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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Four games into a season of
dominance, No. 11 Clemson showed Saturday that it is for real.
Woodrow Dantzler is for real, too.
|  | | Clemson wide receiver Joe Don Reames celebrated his first-half TD Saturday in the Tigers' victory. |
Dantzler ran for 220 yards and two long touchdowns and the
Tigers' top-rated defense held Virginia to one gift touchdown in a
31-10 victory.
Dantzler, the nation's second-leading passer and 38th-ranked
rusher coming into the game, did plenty of both. He scored on runs
of 75 and 45 yards, and completed 15 of 24 passes for 154 yards and
another score.
"We just found some holes in the defense that we exploited
through the running game," Dantzler said. "I just happened to be
the guy running."
Dantzler carried just 18 times, but ended with 374 of the
Tigers' 481 yards of offense, and gave the Clemson defense plenty
to watch and enjoy.
"Woody's just amazing," linebacker Keith Adams said. "He can
throw the ball. He can run. He's a leader out there on the field.
And just a combination like that, he's just unstoppable."
The Tigers defense did its part, too. It shut down Virginia's
passing game, forced Dan Ellis to hurry several throws and held
6-foot-4 receiver Billy McMullen to three catches for 40 yards
until the fourth quarter.
McMullen, who added two catches late in the game when the
outcome had been decided, earlier had catches for 1 and 2 yards,
plus a 37-yarder.
"This was really a test for us," Adams said. "It was a test
for us to go out there and try to prove to the nation and within
ourselves that we can be for real. ... We definitely feel that
we're for real."
Ellis, who averaged 316 yards passing in his last two games, was
17-for-39 for 170 yards. He was intercepted once and twice fumbled
snaps.
"It was just one of those days," he said.
The Tigers led 17-10 at the half before Dantzler put the game
away.
On Clemson's first possession of the second half, he kept the
ball on second-and-8 from his own 25, turning the corner wide on
the right and down the sideline, finally slashing back to the
middle for the points.
"The thing we said from the beginning was, `Don't let them run
the ball, especially with the quarterback,' " Virginia coach George
Welsh said.
"They spread you out and they nickel and dime you to death with
the passes when you're not covering them up, and they keep working
and keep working trying to get him free," Welsh said of Dantzler.
Dantzler did it again late in the quarter, following Alex
Ardley's end zone interception with a five-play drive. Dantzler ran
for 7 to start the march, and for the last 45 to make it 31-10 with
18 minutes left.
Trailing 10-3 before 60,695 fans, the largest football crowd in
state history, Clemson scored twice in a span of 2:42 to take the
lead.
"To get where we want to go, that is going to have to happen,"
Tigers coach Tommy Bowden said of the early adversity. "You have
to not panic and remain calm when you turn the ball over and show
composure on the road."
First, Joe Don Reames fielded a punt at his 31, stepped between
two Cavaliers and weaved untouched for a 69-yard return that tied
it at 10.
Then, after Virginia went three-and-out and Mike Abrams shanked
a punt 10 yards to the Tigers' 39, Dantzler needed just five plays.
The last one was a 30-yard pass to a wide open Jackie Robinson down
the middle.
It was the Tigers' shortest touchdown play of the game.
The Tigers' 17-10 halftime lead might have been much bigger if
not for Travis Zachery's inability to hold onto the ball. Zachery
botched a punt at his 3 after Virginia's first possession, and
later fumbled on a third-and-2 dive from the Cavaliers' 3 late in
the second quarter.
Virginia recovered both times, and turned the first miscue into
its only touchdown of the half -- a 3-yard option run by Antwoine
Womack.
Ahmad Hawkins intercepted a pass with 12:32 remaining, marking
the first time in 80 throws this season that Dantzler has been
intercepted.
But the Tigers' defense held and Virginia turned it over on
downs.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Clemson Clubhouse
Virginia Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Woody Dantzler runs 75 yards through Virginia's defense.
avi: 1388 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Joe Don Reames returns a punt 69 yards for a Clemson score.
avi: 1294 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Antwoine Womack turns the corner to give Virginia the lead.
avi: 700 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Woody Dantzler finds Jackie Robinson 30 yards down field for a TD.
avi: 1110 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Tommy Bowden says defense will be the key for Clemson.
wav: 213 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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