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2009 Clemson

9–⁠5 (6–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Dabo Swinney, finished No. 24 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 2009, game by game: won vs. Middle Tennessee 37–14; lost at No. 15 Georgia Tech 27–30; won vs. Boston College 25–7; lost vs. No. 15 TCU 10–14; lost at Maryland 21–24; won vs. Wake Forest 38–3; won at No. 8 Miami 40–37; won vs. Coastal Carolina 49–3; won vs. Florida State 40–24; won at NC State 43–23; won vs. Virginia 34–21; lost at South Carolina 17–34; lost vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech 34–39; won vs. Kentucky 21–13+46−17Won 37–14 vs. Middle Tennessee+23Middle TennesseeLost 27–30 at No. 15 Georgia Tech-3No. 15 Georgia TechWon 25–7 vs. Boston College+18Boston CollegeLost 10–14 vs. No. 15 TCU-4No. 15 TCULost 21–24 at Maryland-3MarylandWon 38–3 vs. Wake Forest+35Wake ForestWon 40–37 at No. 8 Miami+3No. 8 MiamiWon 49–3 vs. Coastal Carolina+46Coastal CarolinaWon 40–24 vs. Florida State+16Florida StateWon 43–23 at NC State+20NC StateWon 34–21 vs. Virginia+13VirginiaLost 17–34 at South Carolina-17South CarolinaLost 34–39 vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech-5No. 12 Georgia TechWon 21–13 vs. Kentucky+8Kentucky
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsMiddle TennesseeW 37–⁠1474%
Sep 10at15Georgia TechL 27–⁠3044%
Sep 19vsBoston CollegeW 25–⁠754%
Sep 26vs15TCUL 10–⁠1448%
Oct 3atMarylandL 21–⁠2457%
Oct 17vsWake ForestW 38–⁠354%
Oct 24at8MiamiW 40–⁠3742%
Oct 31vsCoastal CarolinaW 49–⁠391%
Nov 7vsFlorida StateW 40–⁠2463%
Nov 14atNC StateW 43–⁠2366%
Nov 21vsVirginiaW 34–⁠2183%
Nov 28atSouth CarolinaL 17–⁠3461%
Dec 5vs12Georgia TechACC Championship GameL 34–⁠3943%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsKentuckyMusic City BowlW 21–⁠1357%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Kentucky 21–⁠13 in the Music City Bowl; No. 24 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 34th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 11: 24
  2. Wk 12: 18
  3. Wk 13: 15
  4. Wk 14: 25
  5. Final: 24

ACC Atlantic champions6–⁠2 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanC.J. Spiller, RB/KR

Record
9–⁠5
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 24 peak No. 15
Points
436–⁠286
Coach
Dabo Swinney
Elo
1635 +67 this season
SP+ rating
16.4 No. 23 of 120; offense No. 38, defense No. 13, special teams No. 63
SRS
12.4 No. 17 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 36
Offensive coordinator
Billy Napier
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Steele
Captains
Thomas Austin, Chris Chancellor, Kavell Conner, Michael Palmer, Ricky Sapp and C.J. Spiller
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense103rd of 120
  • Defense15th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted108th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted10th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0238%0.97103rd of 120
Defense-0.0236%0.9915th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.01 off
-0.02 def		40% off
36% def		—108th off
10th def
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. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 362% allowed
Defense-0.3own 294% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsKyle Parker QB2,526 yds
Passing touchdownsKyle Parker QB20 TD
Rushing yardsC.J. Spiller RB1,212 yds
Rushing touchdownsC.J. Spiller RB12 TD
Receiving yardsJacoby Ford WR779 yds
Receiving touchdownsJacoby Ford WR6 TD
InterceptionsDeAndre McDaniel S8 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Tajh Boyd PRO★★★★★No. 31
Malliciah Goodman SDE★★★★No. 61
Bryce McNeal WR★★★★No. 112
J.K. Jay OT★★★★No. 135
Roderick McDowell APB★★★★No. 187

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.984
Running backs14.00.921
Receivers14.00.949
Offensive line14.00.938
Defensive line33.30.887
Whole class73.90.922

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 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 1C.J. Spiller RBBuffalo Bills
Rd 4Jacoby Ford WROakland Raiders
Rd 5Ricky Sapp DEPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Crezdon Butler CBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Kavell Conner OLBIndianapolis Colts

Roster 89

The 2009 roster

89 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 34 have a stat line. See the roster

2009 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia Tech7–⁠111–⁠313
Virginia Tech6–⁠210–⁠310
Clemson6–⁠29–⁠524
Miami5–⁠39–⁠419
Boston College5–⁠38–⁠5
North Carolina4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida State4–⁠47–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠55–⁠7
Duke3–⁠55–⁠7
NC State2–⁠65–⁠7
Virginia2–⁠63–⁠9
Maryland1–⁠72–⁠10

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