2006 Clemson Tigers football team

The 2006 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Tommy Bowden and played their homes game in the Memorial Stadium.

2006 Clemson Tigers football
Music City Bowl, L 20–28 vs. Kentucky
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
DivisionAtlantic Division
Record8–5 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRob Spence (2nd season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorVic Koenning (2nd season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 2005
2007 →
2006 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Atlantic Division
No. 18 Wake Forest x$   6 2     11 3  
No. 20 Boston College   5 3     10 3  
Maryland   5 3     9 4  
Clemson   5 3     8 5  
Florida State   3 5     7 6  
NC State   2 6     3 9  
Coastal Division
Georgia Tech x   7 1     9 5  
No. 19 Virginia Tech   6 2     10 3  
Virginia   4 4     5 7  
Miami (FL)   3 5     7 6  
North Carolina   2 6     3 9  
Duke   0 8     0 12  
Championship: Wake Forest 9, Georgia Tech 6
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Portions of the season, specifically the games against Florida Atlantic and Florida State, were featured in the 2020 film Safety, which is about sophomore safety Ray McElrathbey taking care of his little brother while their mother receives treatment for drug addiction.

Entering the season, the Tigers had high expectations, hoping to compete for a spot in the ACC Championship Game. After a defeat at Boston College in the second game of the season, Clemson achieved off six straight victories, during which they averaged nearly 42 points a game. But things soon fell apart, with Clemson losing four out of their last five, including a loss to Kentucky in the Music City Bowl, and a 31–28 loss to arch rival South Carolina. The team finished the season with a disappointing 8–5 record.

ESPN's College Gameday show made its first-ever appearance in Clemson for the game between the Tigers and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on October 21. Kirk Herbstreit mentioned both during and after the show, that he felt that Clemson hosted one of the best Gameday audiences he'd ever seen. The Gameday audience at Clemson also set a new noise record when measured in the latter half of the show.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 23:30 p.m.Florida Atlantic*No. 18ESPNUW 54–678,693
September 93:30 p.m.at Boston CollegeNo. 18ABCL 33–34 2OT44,500
September 167:45 p.m.at No. 9 Florida StateESPNW 27–2083,51
September 2312:00 p.m.North CarolinaNo. 19
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
Raycom/LFSW 52–781,886
September 307:00 p.m.Louisiana Tech*No. 18
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
ESPNUW 51–081,564
October 712:00 p.m.at Wake ForestNo. 15ESPNW 27–1735,920
October 127:30 p.m.vs. Temple*No. 12ESPNUW 63–930,246
October 217:45 p.m.No. 13 Georgia Tech No. 12
ESPNW 31–782,630
October 267:45 p.m.at Virginia TechNo. 10ESPNL 7–2466,233
November 412:00 p.m.MarylandNo. 19
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
ESPN2L 12–1380,556
November 1112:00 p.m.NC State
Raycom/LFSW 20–1481,785
November 2512:00 p.m.South Carolina*No. 24
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC (rivalry)
ESPNL 28–3183,428
December 291:00 p.m.vs. Kentucky*ESPNL 28–2068,024
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP1818RV19181512121019RV2524RV
Coaches Poll1818RV23191512121119RV2524RV
HarrisNot released19151212121924Not released
BCSNot released12121924Not released

Coaching staff

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  • Tommy Bowden – Head Coach
  • Rob Spence – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
  • Vic Koenning – Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs
  • Brad Scott – Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line
  • David Blackwell – Recruiting Coordinator/Linebackers
  • Burton Burns – Running Backs
  • Billy Napier – Tight Ends
  • Chris Rumph – Defensive Line
  • Dabo Swinney – Wide Receivers
  • Ron West – Outside Linebackers
  • Mike Dooley – Defensive Video Graduate Assistant
  • Andy Ford – Defensive Graduate Assistant
  • Paul Hogan – Offensive Graduate Assistant
  • Willie Simmons – Offensive Video Graduate Assistant

Game summaries

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Florida Atlantic

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1 234Total
Florida Atl 0 060 6
• Clemson 10 141416 54

[1]

Part of that game would be recreated at halftime of the Clemson game between UNC Charlotte on September 21, 2019 as part of a Disney movie.

Florida State

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1 234Total
• Clemson 6 867 27
Florida St 2 738 20

Clemson's first win in Tallahassee since 1989.

[2]

References

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  1. ^ ESPN. Retrieved 2014-Sep-09.
  2. ^ ESPN. Retrieved 2014-Sep-09.