Best Clemson Home Games of the Past 20 Years
Clemson’s Memorial Stadium, more affectionately known as Death Valley, has played host to many great games over the years. There have been hotly contested matchups with highly ranked opponents, deafening crowds whose collective roar rivaled that of a jet engine, to wild finishes that defy the explanations. This is part one of a 10-part series looking back at 10 of the wildest, loudest, and most impactful games played at Death Valley in the past 20 years.
#10 Clemson vs NC State, October 15th, 2016
Memorial Stadium rose to their feet as one…
The decibel level became ear-splitting as NC State kicker Kyle Bambard lined up for what should have been a chip shot 33-yard field goal with three seconds remaining. With the score tied at 17-17, Clemson’s season and national championship hopes were pinned to Bambard’s right leg. For the fans in the stands, they were hinged on how hard, and loud, they could pray. The Wolfpack placekicker had missed two tries already, but surely not a third. It was as if the game and another trip to the College Football Playoff were not meant to be for the Tigers in 2016. Clemson was undefeated at 6-0, two games removed from an emotional victory over number five-ranked Louisville. The Tigers season was now hanging on by a thread. Just before the snap, Coach Dabo Swinney called timeout. The ball was snapped anyway and Bambard followed through with the kick. It split the uprights, but it would not count.
Just three hours earlier the crowd had been eerily silent…
Star tailback Wayne Gallman lay on the green grass of Memorial Stadium just a few plays into the contest on the Tigers’ first drive. Gallman had caught a screen pass from Deshaun Watson at the NC State 42-yard line, found an opening on the right sideline, then cut back to the middle of the field. After a gain of 16 yards, NC State nickel safety Dravious Wright flew in from the left side, undercut Gallman, and knocked the ball free. In the aftermath, the Wolfpack had the ball, and Gallman, one of the Tigers’ offensive heartbeats, was motionless on the turf. Gallman had suffered an obvious concussion and would not return to the game. In its wake the Clemson offense ground to a halt.
The defense did its part…
The Clemson front seven continuously harassed NC State quarterback Ryan Finley. The game slogged into a low-scoring stalemate, broken only by a Clemson field goal which gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead after one quarter. NC State managed a field goal in the second quarter, but Clemson finally broke through with the first touchdown of the game by either side on a 13-yard strike from Watson to Mike Williams with 12 seconds remaining in the half. The Tigers carried a 10-3 lead into the locker room, but everything seemed out of sync despite the lead. It was precarious and everyone knew it.
If losing Gallman was not bad enough…
Things were about to get much worse for Clemson. The Tigers turned the ball over on their first three possessions of the second half on two fumbles and an interception thrown by Watson. The pick, on the first play of the third quarter, was returned by Mike Stevens for a touchdown. The extra point knotted the score 10-10. Watson and company finally answered with 1:09 to play in the third quarter on a four-yard keeper that restored Clemson’s seven-point lead, but it was all the offense the Tigers could muster for the remainder of regulation. It initially appeared to be enough, with the defense continuously turning back Finley and the NC State offense, but with under four minutes to play the Wolfpack made their move.
Three yards, a cloud of dust, and precious time…
NC State used up most of what remained on the fourth quarter clock in a decisive drive that set up the hysterics of the final seconds of regulation. Having been unable to capitalize on any of Clemson’s three fumbles, including Bambard’s first two errant kicks, the Wolfpack marched down the field over the course of 14 plays and 59 yards. Finley chewed up yardage and time as he guided his team to the Clemson two-yard line. On first and goal, he handed the ball off to running back Matthew Dayes who bulldozed his way across the plane of the goal line. The kick was good and the game was tied at 17-17 with enough time for Watson to lead a game-winning drive. If only it had been that easy. The Tigers quickly went three and out, punting back to the Wolfpack with under two minutes to play. The ball, and Clemson’s destiny, were now out of their hands.
The crowd roared to life…
The contingent of orange-clad fans, 82,000+ of them, were hanging on every play as they willed the Tigers’ defense to stand one more time. Getting the game to overtime and giving the offense one more chance was now the goal; which, it seemed, would go unfulfilled as Finley led the NC State offense to the Tigers’ 16-yard line. Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren called timeout with three seconds remaining and summoned the much-maligned Bambard. As the noise reached a frenzied crescendo, Bambard walked onto the field, stepped off the kick, and tried to shake off his two previous misses as he sized up where the ball would go down at the Clemson 23-yard line.
Let’s ice him…
Coach Swinney wanted Bambard to think long and hard about the situation he found himself in. On the road against the undefeated and number three ranked team in the country, a chance at redemption, and the opportunity to crush the Clemson playoff hopes all on the line. As the timeout expired, Bambard walked out again, again stepped off his paces, and waited. As the holder took the snap and put down the hold, Bambard punched the ball off his right leg again. For just a 33-yard kick, it felt as if an eternity passed during its flight toward the Memorial Stadium hill. Had you closed your eyes, the crowd would have told you the rest of the story. Wide right! Overtime! As the façade of the stadium swayed and rocked with jubilation, Swinney collapsed to his knees and pounded the ground in a mixture of relief and mental exhaustion. Clemson had new life. All the Tigers had to do was make the most of their second chance.
With ice water in his veins…
Watson took the ball first in overtime and finally locked in. On second and goal from the 10-yard line, the storied Clemson signal caller fired a dart across the middle and into the hands of Artavis Scott at the goal line to give the Tigers a 24-17 lead following the point after kick. All that was needed now was one more defensive stand. Finley went for broke on the Pack’s first play. Taking the shotgun snap, he lobbed a pass over the middle and to the endzone. Clemson cornerback Marcus Edmond, who two games earlier had forced Louisville receiver James Quick out of bounds at the four-yard line to seal the win over Louisville in the final seconds, made a break for the ball. Jumping in front of NC State receiver Stephen Louis, Edmond snatched the ball out of the air, and with it, the Wolfpack’s hopes of a stunning upset. Edmonds also brought down with him the hopes of a national championship still intact.
Hindsight is 20/20…
A few weeks later, Clemson would lose in stunning fashion at home to Pittsburgh. Ironically, it was a 48-yard field goal in the waning moments that doomed the Tigers that night. Clemson would recover, however, and go on to win the ACC championship and, ultimately, the national championship they had long sought after.
Looking back, the Tigers surviving that wild and crazy game with NC State proved much more critical than anyone at the time could have possibly imagined. If Clemson lost that game, coupled with the loss to Pittsburgh, the magic of a national title would almost assuredly never have happened. It was a miraculous ending and one that helped define the Tigers’ season in one of the wildest games ever played at Death Valley.
There is an old cliché in sports that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good. On October 15th, 2016, the Clemson Tigers were both.
