Part eight of our look back at 10 of the most crazy, exciting, and impactful games played at Death Valley in the last 20 years…
The 2003 Clemson football season had not been a good one and Coach Tommy Bowden’s seat was hotter than a July heat wave. The Tigers had stumbled out of the gate early and had never fully recovered. As Clemson and Florida State met at Death Valley on November 8th, 2003, the two teams could not have been any more different. The Tigers entered the game with a 5-4 record, while the Seminoles were 8-1 and ranked #3 in the country. Clemson was well out of contention for an ACC title, and for Florida State, it seemed a near certainty. The Tigers had been white-washed by Georgia, 30-0, to start the season. Following losses to Maryland and NC State, and a complete drubbing at the hands of Wake Forest in the weeks that followed, the fans who crammed into Death Valley did so believing it would be the final time they saw Tommy Bowden coaching the Tigers. On the other side of the field was Tommy’s father, the legendary Bobby Bowden, whom he had never defeated. On this night, at least on paper, he would again not leave the field with family bragging rights. Clemson players had other ideas.
Lay it all on the line…
The Tigers had nothing to lose by this point in the season. As the game commenced, it was immediately noticeable that this was a Clemson team with a different mindset. The defense flew to the ball, smothering the Florida State offense early. The Tigers held down the powerful Seminoles’ attack, and that allowed Clemson to break through first. Aaron Hunt connected on a 23-yard field goal with 8:25 to play in the first quarter to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. Clemson was laying it all on the line, for pride, and for their coach. They had the Florida State offense stuck in neutral, but nobody was sure how long it would last.
Keep it up…
The defense remained relentless. The Seminoles, perhaps, were a bit shellshocked. Quarterback Chris Rix and running back Greg Jones simply had no room to operate surrounded by an impenetrable wall of Orange. Clemson took over again in the waning moments of the first quarter, and as the clock flipped over, Hunt connected again on the first play of the second period. His second field goal, this one from 35 yards, made the score 6-0 where it would remain for nearly the rest of the first half. As Rix, Jones, and the Seminoles hit dead end after dead end, Clemson and quarterback Charlie Whitehurst were primed to throw another right hook at their opponents before going into the halftime locker room. Whitehurst orchestrated an eight play, 65-yard drive in just 2:27 and finished it off himself with a one-yard dive into paydirt with only 15 seconds left on the clock. The raucously delirious fans in Memorial Stadium were equally as shocked as the reeling Seminoles as Clemson led 13-0 at intermission.
Be ready for it…
Nobody in attendance was under any illusion that Florida State would not throw a counterpunch. The question remained would Clemson be ready for it. The answer was, simply, yes. After two more defensive stands, Hunt would add to the lead with his third field goal. The reliable place kicker banged it in from 32 yards and Clemson found itself in front 16-0 and closing in on history. But with 3:25 to play in the third quarter, Florida State made their move and finally found a slight crack in the Tigers’ defense. A good drive set the Seminoles up in the red zone, but once again the Tigers’ defense pushed them back. Florida State had to settle for a field goal they could not afford with 3:25 to play in the period. The Seminoles were finally on the board, but with the hourglass emptying by the minute, the Seminoles were running out of time.
Applying the dagger…
The Tigers were not going to leave any shred of doubt. The game, in that moment, was to be an exorcism of all the demons that had plagued them during the 2003 season. Taking over after the ensuing kickoff, Whitehurst put together a lightning-fast drive that reached the Tigers’ 42-yard line in just a few plays. Charlie took the shotgun snap and completed his three-step drop before launching a pass deep over the middle to receiver Derrick Hamilton who had streaked past the Seminole secondary. Hamilton caught the pass in stride and galloped into the endzone. Hunt’s kick made it 23-3 with 1:23 on the third quarter clock. It was over at that point. The fans knew it, and so did the Tigers and Seminoles. The final 16 minutes were just a prelude to one of the wildest celebrations ever seen in Death Valley.
Curtain call…
Hunt added the exclamation point. His fourth field goal was a 37-yarder right between the pipes with 8:29 to play, pushing the lead to 26-3. It was academic. The Tigers had taken the Seminoles to school. Florida State finally scored their only touchdown of the game, against the second-string defense, with 2:14 to play. The Seminoles would get the ball back one more time with under a minute to play, but as Rix’s final pass sailed wide on fourth down, with five seconds left on the clock, the fans poured over the walls and onto the field before the game was officially over. The final seconds elapsed with thousands of fans already on the Memorial Stadium turf, touching off a celebration that would last well into the wee hours of the following morning.
The aftermath…
As Tommy Bowden was interviewed at midfield, television cameras captured one of the goal posts being carried down the field by dozens of students who moments earlier had brought it to the ground in the frenzy that followed the game. It was the first time Tommy had beaten his father, and it was vindication against those who had loudly proclaimed it was the end of the road for the embattled coach. Asked whether the win had saved his job, Bowden deflected the question. As fate would have it, the victory over Florida State on November 8th, 2003 did keep Tommy Bowden in Clemson as the head football coach for another four and a half seasons until 2008. The 2003 season will go down as one many Clemson fans would rather forget. The game itself, however, is one moment in an otherwise disappointing campaign that will live in Clemson football lore forever. It did cost Clemson two new goalposts, but, if you had asked Tommy Bowden, he would probably say it was money well spent.
