The Clemson Insider went back and ranked Clemson’s 25 best teams of all-time.
What classifies a certain team as one of the best? Of course winning a championship—national or conference—will be the first qualification. The other qualifications are overall record, national ranking and where they fell in the conference standings.
We continue our rankings with the No. 19 team on our list:
The 1991 Tigers (9-2-1, 6-0-1 ACC, ACC Champions, Final ranking No. 18)
In 1990, Clemson won 10 games—the fourth straight season in which it accomplished such a feat—but it lost at Virginia for the first time ever in Week 2 and then lost a heartbreaker to eventual National Champion Georgia Tech, 21-19, in Atlanta in Week 7.
The two losses cost Clemson a shot at an ACC Championship. However, the Tigers finished the year with five straight wins, including a 30-0 shutout of Illinois in the 1991 Hall of Fame Bowl.
Clemson finished 1990 with the nation’s top-ranked defense in terms of total yards allowed and were also one of the nation’s best in scoring defense, rushing defense and passing defense. That defense was one of the main reasons why the Tigers were picked to win the ACC in 1991 as six starters and several key reserves returned from that unit, including All-American Levon Kirkland.
“Coming into a game, we felt like we were going to win every one of them,” said Kirkland.
Joining Kirkland on that 1991 team was 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.
The offense wasn’t too bad either as wide receivers Terry Smith and Larry Ryans, and running backs Rodney Blunt and Ronald Williams joined quarterback DeChane Cameron.
With a No. 8 preseason ranking, Clemson did not disappoint to start the season as Hatfield’s second team won its first two games over Appalachian State and Temple by a combined score of 71-7. That set up a rematch with defending national champion Georgia Tech in Week 3.
“We always felt like we were the best team in the ACC,” Kirkland said. “Yes, Georgia Tech was the defending ACC Champions at the time and they won a share of the national tile, but we felt like we were better than them, even though they beat us that year.”
That’s why Clemson circled September 28, 1991 on its schedule. The Tigers knew if they wanted to win the ACC they had to win beat Georgia Tech
For a while it didn’t look as if the Tigers were going to get it done as they trailed 7-3 late in the fourth quarter, but Williams, who fumbled two times earlier in the game, got the running game going with three big runs on Clemson’s final drive and eventually scored from two yards out with 2:06 left on the clock. But the extra point was blocked and the Yellow Jackets drove to the Clemson 27-yard line on its next possession. However, kicker Scott Sisson missed a 44-yard field goal with eight seconds left and the Tigers hung on for the 9-7 victory.
Clemson was in control of the ACC, but it did not last long. Georgia beat the Tigers by two touchdowns the next week and then needed a blocked field goal by Simmons on the last play of the game to preserve a tie to Virginia.
Following a bye week, Hatfield knew he needed a spark, anything that could help his team play better. What he did was spark a six-game win streak when he broke out purple jerseys in the locker room after pre-game warm-ups prior to their game against No. 12 NC State.
It was the first time since 1939 that a Clemson team had worn 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 Cameron led the offense with 143 yards passing and 79 yards rushing. The Tigers rushed for 256 yards and Cameron completed 14 of 23 passes in the win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGKitbKHk8M
From there, the Tigers got on a roll. After beating Wake Forest the next week, 28-10, the Clemson defense rolled into Chapel Hill, North Carolina and kept the Tar Heels out of the end zone as they physically wore down the upstart North Carolina team, 21-6, on a cold, rainy night.
Cameron again was the Tigers’ offense spark as he rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns, while throwing for 90 more. His 117 yards were the most rushing yards by a Clemson quarterback since 1976 and the first 100-yard day by a quarterback since Homer Jordan did the same in 1981.
Cameron’s 41-yard run in the second quarter put the Tigers on top to stay. The Tar Heels came within one point, 7-6, in the third quarter, but two fourth-quarter touchdowns from fullback Rudy Harris and Cameron sealed the victory for the Tigers.
The Tigers wrapped up their fourth ACC Championship in six years the next week in their final home game against Maryland.
Maryland had little chance to win as it was holding up the rear in the ACC standings. It did not help that Clemson had a very balanced attack with 230 yards rushing and 230 yards passing, while the defense was once again tough.
They allowed just 39 yards on 31 carries and recorded five sacks as the Terrapins totaled just 214 yards in 61 plays.
Freshman cornerback Darnell Stephens had an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown, while racking up 116 return yards overall. Smith had 120 receiving yards, including a 43-yard touchdown reception and another one for 52 yards that setup another score.
The Tigers improved to 5-0-1 in the ACC with the win and two weeks later completed their first undefeated season in ACC play since 1983 with a 33-21 win over Duke in Tokyo, Japan.
But before the Tigers went to Japan to dispose of Duke, the Clemson’s seniors became just the second class since 1950 and the first one since 1983 to post a perfect 4-0 record against rival South Carolina thanks to a 41-24 victory in Columbia.
The Tigers used 17 unanswered points in the third quarter to blow the Gamecocks out as Blunt rushed for a 26-yard score and Harris added a six-yard run to give Clemson a 34-10 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Clemson gained 228 yards of total offense alone in the third quarter.
Cameron had one of the best games by a quarterback in Clemson history that afternoon as he completed 12 of 14 passes for 206 yards and rushed for 116 more. His 85.7 percent completion mark broke the single-game record at Clemson, while his 322 total yards ranked as the third best in Clemson history and best since 1965.
Smith caught five passes for 117 yards to become the first Clemson receiver since Jerry Butler in 1978 to record back-to-back 100-yard games. He had a 25-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter as well.
Harris had a one-yard scoring run in the first quarter and Cameron scored from 31 yards out in the second quarter, while Welch booted field goals of 21 and 22 yards.
The Tigers finished the game with 503 yards of total offense, while holding USC to 15 yards rushing. They also picked off two passes and recorded three sacks.
During their six-game win streak to close out the regular season, the Tigers’ average margin of victory was 17.5 points.
Clemson finished the 1991 season 9-2-1 and ranked 18th in the final Associated Press Top 25. It marked the sixth straight year in which Clemson only lost two games and finished ranked in the AP poll. Offensive guard Jeb Flesch was a Consensus First-Team All-American in 1991, while middle guard Rob Bodine, Kirkland and linebacker Ed McDaniel were named First-Team All-Americans as well.
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