PLAYERS TAKING OWNERSHIP

Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009

Players taking ownership of team

By Bart Wright - The Greenville News

Except for the freshmen who just walked on campus a few months ago, there isn't a Clemson University football player or coach unaware of the change that has taken place in the program this season. Many of this seasons players were in diapers the last time Clemson won an Atlantic Coast Championship in 1991.

Offensive line coach Brad Scott was on the staff at Florida State that year when the Seminoles went 11-2 and earned a trip to the Cotton Bowl, but he's been at Clemson since 1999, long enough to recognize the change in this year's team compared with those he's been associated with the last 11 years.

"The players have taken ownership, that's the first thing that jumps out," Scott said Saturday after Clemson's 43-23 victory over N.C. State put them on the doorstep of the school's first Atlantic Division title and a berth in the league championship game Dec. 5. "The players are finishing things off, they have work mentality and I think it's because of the leadership. "When you have people like [C.J.] Spiller, [Thomas] Austin and [Michael] Palmer, you're going to have leaders that won't let things slide."

Saturday's win was Clemson's sixth in a row against the Wolfpack, its longest current streak against an ACC opponent and longest in the series, surpassing a five-game streak that went from 1971-76. It was the 50th win in the series (50-27-1).

It is also the longest win streak against any ACC opponent since the eight consecutive wins against Maryland from 1993-2000.

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