2005 Clemson Tigers football team

2005 Clemson Tigers football
2005 Clemson Tigers football
Champs Sports Bowl champion
Champs Sports Bowl, W 19–10 vs. Colorado
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
	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 (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Vic Koenning (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Charles Bennett; Jamaal Fudge; Steven Jackson; Charlie Whitehurst;
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

2005 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

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 as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Tommy Bowden, the Tigers compiled an overall record of 8–4 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, placing third in the ACC's Atlantic Division. Clemson was invited to the Champs Sports Bowl, where the Tigers defeated Colorado. The team played home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

Clemson started off its season with wins over a ranked Texas A&M team and the Maryland Terrapins. The Tigers then lost the three games, to the Miami Hurricanes, Boston College, and Wake Forest. The losses to Miami and Boston College came in overtime. Clemson 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, Florida State, and instate rival South Carolina.

Clemson finished the season ranked in the top 25, No. 21 in both the AP poll and the Coaches Poll, for the second time in three years. The Tigers also recorded wins against three AP top 20 teams in the 2005 season for just the fourth time in program history.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	8:00 p.m.	No. 17 Texas A&M*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ABC	W 25–24	79,917
September 10	12:00 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	^[1]
September 24	12:00 p.m.	Boston College		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)	JPS	L 13–16 ^OT	77,684
October 1	3:30 p.m.	at Wake Forest		Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	ESPNU	L 27–37	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	CN8	W 37–7	74,841
October 29	3:30 p.m.	at Georgia Tech		Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 9–10	55,000
November 5	1:00 p.m.	Duke		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC		W 49–20	77,278
November 12	12:00 p.m.	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 (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 13–9	83,368
December 27	5:00 p.m.	vs. Colorado*	No. 23	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Champs Sports Bowl)	ESPN	W 19–10	31,470
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[2]^[3]^[4]

Roster

2005 Clemson Tigers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`6`	Charlie Whitehurst	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Tommy Bowden

Coordinators/assistant coaches

David Blackwell – Linebackers/recruiting coordinator

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

References

^ "Miami vs. Clemson - Game Recap - September 17, 2005 - ESPN". Archived from the original on January 27, 2023.
^ "Clemson Tigers Schedule 2005". ESPN. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
^ "2005 Clemson Tigers Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
^ "2005-06 Football Schedule". Clemson University. Retrieved August 31, 2025.

[1] "Miami vs. Clemson - Game Recap - September 17, 2005 - ESPN". Archived from the original on January 27, 2023.

[2] "Clemson Tigers Schedule 2005". ESPN. Retrieved August 31, 2025.

[3] "2005 Clemson Tigers Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved August 31, 2025.

[4] "2005-06 Football Schedule". Clemson University. Retrieved August 31, 2025.

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Clemson Tigers football
Venues	Bowman Field (1900–1913) Riggs Field (1915–1941) Memorial Stadium (1942–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Auburn Boston College: O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy Florida State Georgia Georgia Tech NC State: Textile Bowl South Carolina
Culture & lore	History The Tiger "Tiger Rag" Marching band Clemson–South Carolina football brawl Safety The Fridge
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold