CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2005 Clemson

8–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Tommy Bowden, finished No. 21 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 2005, game by game: won vs. No. 17 Texas A&M 25–24; won at Maryland 28–24; lost vs. No. 13 Miami 30–36; lost vs. Boston College 13–16; lost at Wake Forest 27–31; won at NC State 31–10; won vs. Temple 37–7; lost at Georgia Tech 9–10; won vs. Duke 49–20; won vs. No. 17 Florida State 35–14; won at No. 19 South Carolina 13–9; won vs. Colorado 19–10+30−6Won 25–24 vs. No. 17 Texas A&M+1No. 17 Texas A&MWon 28–24 at Maryland+4MarylandLost 30–36 vs. No. 13 Miami-6No. 13 MiamiLost 13–16 vs. Boston College-3Boston CollegeLost 27–31 at Wake Forest-4Wake ForestWon 31–10 at NC State+21NC StateWon 37–7 vs. Temple+30TempleLost 9–10 at Georgia Tech-1Georgia TechWon 49–20 vs. Duke+29DukeWon 35–14 vs. No. 17 Florida State+21No. 17 Florida StateWon 13–9 at No. 19 South Carolina+4No. 19 South CarolinaWon 19–10 vs. Colorado+9Colorado
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vs17Texas A&MW 25–⁠2460%
Sep 10atMarylandW 28–⁠2445%
Sep 17vs13MiamiL 30–⁠3650%
Sep 24vsBoston CollegeL 13–⁠1654%
Oct 1atWake ForestL 27–⁠3162%
Oct 13atNC StateW 31–⁠1045%
Oct 22vsTempleW 37–⁠787%
Oct 29atGeorgia TechL 9–⁠1040%
Nov 5vsDukeW 49–⁠2087%
Nov 12vs17Florida StateW 35–⁠1446%
Nov 19at19South CarolinaW 13–⁠948%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsColoradoChamps Sports BowlW 19–⁠1059%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Colorado 19–⁠10 in the Champs Sports Bowl; No. 21 in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 25
  2. Wk 3: 20
  3. Wk 13: 25
  4. Wk 14: 22
  5. Final: 21

Consensus All-AmericanTye Hill, DB

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 21 peak No. 20
Points
316–⁠211
Coach
Tommy Bowden
Elo
1648 +81 this season
SP+ rating
12.9 No. 24 of 118; offense No. 37, defense No. 29
SRS
10.9 No. 23 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 15
Offensive coordinator
Rob Spence
Defensive coordinator
Vic Koenning
Captains
Charles Bennett, Jamaal Fudge, Steven Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense35th of 119
  • Defense43rd of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1043%0.8635th of 119
Defense0.0438%1.0743rd of 119
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 302% allowed
Defense-0.1own 302% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2005 class

James Davis RB★★★★No. 107
Rendrick Taylor ATH★★★★No. 118
Kavell Conner RB★★No. 1532
Antwon Murchison SDE★★No. 1532

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2005 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.00.843
Defensive line12.00.744
Athletes and specialists14.00.931
Whole class43.00.841

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2006

The 2006 draft
Rd 1Tye Hill DBSt. Louis Rams
Rd 3Charlie Whitehurst QBSan Diego Chargers
Rd 7Charles Bennett DETampa Bay Buccaneers

All-ACC

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2005 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2005 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia Tech7–⁠111–⁠27
Miami6–⁠29–⁠317
Boston College5–⁠39–⁠318
Florida State5–⁠38–⁠523
Georgia Tech5–⁠37–⁠5
Clemson4–⁠48–⁠421
North Carolina4–⁠45–⁠6
NC State3–⁠57–⁠5
Virginia3–⁠57–⁠5
Maryland3–⁠55–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠54–⁠7
Duke0–⁠81–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.