October 15, 2011 Week 7 · Regular Season Belt defended

Clemson defends the belt, 56–45, on the road at Maryland.

Home · Challenger

Maryland 45

Away · Defending Holder

ClemsonAP No. 8 56

AP poll, week 7: Clemson No. 8 at Maryland unranked · No. 1 that week: West Virginia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Clemson came in 28 days into reign #278, which began with a win over Auburn, with 3 defenses already behind it; this was its 4th defense. Clemson went on to defend it 1 more time before Georgia Tech took it on October 29, 2011, 42 days after the reign began.

For Maryland this was its 12th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.

This is the only time Clemson and Maryland have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

In a shootout at Maryland, Clemson's defense and special teams made crucial plays to preserve the belt despite being outscored 56-45. The game featured explosive scoring from both offenses, with Maryland striking first on a Davin Meggett rushing touchdown in the first quarter, but Clemson answered with Andre Ellington's touchdown run and an early field goal from Chandler Catanzaro. The pivotal moment came when Cameron Chism picked off Tajh Boyd and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown, giving Clemson momentum it would not relinquish. Maryland kept pace with two rushing touchdowns from C.J. Brown and a passing touchdown to Davin Meggett, but Clemson's balanced offensive attack and superior time of possession ultimately wore down the Terrapins. The belt-holder converted key third downs and controlled the clock with over 24 minutes of possession, holding off Maryland's late-game rally.

Cameron Chism's 46-yard interception return for a touchdown in Q1 shifted momentum decisively to Clemson
Sammy Watkins' kickoff return for an 89-yard touchdown in Q4 showcased Clemson's special teams excellence
C.J. Brown's two rushing touchdowns kept Maryland in striking distance despite Clemson's defensive adjustments
Clemson's time of possession advantage (24:20 to 17:04) and Tajh Boyd's passing touchdown to DeAndre Hopkins sealed the belt retention

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

MarylandClemson

Total yards468576

Rushing yards291306

Passing yards201279

First downs2528

3rd down conv.9/188/15

Turnovers12

Penalties–yards4–404–40

Time of possession17:0424:20

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q4 7:24	Clemson	+0 yd	Chandler Catanzaro extra point GOOD.
Q4 7:24	Maryland	+89 yd	Nick Ferrara kickoff for 59 yards returned by Sammy Watkins for 89 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 8:25	Clemson	+18 yd	Chandler Catanzaro 18 yard field goal GOOD.
Q1 11:43	Clemson	+33 yd	Sammy Watkins rush for 33 yards to the Mary 23 for a 1ST down.
Q1 8:25	Clemson	+20 yd	Dawson Zimmerman kickoff for 64 yards returned by Avery Graham for 20 yards to the Mary 26.
Q1 4:58	Maryland	+9 yd	Davin Meggett rush for 9 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 4:58	Maryland	+0 yd	Nick Ferrara extra point GOOD.
Q1 4:43	Clemson	+22 yd	Andre Ellington rush for 22 yards to the Clem 42 for a 1ST down.
Q1 2:23	Maryland	+0 yd	Nick Ferrara extra point GOOD.
Q1 2:23	Clemson	+46 yd	Tajh Boyd pass intercepted by Cameron Chism at the Clem 46, returned for 46 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 2:23	Maryland	+70 yd	Nick Ferrara kickoff for 70 yards returned by Sammy Watkins for 70 yards to the Mary 30.
Q1 1:00	Clemson	+3 yd	Andre Ellington rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 1:00	Clemson	+0 yd	Chandler Catanzaro extra point GOOD.
Q2 13:54	Maryland	+7 yd	C.J. Brown pass complete to Davin Meggett for 7 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 0:40	Maryland	+40 yd	C.J. Brown pass complete to Matt Furstenburg for 40 yards to the Clem 30 for a 1ST down.
Q1 0:00	Maryland	+24 yd	C.J. Brown rush for 24 yards to the Clem 5 for a 1ST down.
Q2 13:54	Maryland	+21 yd	Nick Ferrara kickoff for 57 yards returned by Jaron Brown for 21 yards to the Clem 34.
Q2 13:54	Maryland	+0 yd	Nick Ferrara extra point GOOD.
Q2 11:00	Clemson	+24 yd	Dawson Zimmerman punt for 43 yards, returned by Tony Logan for 24 yards to the Mary 40.
Q2 8:38	Maryland	+21 yd	C.J. Brown rush for 21 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 8:38	Maryland	+26 yd	Nick Ferrara kickoff for 69 yards returned by Sammy Watkins for 26 yards to the Clem 27.
Q2 8:38	Maryland	+0 yd	Nick Ferrara extra point GOOD.
Q2 5:28	Clemson	+6 yd	Tajh Boyd pass complete to DeAndre Hopkins for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 5:28	Clemson	+0 yd	Chandler Catanzaro extra point GOOD.
Q2 2:55	Clemson	+20 yd	Tajh Boyd pass complete to DeAndre Hopkins for 20 yards to the Mary 48 for a 1ST down.
Q3 15:00	Clemson	+21 yd	Dawson Zimmerman kickoff for 69 yards returned by Avery Graham for 21 yards to the Mary 22.
Q3 13:06	Maryland	+22 yd	C.J. Brown pass complete to Matt Furstenburg for 22 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 13:06	Maryland	+0 yd	Nick Ferrara extra point GOOD.
Q3 13:06	Maryland	+20 yd	Nick Ferrara kickoff for 67 yards returned by Jaron Brown for 20 yards to the Clem 23.
Q3 11:56	Maryland	+29 yd	C.J. Brown pass intercepted by Bashaud Breeland at the Mary 44, returned for 29 yards to the Mary 15.
Q3 10:46	Clemson	+0 yd	Chandler Catanzaro extra point GOOD.
Q3 10:46	Clemson	+13 yd	Tajh Boyd pass complete to Sammy Watkins for 13 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 9:13	Maryland	+24 yd	Quintin McCree rush for 24 yards to the Clem 25 for a 1ST down.
Q3 7:27	Maryland	+21 yd	Nick Ferrara kickoff for 53 yards returned by Sammy Watkins for 21 yards to the Clem 38.
Q3 7:27	Maryland	+27 yd	Nick Ferrara 27 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 7:11	Clemson	+55 yd	Andre Ellington rush for 55 yards to the Mary 7 for a 1ST down.
Q3 6:15	Clemson	+30 yd	Dawson Zimmerman kickoff for 62 yards returned by Tony Logan for 30 yards to the Mary 38.
Q3 6:15	Clemson	+23 yd	Chandler Catanzaro 23 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 4:11	Clemson	+51 yd	Tajh Boyd pass complete to Sammy Watkins for 51 yards to the Mary 19 for a 1ST down.
Q3 3:25	Clemson	+0 yd	Two-point conversion attempt, Tajh Boyd pass to Dwayne Allen GOOD.
Q3 3:25	Clemson	+15 yd	Tajh Boyd pass complete to Sammy Watkins for 15 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 11:26	Clemson	+21 yd	Dawson Zimmerman kickoff for 57 yards returned by Tony Logan for 21 yards to the Mary 34.
Q4 11:26	Clemson	+12 yd	Tajh Boyd pass complete to Jaron Brown for 12 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 11:26	Clemson	+0 yd	Chandler Catanzaro extra point GOOD.
Q4 7:35	Maryland	+32 yd	C.J. Brown pass complete to Matt Furstenburg for 32 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 7:35	Maryland	+0 yd	Nick Ferrara extra point GOOD.
Q4 7:09	Maryland	+23 yd	Davin Meggett rush for 23 yards to the Clem 42 for a 1ST down.
Q4 3:55	Clemson	+44 yd	Andre Ellington rush for 44 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 3:55	Clemson	+24 yd	Dawson Zimmerman kickoff for 62 yards returned by Tony Logan for 24 yards to the Mary 32.
Q4 3:55	Clemson	+0 yd	Chandler Catanzaro extra point GOOD.

