1978 Clemson Tigers football team

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.[1][2] The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

1978 Clemson Tigers football
ACC champion Gator Bowl champion
Gator Bowl, W 17–15 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
1978 record	11–1 (6–0 ACC)
Head coach	Charley Pell (2nd season) Danny Ford (bowl game, 1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Jimmye Laycock (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Mickey Andrews (2nd season)
Captain	Steve Fuller, Randy Scott
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1978 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 Clemson $	6	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 20 Maryland	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 18 NC State	4	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
North Carolina	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Duke	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wake Forest	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Virginia	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

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.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	The Citadel*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 58–3	54,075
September 23	at Georgia*	No. 8	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	L 0–12	60,000
September 30	Villanova*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 31–0	46,000
October 7	Virginia Tech*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 38–7	53,800
October 14	at Virginia		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	W 30–14	19,243
October 21	Duke		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 28–8	51,109
October 28	at NC State	No. 20	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (Textile Bowl)	W 33–10	45,000
November 4	at Wake Forest	No. 16	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	W 51–6	30,400
November 11	North Carolina	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 13–9	53,800
November 18	at No. 11 Maryland	No. 12	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	W 28–24	51,376
November 25	South Carolina*	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (Palmetto Bowl)	W 41–23	63,479	[4]
December 29	vs. No. 20 Ohio State*	No. 7	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	W 17–15	72,011
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1978 Clemson Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE Ed Abreu RB Cliff Austin RB Rick Basich OL Jeff Bostic OL Joe Bostic TE Cliff Bray RB Lester Brown WR Jerry Butler WR Dwight Clark TE Mark Clifford OL Chris Dulce QB Steve Fuller WR Jerry Gaillard QB Mike Gasque RB Harold Goggins WR JD Haglan OL Bill Hudson OL Steve Kenney TE Anthony King QB Billy Lott OL Lee Nanney RB Tracy Perry RB Warren Ratchford RB Marvin Sims OL Mark Thornton WR Perry Tuttle RB Paul Williams WR Eric Young	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL Charlie Bauman DL Jonathan Brooks LB Bubba Brown DB Jack Cain DL Steve Durham DB Eddie Geathers DL Steve Gibbs DB Willie Jordan DL David Reed DB Bubba Rollins DB Steve Ryan LB Randy Scott DL Jim Stuckey DL Rich Tuten DB Rex Varn DL Toney Williams	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Obed Ariri P David Sims	Head coach Charley Pell Coordinators/assistant coaches Danny Ford (OL) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

Gator Bowl (vs. Ohio State)

Main article: 1978 Gator Bowl

See also: 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Gator Bowl: #7 Clemson Tigers (10–1) vs. #20 Ohio State Buckeyes (7–3–1)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	0	9	0	6	15
Clemson	0	10	7	0	17

at Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida

• Date: December 29, 1978
• Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 72,011
• Referee: Jim Artley
• TV: ABC
• Box Score

Game information

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

References

1. "2016 Media Guide" (PDF). clemsontigers.com. Clemson Athletics. 2016. pp. 200–208. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
2. "1978 Clemson Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "1978 Clemson Tigers Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Kerry Capps (November 26, 1978). "Tigers defeat Gamecocks". The Greenville News. p. 1C – via Newspapers.com.