By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

CLEMSON — When you hear the name “Mr. Clutch” at Clemson, the first person most Tiger fans think of is former kicker David Treadwell.

From 1985-’87, no Clemson kicker made more game-winning or game-tying kicks than Treadwell, who was named a consensus First-Team All-American in 1987. His most famous kicks came against Georgia, including a 46-yard field game as time expired to beat the Bulldogs, 31-28, in Athens, Ga., in 1986. It marked the first time in Clemson football history the Tigers won a game with a field goal as time expired.

Treadwell broke Georgia’s heart the next year in Death Valley, too, as he nailed a 21-yard field goal with two seconds left to upstage the Bulldogs, 21-20. In his first game as a kicker, the Columbia, S.C. native made a 36-yard field goal on the last play of the game to beat Virginia Tech after the Hokies were called for running into the kicker as time expired on a kick that he had missed. When he got the second chance, Treadwell split the uprights for a 20-17 victory.

The future All-Pro kicker also had made a 20-yard field goal with two seconds left against Maryland in 1986 to win Clemson the ACC Championship that year, while also making another game-winning kick against North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1987 for a 13-10 victory that clinched a second straight ACC Championship.

Though he may not be known as “Mr. Clutch,” current Clemson kicker Chandler Catanzaro has developed his own nickname –“Money,”

“He is money,” Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd said. “I just love that guy. He is a warrior. He is one of the strongest people I know, and he just comes through in the clutch.”

Catanzaro was really clutch last Monday night in the Georgia Dome when he made a 37-yard field goal as time expired to beat No. 7 LSU, 25-24, in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. It was the second time in his career, the Greenville, S.C. native made a game-winning kick as time ran off the clock.

He said his 43-yard field goal to beat Wake Forest to clinch the ACC’s Atlantic Division title last year, played a big role in why he knew he was going to make that kick to beat LSU on Monday night.

“I was very confident,” he said. “I had done it before. The Wake Forest game helped me a lot. The icing did not really affect me. I just went out there confident and delivered. I’m so happy right now.”

There was never any doubt that he would deliver. The former walk-on finished the 2012 season 17 of 18 on field goal attempts, including five of six from 40-plus yards. For his career, he is 20 of 27 from 40 or more yards, and his 78 percent accuracy is a school-record from that range of distance.

At one point in his career, Catanzaro made a Clemson-record 20 straight field goals at one point, so the Tigers knew once they moved the ball past the LSU 33-yard line, there was no doubt Catanzaro was going to make the kick.

“Catanzaro, I don’t know about y’all, but I didn’t have any doubt,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “We practice that all the time. We call it torpedo, and he goes out there and knocks it down.

“He missed one field goal all year. It was a 48-yarder. He is just a clutch player all the way.”

Well, he may not be “Mr. Clutch” because that nickname has already been taken, but he is definitely “Money.”

“I give the glory to go God, and I just thank my teammates for the opportunity to go out there and deliver for my team,” Catanzaro said.