Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Clemson's MVP Tiger's ( was outs BY BILLY BAKER Of The Gamecock staff CLEMSON-Ken Callicutt probably put on one of the greatest individual per formances ever in a Clemson Carolina game. He ran through Gamecocks, around Gamecocks and over Gamecocks to make things happ n for Clemson in Death Valey Saturday. The 6-1, 188, sophomore running back from Chester rushed for 197 yards on 27 carries for a 7.3 yards-per carry average. He also caught two passes for 55 yards. These performances made him an easy pick for Clemson's MVP for the game as voted on by sportswriters covering the game. "I remember last year when I fumbled in the Carolina game," said Callicutt. "When I went home I caught the devil for a long time." Calicutt was impressive most of all in a 58-yard run when he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and then out-maneuvred the Gamecock secondary untouched for Clemson's first score. Later in the game he ran a two-point conversion to give the Tigers a 33-14 lead. "C6ach Parker did a great job in preparing us for this NSt -allicutt tanding game," said Calicutt. "We wanted to win for the seniors even more after we knew that we were not going to a bowl. "I didn't want to let my teammates down after the kind of game I had last year when I fumbled," he said. "I don't think anyone let the team down today. It was a great effort by everyone." Callicutt said that he was not surprised that he ran for so much yardage. "I felt like I could run for a lot of 'yardage if I had the blocking. With the kind of blocking we had today nothing was impossible." Callicutt was heavily recruited by Tennessee and Georgia but decided to play in his native state. "I wanted to go to school somewhere in South Carolina because I knew that most of my friends could see me play if I did." He said that Carolina and Clemson recruited him "very heavily." "One day I was just getting tired of the pressure so I called up the coaches at Clemson and told them to come sign me." After that Carclina didn't say anything to me." They were very fair when they tried to recruit me. "I really like Coach Dietzel a lot," said Callicutt. "He even came up to me after the game today and said that he wished onday Nig Ident Speci t3.5O 7 43 SALUDA AVE. - F 'OLUMSSA. SOUTH CJ Ken Callicutt me a lot of luck and that he would follow me closely in the future. "Carolina is 50 miles from my hometown and I am glad that there were no bad feelings expressed when I signed with Clemson," said Callicutt. In the fourth quarter Callicutt fumbled twice and Clemson had several tur novers. "I think we were trying too hard to get the ball in the end zone," said Callicutt. The Tigers success story this season was no surprise to Callicutt, in fact it didn't reach his goal. "I really thought that we could be 8-3 before the season began." For the season Callicutt finished with 809 yards rushing in 166 carries for a 4.8 average. He caught five passes for 76 yards. In addition he threw three halfback option passes for 99 yards and two touch downs. 6*so * oe. 0 * It 252-5141 ll :ONA* o .. ~IFNt ROL4:4*29200 Carolina's denied by From Page Seven setting up Clemson's second touch down.. After Carolina got the ball and was forced to punt, Clemson took over on their own 20 and began its longest scoring drive of the day. Once again the big play struck the Gamecocks. Tight end Bennie Cunningham pulled- in a 15-yard pass at the USC 30, and Carolina had 15 more yards tacked on to that gain for piling on. Clemson scored two plays later and a successful two-point conversion made the score 20-7. As bad as this seemed,things were to get worse at the first half wore on. Another Grantz pass was picked off, setting up yet another Clemson score. With 1:25 left in the second quarter, the Tigers led 26-7 It was at this point that Carolina began to threaten. Carolina drove 59 yards in 7 plays, with Clarence Williams scoring from the five to close the gap to 26-14 at the half. The second half started out as though it would be a repeat of the first, with Clemson needing only four plays to complete a 67-yard scoring thrust. Carolina came right back, however, and added seven points of their own to close the gap to 33-21. It was here that the USC defense had one of its few big moments of the day. With Clemson driving for a score that would have put the game out of reach, Tony Pepper stopped Callicutt short when Clemson gamblect on a fourth and-two. Carolina's offense began to move A musical mood to tap your f< Sstrapped des Straw erry Pal comeback Clemson Tony Pepper the ball once again, and for the first 'time since the first quarter, Clemson fans began tobecomeap prehensive about the outcome of the game. USC moved steadily down the field and had a first down at the Tiger 21: It was here that the Gamecocks hopes of an upset were smashed. Facing a fourth-and-14, Grantz attempted to hit end Scott Thomas with a pass for the first down. In what might have been the most important defensive play of the game, Tiger roverback Jimmy Ness swatted the ball away from the waiting Thomas, ending Carolina's last hope. - Carolina co-captain Jay Lynn Hodgin ended his USC career in fine form, runing for 127 yards in the' ame. 4* I # # otinwihBatai' yrcal gncale "lays. up*e *e *htmlst h rl' Gir' cauladdes beat Shon inBattni' fn haTni' n. t