By Will Vandervort / Photo courtesy Clemson Athletic Communications.
As part of NC State week, TCI takes a look back at one of the memorable Clemson victories in the NC State series, which in these parts is known as the Textile Bowl.
October 26, 1991
After a loss to Georgia and a tie at home against Virginia, No. 19 Clemson returned from a bye week unsure of what laid ahead on their road to an ACC Championship.
Though talented, the team was confused about why they struggled in the previous two games and what they could do to get through it.
The Tigers entered the season with high expectations thanks to a preseason No. 8 national ranking, but after a dramatic two-point victory over defending National Champion Georgia Tech in Week 3, they somehow lost their focus.
“I think the thing with us is that we didn’t always stay as focused,” said former linebacker Levon Kirkland, who was a senior on that team. “I think in the Georgia game we kind of took them for granted. We really dusted them off the year before and they had no chance. They had a young quarterback, which was Eric Zeier. We really didn’t know how good he was and he really took it to our secondary.
“When they played that game, they were ready and they were really motivated for it. I don’t think we were quite as ready for them.”
Georgia beat the Tigers 27-12 and the next week they needed a blocked field goal from Wayne Simmons to preserve a 20-20 tie against Virginia.
At the time, then Clemson head coach, Ken Hatfield knew he needed to do something in order to get his team back on track, and what he decided to do is now a part of Clemson’s storied history.
After warming up in orange jerseys and white pants prior to their contest against undefeated and No. 12 NC State, the Tigers went back into their locker room under the west end zone stands and found a purple jersey hanging in each of their lockers.
When the Clemson players reached the top of the hill wearing those purple jerseys, the noise in Death Valley became deafening as the Tigers came down the Hill in their new purple jerseys.
The Wolfpack never had a chance.
It marked the first time since 1939 that a Clemson team wore purple jerseys. The result, the Tigers jumped out to a 23-7 halftime lead in positing their best all-around half of the year, including 297 yards of total offense.
Kicker Nelson Welch booted five field goals to tie a Clemson single-game record, while DeChane Cameron led the offense with 143 yards passing and 79 rushing yards. The Tigers rushed for 256 yards as a team and Cameron completed 14 of 23 passes in the stunning victory.
Kirkland and a defense that featured future NFL starters in defensive tackle Brentson Buckner, defensive tackle Chester McGlockton, outside linebacker Ashley Sheppard, outside linebacker Wayne Simmons, strong side linebacker Ed McDaniel and cornerback James Trapp, allowed only 10 yards on the ground and 301 for the game overall.
The Tigers also had six sacks that afternoon as nose guard Rob Bodine again lead the Tigers with 10 tackles, including three tackles for loss and two sacks. Kirkland had eight tackles and a sack.
The 29-19 victory was the first of six straight victories to close out the regular season for Clemson, which included a 41-24 victory over archrival South Carolina in Columbia.
“For the most part it was pretty much taken for granted that we were the team in the ACC,” Kirkland said. “The only team that could really stop us at that time was the Clemson Tigers.”
And they did not get in their way again.