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1978 Clemson Tigers football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1978
team	Clemson Tigers
sport	football
conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
short_conf	ACC
CoachRank	7
APRank	6
record	11–1
conf_record	6–0
head_coach	Charley Pell
hc_year	2nd
hc_games	regular season
head_coach2	Danny Ford
hc_games2	bowl game
off_coach	Jimmye Laycock
oc_year	2nd
def_coach	Mickey Andrews
dc_year	2nd
captain	Steve Fuller
captain2	Randy Scott
stadium	Memorial Stadium
champion	ACC champion
Gator Bowl champion
bowl	[Gator Bowl](1978-gator-bowl)
bowl_result	W 17–15 vs. [Ohio State](1978-ohio-state-buckeyes-football-team)

Gator Bowl champion The 1978 Clemson Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Clemson University in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its second season under head coach Charley Pell, the team compiled an 11–1 record (6–0 against conference opponents), won the ACC championship, defeated Ohio State in the 1978 Gator Bowl, was ranked No. 6 in the final AP and Coaches Polls, and outscored opponents by a total of 368 to 131. The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

Steve Fuller and Randy Scott were the team captains. The team's statistical leaders included Steve Fuller with 1,515 passing yards, Lester Brown with 1,022 rushing yards and 102 points scored, and Jerry Butler with 908 receiving yards.

The Gator Bowl victory became infamous because Ohio State's legendary head coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman during the game on the Buckeyes sideline after a play. The incident was caught on live television, and Hayes resigned as Ohio State head coach the next day before the team even left Jacksonville. Hayes would never coach again.

Schedule

|September 16|1:00 p.m.||The Citadel||Memorial Stadium|Clemson, SC|W 58–3|53,332–54,075|

|September 23|1:30 p.m.|at|Georgia||Sanford Stadium|Athens, GA (rivalry)|L 0–12|60,000|

|September 30|1:00 p.m.||Villanova||Memorial Stadium|Clemson, SC|W 31–0|47,786|

|October 7|1:00 p.m.||Virginia Tech||Memorial Stadium|Clemson, SC|W 38–7|53,054|

|October 14|1:00 p.m.|at|Virginia||Scott Stadium|Charlottesville, VA|W 30–14|19,243|

|October 21|1:00 p.m.||Duke||Memorial Stadium|Clemson, SC|W 28–8|51,109|

|October 28|1:00 p.m.|at|NC State|20|Carter Stadium|Raleigh, NC (rivalry)|W 33–10|45,000|

|November 4|1:30 p.m.|at|Wake Forest|16|Groves Stadium|Winston-Salem, NC|W 51–6|30,400|

|November 11|1:00 p.m.||North Carolina|15|Memorial Stadium|Clemson, SC|W 13–9|53,495|

|November 18|1:00 p.m.|at|No. 11 Maryland|12|Byrd Stadium|College Park, MD|W 28–24|51,376|

|November 25|1:00 p.m.||South Carolina|10|Memorial Stadium|Clemson, SC (rivalry)|W 41–23|63,050–63,479|

|December 29||vs|No. 20 Ohio State|7|Gator Bowl Stadium|Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)|W 17–15|72,011|

Game summaries

Gator Bowl (vs. Ohio State)

Main article: 1978 Gator Bowl

Second quarter

OSU – Bob Atha 27-yard field goal, 12:08. ''Ohio St 3–0. '''Drive: 8 plays, 72 yards.'''''
CLEM – Steve Fuller 4-yard run (Obed Ariri kick), 5:03. ''Clemson 7–3. '''Drive: 15 plays, 80 yards.'''''
OSU – Art Schlichter 4-yard run (kick failed), 1:21. ''Ohio St 9–7. '''Drive: 9 plays, 78 yards.'''''
CLEM – Obed Ariri 47-yard field goal, 0:05. ''Clemson 10–9. '''Drive: 8 plays, 76 yards.''''' Third quarter
CLEM – Cliff Austin 1-yard run (Ariri kick), 2:18. ''Clemson 17–9. '''Drive: 19 plays, 84 yards.''''' Fourth quarter
OSU – Art Schlichter 1-yard run (run failed), 8:11. ''Clemson 17–15. '''Drive: 12 plays, 87 yards.''''' ;Top passers
OSU – Art Schlichter – 16/20, 205 yards, INT
CLEM – Steve Fuller – 9/20, 123 yards ;Top rushers
OSU – Art Schlichter – 18 rushes, 70 yards, 2 TD
CLEM – Tracy Perry – 14 rushes, 54 yards Warren Ratchford – 10 rushes, 54 yards ;Top receivers
OSU – Doug Donley – 3 receptions, 54 yards
CLEM – Jerry Butler – 4 receptions, 44 yards

Personnel

Charley Pell
Danny Ford (OL)

References

(2016). "2016 Media Guide". Clemson Athletics.
"1978 Clemson Tigers Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
"1978 Clemson Tigers Stats". Sports Reference LLC.
(September 17, 1978). "Tigers play 'errorless' game, rout Citadel 58–3". The News and Observer.
(September 24, 1978). "Bulldogs shutout Tigers". Florence Morning News.
(October 1, 1978). "Villanova loses, 31–0, to Clemson". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
(October 8, 1978). "Tigers feast on Gobblers". The Charlotte Observer.
(October 15, 1978). "Tigers (4–1) wear down Virginia". Winston-Salem Journal.
(October 22, 1978). "Clemson defense forced turnovers; Offense took advantage of them". Florence Morning News.
(October 29, 1978). "Tigers' Brown excels". The Daily Progress.
(November 5, 1978). "Clemson buries Wake, 51–6". The Danville Register.
(November 12, 1978). "Brown, Clemson edge Tar Heels". The Sun-News.
(November 19, 1978). "Tigers claim ACC crown". The Charlotte Observer.
Kerry Capps. (November 26, 1978). "Tigers defeat Gamecocks". The Greenville News.
(December 30, 1978). "Woody adds punch to Gator Bowl". The Miami News.
. (1978). ["Clemson Football Media Guide - 1978"](https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/fball_media/57/). *[[Clemson University]]*.
. (1979). ["Clemson Football Media Guide - 1979"](https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/fball_media/55/). *[[Clemson University]]*.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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