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Dantzler dances into Heisman race

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Clemson QB Woody Dantzler produced 517 yards and six TDs against N.C. State. AP 1   Clemson 2   Maryland 3   Florida State 4   North Carolina 5   Georgia Tech 6   N.C. State 7   Virginia 8   Wake Forest 9   Duke 33 Consecutive games against ranked opponents, dating to 1990, that Maryland had lost before beating No. 15 Georgia Tech in Atlanta last week. "Nothing lasts forever." -- Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden, after Saturday's loss to Miami, which not only ended the nation's longest home-field winning streak but may also signal the end of college football's longest-lasting dynasty. By Tim Peeler, Special to CNNSI.com Midway through the season, it's time to start looking at legitimate candidates for the Heisman Trophy. It's time to forget about all the gimmicky mailings and wade through the hype and start seriously considering who deserves to win college football's most coveted award. There's no doubt anymore about the ACC's contribution to the short list: Clemson senior quarterback Woody Dantzler. All Dantzler did last week at N.C. State was rush for 184 yards, pass for 333 and break a 54-year-old school record for touchdowns by throwing for four and running for two more. Twice he was caught in the backfield and took off for long runs, scoring on a 55-yard run and getting a key first down on a 41-yard run. Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato, stunned by how powerful the slippery Dantzler was, paid him the highest compliment he could think of: Amato said Dantzler was more athletic than former Florida State Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward and as strong in the lower body than the ACC's all-time leading rusher, former N.C. State star Ted Brown. "He put on a display out there today that I don't know if we'll ever see again in this stadium," Amato said after the game. "I hope not by an opposing quarterback." Tiger coach Tommy Bowden says he can't really come up with a good comparison to Dantzler, because no one else has been used quite the same way. Dantzler has great numbers for a tailback and is throwing the ball better than he ever has in his career, completing better than 65 percent of his passes. " Shaun King had some good games throwing the ball [when Bowden was head coach at Tulane," Bowden said. "But the things Woody does as a tailback, a dropback passer, with waggles and with the option, it's such a comprehensive package. I've had a dominant tailback, an NFL tight end, a tackle, a wide receiver who was NFC Rookie of the Year. "But again, this guy's a tailbac,k an option runner, a dropback passer with bootlegs and waggle,s and that's what separates him from the pack. There's never been anybody else in college that can do all that stuff. It's hard to compare but nobody really dominates several facets as a quarterback like he does." Dantzler's dominance will be challenged this weekend when the No. 13 Tigers (4-1, 2-1 ACC) host North Carolina (4-3, 3-1) and All-America defensive end Julius Peppers. The Tar Heels have won four consecutive games after starting the season 0-3, on the second team in ACC history to ever put together such a turnaround. The Tar Heel defense, however, showed some cracks last week as Virginia rolled up a season-high 405 yards in total offense. However, Tar Heel coach John Bunting has a plan to stop Dantzler: "Thirteen players and a crystal ball. That's the only way I know how to defend him." But another big game this weekend and Dantzler, who has never liked too much of the Heisman hype, could leave the other two most prominent candidates, UCLA tailback DeShaun Foster and Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey, in the dust. N.C. State sophomore Jerricho Cotchery really doesn't remember the big play he made at the end of the Wake Forest game, when he took a hand-off around the end and ran 34 yards up the sideline to give the Wolfpack a first down that helped it run out the clock in the 17-14 victory. That's because he suffered a mild concussion on the play when a Wake Forest defender tackled him by the facemask and incurred a 15-yard personal foul. Cotchery sat out of practice all of last week, but was back in action against Clemson and showed no ill effects from his week-long headache. He caught three touchdown passes -- two on fade passes from quarterback Philips Rivers and one from fellow wide receiver Bryan Peterson -- against Clemson last week. He's quickly becoming one of Rivers' favorite targets, having caught nine passes for 122 yards in his last two games. Plus, you gotta love the name. HOT: Woody Dantzler Has gained 935 yards in total offense and accounted for 10 touchdowns in his last two games. NOT: Florida State QB Chris Rix Threw four interceptions, fumbled twice and was sacked seven times in the Seminoles' loss to Miami. HOT: Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen If the Terps beat winless Duke this weekend, Maryland's portly coach will match the best start by a first-year coach in ACC history, 7-0, set in 1994 by Duke's Fred Goldsmith. NOT: Georgia Tech's ball protection Last year, Georgia Tech was ranked second in the nation in turnover margin, gaining 30 and losing only 12. This year, the Jackets have given the ball away 13 times and taken away 12.   