinned them back at their 18.

LSU stopped Clemson cold, forcing another punt. A heavy rain before the game had left the field in poor condition and the muddy ball slipped out of snapper Paul Snyder's hand, landing well short of punter Bill Mathis. LSU recovered at the 11.

The Clemson defense dug deep once again. Two plays netted nothing. On third down, LSU pitched to star tailback Billy Cannon for an apparent sweep. But Cannon stopped and hit end Mickey Mangham in the back of the end zone. Hayes says, "We got suckered, plain and simple." The PAT made it 7-0.

The touchdown came late in the third period, leaving Clemson plenty of time for the equalizer. It never came. Clemson lost the ball on downs at the LSU 39 and then Usry fumbled a lateral at the LSU 24.

Clemson ended up out-gaining the mythical national champions 191 yards to 182 and picked up 12 first downs to LSU's 9. AP wrote that Clemson "managed to rub considerable luster from LSU's reputation."

But the scoreboard still read 7-0. White says, "Frank Howard didn't believe in moral victories. You either win or lose. We lost. We had our opportunities. We just didn't get the job done."

But the Sugar Bowl loss fades in comparison to the ACC title and the final AP ranking of 12. White says, "We were a bunch of guys who got along together, had But the Sugar Bowl loss fades in comparison to the ACC title and the final AP ranking of 12. White says, "We were a bunch of guys who got along together, had no quit, and thought we could beat anybody. And we almost did."

Jim Sumner's articles on southern sports history have appeared in the ACC Handbook, the ACC Area Sports Journal, Blue Devil Weekly, Inside Carolina, the Wolfpacker, Baseball America, Basketball America, and other publications. His latest book, Tales From the Duke Blue Devils Hardwood, was published in 2005. In his bimonthly column "Looking Back... by Jim Sumner", he will examine the rich history of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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