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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- Clemson's not all Woody Dantzler. The
Tigers showed that Saturday.
Dantzler has been No. 5 Clemson's dazzling breakout star this
season, but it took receiver Rod Gardner, tailback Travis Zachery
and the defense to finally put away North Carolina State in a 34-27
victory.
|  | | Clemson QB Woodrow Dantzler loses his helmet, but still scores one of his two rushing TDs. |
"This was good for us," said Dantzler, who rushed for two
touchdowns and threw for another as Clemson continued its best
start in 13 years. "We hadn't had to play a fourth-quarter all
year. Now we know how to do that."
Dantzler's day was nearly upstaged by North Carolina State's
Philip Rivers, the 18-year-old quarterback who has led three
come-from-behind victories and came close to another at Death
Valley.
But with Gardner catching 10 passes for 137 yards including
several key receptions, Zachery rushing for 147 yards and two
touchdowns and Clemson's defense choking off Rivers' late rally,
the Tigers (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) held on.
"You should have seen how excited they were in the locker
room," Clemson offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez said. "I was
getting all upset with our mistakes and they were acting like
something good happened. I guess it did because they saw they could
win when they didn't play their best."
Although, it didn't start out that way.
Dantzler scored on two 1-yard runs and threw a 24-yard pass to
Zachery that opened a 20-7 lead with 21 minutes gone. But then the
Tigers' offense -- which was averaging 48 points a game coming in --
sputtered enough to give the Wolfpack hope.
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Sat, October 7
When teams in a conference are playing and they know each other, it doesn't matter who the favorite is many times because they play much better, tighter games. The same thing happened with Nebraska and Iowa State today. Clemson came in undefeated and ranked in the top five and got all they could handle from the Wolfpack.
This game was a showcase for the two young quarterbacks. They did not disappoint. Woodrow Dantzler and Philip Rivers each played a great game in contrasting styles. They both were the best players on the field for their teams.
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That's when Rivers got going. He threw for 370 yards, including
three long touchdowns that had Clemson sweating out a game for the
first time this season. His last scoring pass was a 63-yarder to
Koren Robinson with 12:07 to go brought North Carolina State (4-1,
1-1) to 34-27.
Rivers took North Carolina State to Clemson's 18 with 3:28 left.
But on fourth-and-3, Rivers fade pass to Willie Wright at the end
zone's front right corner was broken up by safety Charles Hafley.
"We didn't have our `A' game today," Clemson guard Will
Merritt said. "But it took everyone for us to get this victory. We
came up with the important plays when we needed them."
The Tigers had one anxious moment in its final drive and
Dantzler saved them. On third-and-4, Dantzler spun right for 8
yards and the clinching first down with 2:11 remaining.
Clemson is off to best start since the 1987 team opened 6-0. The
last time the Tigers won seven straight -- they meet 2-3 Maryland
here next week -- was their national championship season of 1981.
There were shades of national titles at Death Valley. The Sears
Trophy given to college football's champion was on the sidelines.
Representatives from the Sugar Bowl, one of the Bowl Championship
Series' games, were on hand to watch.
It wasn't the picture-perfect performance on national TV that
Dantzler would have liked to increase his Heisman profile. He threw
two interceptions and his fumble led to Ken Passinghham's field
goal as the Wolfpack began their comeback from a 20-7 first-half
deficit.
But Dantzler finished with 103 yards rushing. He completed 18 of
30 passes for 220 yards.
"Woody did not have his usual good day and had a couple of
picks in there," Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said. But "if you
want to win, a lot of good teams will have to go through something
like this."
Zachery's touchdown runs of 3 and 5 yards tied Lester Brown's
school record of 32 rushing TDs.
And it was all almost washed away by Rivers.
He opened the Wolfpack's first drive with an 81-yard TD pass to
Ray Robinson. He threw a 52-yard scoring pass to Bryan Peterson to
bring the Wolfpack to 27-20. His final touchdown pass forced
Clemson into a fourth-quarter battle for the first time.
Rivers, who leads the ACC in total offense ahead of Dantzler,
was 21-of-48 for 370 yards.
"I don't think it's devastating," Rivers said of North
Carolina State's first loss. "It's not like our season's over and
we're going to play basketball. We'll see how we come back from
this."
The Wolfpack face rival North Carolina next Saturday.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
North Carolina St Clubhouse
Clemson Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Travis Zachery scores his second of three touchdowns against N.C. State.
avi: 583k k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Woodrow Dantzler finds Travis Zachery for the 24-yard touchdown.
avi: 796k k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Phillip Rivers eludes two tacklers to find Bryan Peterson for the touchdown.
avi: 1220k k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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