As Georgia Tech was trying to run out the clock and protect a 17-14 lead over Maryland last Thursday, Yellow Jacket tailback Joe Burns allowed himself to get pushed to the left end on an inside dive. Then, worst of all, he got pushed out of bounds, stopping the clock with 1:26 remaining in regulation. So instead of letting the clock run down another 25 seconds or so, the Yellow Jackets had to punt the ball away, giving Maryland ample time to march down the field and set up for a game-tying field goal even though the Terrapins were out of timeouts. Tough-talking Tech coach George O'Leary didn't mince words on Burns' play: "It's stupidity. I can't believe we did that. That's a major mistake. That's why they had five seconds left [to kick the tying field goal]." Maryland kicker Chris Novak Before he kicked a 46-yard game-tying field goal against Georgia Tech last Thursday, Novak's longest career field goal was 33 yards. He added the game-winner, a 26-yarder, in overtime. North Carolina DB Dexter Reid Snatched a twice-tipped pass intended for Virginia WR Kase Luzar out of the air and ran 67-yards for a touchdown, turning around a potential lead-taking drive by the Cavaliers to give the surging Tar Heels a 30-17 lead. N.C. State quarterback Philip Rivers Became the youngest player in ACC history to reach 4,000 passing yards when he threw for 310 against Clemson.   Twice this year, Georgia Tech has squandered fourth-quarter leads at home, allowing both Clemson and Maryland to force overtime late in the game. The Yellow Jackets subsequently lost both games, essentially knocking them out of the ACC title hunt. "In my opinion, [those games] shouldn't have even got to overtime," O'Leary said. This week, the Yellow Jackets hope to pay back N.C. State for the double-overtime loss they suffered last year in Raleigh. In that game, it was the Wolfpack who gave up a game-tying score in the fourth quarter but managed to come back and win the game. It's an important game for both teams, since they have both lost two home conference games this season. If Georgia Tech, picked to be the team that knocked Florida State from its ACC pedestal in the preseason, loses, O'Leary won't be the only person in Atlanta grumbling loudly.   Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden fired the first salvo in what could be an interesting rivalry between two Bobby Bowden protégés when he outright accused N.C. State's Chuck Amato of cheating during the Tigers' win over the Wolfpack. The younger Bowden said the Wolfpack staff was using a monitor in the coaching box to watch televised replays of the game, a violation of NCAA rules. Amato, who said he didn't know the monitor was in the box, explained that it showed only scoreboard replays because that and other boxes had obstructed views of the school's flashy $2 million video board, but promised both Bowden and ACC Director of Officials Tommy Hunt it would be removed for all future games. ... When North Carolina hired John Bunting last year, the school promised him $150,000 in a shoe and apparel contract with Nike. But when the school signed a new $26.8 million, eight-year contract with the shoe company on Tuesday, there was only $75,000 a year set aside for the football coach, while basketball coach Matt Doherty will make $500,000 a year and women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance will get $150,000. The school says it will make up the difference in what it promised Bunting and what Nike will pay. ... When Virginia players gathered at the team field for their Sunday afternoon run, they though they would be in for a miserable time since it was raining and the field was muddy. They had, after all, just lost 30-24 to North Carolina, giving up 477 yards in the process. Instead, first-year head coach Al Groh picked out five players from offense and five players from defense and told them each to go slide in the mud. Several other players joined in the fun. Then the 57-year-old head coach took off and dove face-first into the mud. Groh called off the team run and everyone went home happy. Dirty, too. ... Clemson cornerback Brian Mance left the team Sunday to be with his family after Mance's brother was killed in a late-night automobile accident Saturday night. Bowden doesn't know if Mance will return to the team for this week's game against North Carolina. "That's a family decision," Bowden said.

Tim Peeler covers the ACC for the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record. His "This Week in the ACC" column appears each Wednesday during the season.

 

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