2005 Clemson Tigers football team

2005 Clemson Tigers football
Champs Sports Bowl champion
Champs Sports Bowl, W 19–10, vs. Colorado
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Division	Atlantic Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
AP	No. 21
Record	8–4 (4–4 ACC)
Head coach	Tommy Bowden (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Rob Spence
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Vic Koenning (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (c. 77,381, grass)

2005 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 23 Florida State xy$		5	–	3					8	–	5
No. 18 Boston College x		5	–	3					9	–	3
No. 21 Clemson		4	–	4					8	–	4
Wake Forest		3	–	5					4	–	7
NC State		3	–	5					7	–	5
Maryland		3	–	5					5	–	6
Coastal Division
No. 7 Virginia Tech x		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 17 Miami (FL)		6	–	2					9	–	3
Georgia Tech		5	–	3					7	–	5
North Carolina		4	–	4					5	–	6
Virginia		3	–	5					7	–	5
Duke		0	–	8					1	–	10
Championship: Florida State 27, Virginia Tech 22
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2005 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson University in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tommy Bowden and played their homes game at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

Season

Clemson started off its season with wins over a ranked Texas A&M team and the Maryland Terrapins. However, Clemson then lost the following three games to Miami, Boston College, and Wake Forest. The losses to Miami and Boston College came in overtime. Clemson then rebounded to win the next two games against NC State and Temple. The next week, Clemson lost a close game to Georgia Tech. Clemson then closed out the regular season with three straight wins over Duke, ACC rival Florida State, and instate rival South Carolina. In the post-season, Clemson received an invitation to play in the 2005 Champs Sports Bowl against Colorado. Clemson won the game, 19–10, to finish the season at 8–4.

Clemson finished the season ranked in the top 25 (21st in both the AP and the Coaches' Poll) for the second time in three years. Clemson also recorded wins against three AP top 20 teams in the 2005 season for just the fourth time in school history. Clemson lost its four games by a combined 14 points.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	8:00 p.m.	No. 17 Texas A&M*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ABC	W 25–24	79,917
September 10	3:30 p.m.	at Maryland	No. 25	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	ESPN	W 28–24	50,637
September 17	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Miami (FL)	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ABC	L 30–36 3OT	79,135
September 24	Noon	Boston College		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)	JPS	L 16–13 OT	77,684
October 1	3:30 p.m.	at Wake Forest		Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	ESPNU	L 31-27	32,153
October 13	7:45 p.m.	at NC State		Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (Textile Bowl)	ESPN	W 31–10	57,500
October 22	12:30 p.m.	Temple*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC		W 37–7	74,841
October 29	3:30 p.m.	at Georgia Tech		Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 10-9	55,000
November 5	1:00 p.m.	Duke		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC		W 49–20	77,278
November 12	Noon	No. 17 Florida State		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)	ESPN	W 35–14	80,536
November 19	7:00 p.m.	at No. 19 South Carolina*		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (Palmetto Bowl)	ESPN2	W 13–9	83,368
December 27	5:00 p.m.	vs. Colorado*	No. 23	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Champs Sports Bowl)	ESPN	W 19–10	31,470
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time