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Maryland

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
C.J. Brown	17/35	177	5.1	3	1	59.6

Clemson

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Tajh Boyd	26/38	270	7.1	4	1	60.7

Rushing

Maryland

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
C.J. Brown	22	162	7.4	1	24
Davin Meggett	16	69	4.3	1	23
Justus Pickett	5	31	6.2	0	19
Quintin McCree	2	24	12.0	0	24
Ronnie Tyler	1	5	5.0	0	5
Kerry Boykins	1	1	1.0	0	1

Clemson

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Andre Ellington	24	212	8.8	2	55
Tajh Boyd	11	37	3.4	0	13
Sammy Watkins	1	33	33.0	0	33
D.J. Howard	2	12	6.0	0	8
Mike Bellamy	4	12	3.0	0	8

Receiving

Maryland

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Matt Furstenburg	5	104	20.8	2	40
Kerry Boykins	4	30	7.5	0	12
Justus Pickett	1	11	11.0	0	11
Marcus Leak	2	10	5.0	0	6
Kevin Dorsey	1	9	9.0	0	9
Davin Meggett	1	7	7.0	1	7
Ronnie Tyler	1	6	6.0	0	6
Quintin McCree	1	2	2.0	0	2
Tony Logan	1	-2	-2.0	0	-2

Clemson

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Sammy Watkins	8	105	13.1	2	51
Dwayne Allen	5	41	8.2	0	12
Jaron Brown	4	35	8.8	1	12
DeAndre Hopkins	4	22	5.5	1	20
Adam Humphries	2	20	10.0	0	11
Sam Cooper	1	18	18.0	0	18
Martavis Bryant	1	16	16.0	0	16
Charone Peake	1	13	13.0	0	13

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

Maryland

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Cameron Chism	1	46	1

Clemson

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Bashaud Breeland	1	29	0

Kick Returns

Maryland

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Tony Logan	3	75	25.0	30
Justus Pickett	4	60	15.0	19
Avery Graham	3	56	18.7	21

Clemson

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Sammy Watkins	5	207	41.4	89	1
Jaron Brown	2	41	20.5	21	0

Kicking

Maryland

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Nick Ferrara	1/1	100.0	27	6/6	9

Clemson

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Chandler Catanzaro	2/2	100.0	23	6/6	12

Punt Returns

Maryland

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tony Logan	3	36	12.0	24	0

Clemson

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
DeAndre Hopkins	3	0	0.0	0	0
Sammy Watkins	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Maryland

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Nick Ferrara	5	189	37.8	0	0	45

Clemson

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Dawson Zimmerman	4	173	43.3	0	0	45

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 312880120) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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