The 1959 Clemson Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Clemson College in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) during the

1959 NCAA University Division football season The 1959 NCAA University Division football season saw Syracuse University crowned as the national champion by both final polls, the AP writers poll and the UPI coaches polls. A major rule change widened the goal posts from to . This width re ...

. In its 20th season under head coach Frank Howard, the team compiled a 9–2 record (6–1 against conference opponents), won the ACC championship, was ranked No. 11 in the final AP and Coaches Polls, defeated

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

in the

1959 Bluebonnet Bowl The 1959 Bluebonnet Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Clemson Tigers. This was the first ever Bluebonnet Bowl, a bowl game that usually featured a team from Texas against an out-of-state opponent, ...

, and outscored opponents by a total of 285 to 103. The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. The annual game against South Carolina was played on Thursday at the South Carolina State Fair for the final time. Clemson's 300th win came in the Bluebonnet Bowl against TCU. Center Bill Thomas was the team captain. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Harvey White with 770 passing yards, and fullback

Doug Cline Charles Douglas Cline (March 22, 1938 – October 10, 1995) was a professional American football player who played linebacker for seven seasons for the Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played ...

with 482 rushing yards, and halfback

Bill Mathis Bill Mathis (December 10, 1938 – October 20, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a running back for the New York Titans/Jets in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Clemson Tigers. ...

with 70 points scored (11 touchdowns, 4 extra points). Tackle Lou Cordileone was selected as a first-team All-American by ''Time'' magazine and a third-team All-American by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI). Four Clemson players were selected as first-team players on the 1959 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team: Cordileone; halfback

; end Gary Barnes; and center Paul Snyder.

Schedule

References

{{Atlantic Coast Conference football champions Clemson Clemson Tigers football seasons Atlantic Coast Conference football champion seasons Bluebonnet Bowl champion seasons

Clemson Tigers football The Clemson Tigers are the American football team at Clemson University. The Tigers compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic C ...