# 2006 Clemson Tigers football team

The 2006 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Tommy Bowden and played their homes game in the Memorial Stadium.
Portions of the season, specifically the games against Florida Atlantic and Florida State, were featured in the 2020 film Safety, which is about sophomore safety Ray McElrathbey taking care of his little brother while their mother receives treatment for drug addiction.
Entering the season, the Tigers had high expectations, hoping to compete for a spot in the ACC Championship Game. After a defeat at Boston College in the second game of the season, Clemson achieved off six straight victories, during which they averaged nearly 42 points a game. But things soon fell apart, with Clemson losing four out of their last five, including a loss to Kentucky in the Music City Bowl, and a 31–28 loss to arch rival South Carolina. The team finished the season with a disappointing 8–5 record.
ESPN's College Gameday show made its first-ever appearance in Clemson for the game between the Tigers and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on October 21. Kirk Herbstreit mentioned both during and after the show, that he felt that Clemson hosted one of the best Gameday audiences he'd ever seen. The Gameday audience at Clemson also set a new noise record when measured in the latter half of the show.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 3:30 p.m. | Florida Atlantic* | No. 18 | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC | ESPNU Dave Armstrong, Mike Tomczak | W 54–6 | 78,693 |
| September 9 | 3:30 p.m. | at Boston College | No. 18 | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA (rivalry) | ABC Mike Patrick, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe | L 33–34 $^{2OT}$ | 44,500 |
| September 16 | 7:45 p.m. | at No. 9 Florida State | | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (rivalry) | ESPN Mike Patrick, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe | W 27–20 | 83,510 |
| September 23 | 12:00 p.m. | North Carolina | No. 19 | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC | Raycom/LFS Steve Martin, Rick Walker, Mike Hogewood | W 52–7 | 81,886 |
| September 30 | 7:00 p.m. | Louisiana Tech* | No. 18 | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC | ESPNU Matt Devlin, Chris Martin | W 51–0 | 81,564 |
| October 7 | 12:00 p.m. | at Wake Forest | No. 15 | Groves StadiumWinston-Salem, NC | ESPN Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham, Dr. Jerry Punch | W 27–17 | 35,920 |
| October 12 | 7:30 p.m. | vs. Temple* | No. 12 | Bank of America StadiumCharlotte, NC | ESPNU Mike Gleason, Jim Donnan | W 63–9 | 30,246 |
| October 21 | 7:45 p.m. | No. 13 Georgia Tech | No. 12 | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC (rivalry, College GameDay) | ESPN Mike Patrick, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe | W 31–7 | 82,630 |
| October 26 | 7:45 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | No. 10 | Lane StadiumBlacksburg, VA | ESPN Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews | L 7–24 | 66,233 |
| November 4 | 12:00 p.m. | Maryland | No. 19 | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC | ESPN2 Pam Ward, Mike Gottfried, Jimmy Dykes | L 12–13 | 80,556 |
| November 11 | 12:00 p.m. | NC State | | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC (Textile Bowl) | Raycom/LFS | W 20–14 | 81,785 |
| November 25 | 12:00 p.m. | South Carolina* | No. 24 | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC (rivalry) | ESPN Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Rob Stone | L 28–31 | 83,428 |
| December 29 | 1:00 p.m. | vs. Kentucky* | | LP FieldNashville, TN (Music City Bowl) | ESPN Dave Pasch, Rod Gilmore, Trevor Matich, Stacey Dales | L 28–20 | 68,024 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 18 | 18 | RV | 19 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 19 | RV | 25 | 24 | RV | — | — |
| Coaches Poll | 18 | 18 | RV | 23 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 19 | RV | 25 | 24 | RV | — | — |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 19 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 19 | — | — | 24 | — | — | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 12 | 12 | 19 | — | — | 24 | — | — | Not released |

## Coaching staff

* Tommy Bowden – Head Coach
* Rob Spence – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
* Vic Koenning – Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs
* Brad Scott – Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line
* David Blackwell – Recruiting Coordinator/Linebackers
* Burton Burns – Running Backs
* Billy Napier – Tight Ends
* Chris Rumph – Defensive Line
* Dabo Swinney – Wide Receivers
* Ron West – Outside Linebackers
* Mike Dooley – Defensive Video Graduate Assistant
* Andy Ford – Defensive Graduate Assistant
* Paul Hogan – Offensive Graduate Assistant
* Willie Simmons – Offensive Video Graduate Assistant

## Game summaries
### Florida Atlantic

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida Atl | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| • Clemson | 10 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 54 |
Part of that game would be recreated at halftime of the Clemson game between UNC Charlotte on September 21, 2019 as part of a Disney movie.

### Florida State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Clemson | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 27 |
| Florida St | 2 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 20 |
Clemson's first win in Tallahassee since 1989.