Time to shine

Davis, Spiller looking to make a statement this season by leading Clemson to an ACC title and beyond

Rich Glickstein
MCT

Clemson’s running back duo of C.J. Spiller (left) and James Davis say they are older, wiser and poised for a big season.

CLEMSON — It wasn't Christmas in Clemson, but it sure seemed like it as James Davis and C.J. Spiller sat on the portable ESPN stage in the southeast corner of Memorial Stadium, the clock creeping close to midnight.

Davis and Spiller had just sliced Georgia Tech's defense to ribbons, and the nation was buzzing. The tailbacks' smiles spread wide as ESPN's Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso gushed about their moves, their speed, their incredibly bright future.

"That was probably the highlight of my career," Spiller said. "I grew up watching those guys."

Spiller was a freshman, Davis a sophomore. At that moment, it seemed the two had applied merely the initial strokes of a splendid masterpiece.

But it hasn't been that easy for the two in the near two years that have passed since that 2006 regular season game. On the field, they have often been frustrated with their lack of carries. Off it, both made decisions to leave Clemson — Spiller to Florida, Davis to the NFL — before reconsidering.

Now, the duo who that night earned the moniker "Thunder and Lightning" proclaim themselves older, wiser and poised to apply a definitive and resounding stamp in their final season together.

"I'd like for us to go down as the best one-two punch here at Clemson," Spiller said.

Added Davis: "I came back to win a national championship and to be with C.J. one more year."

No doubt the two have already fashioned an impressive body of work. Davis earned ACC rookie of the year as a freshman and garnered first-team all-conference honors as a sophomore and junior. He's 837 yards from becoming Clemson's all-time leading rusher, and he could become the first Tiger ever to surpass 1,000 yards rushing in three straight years.

With two seasons of eligibility remaining, Spiller is seventh in school history in all-purpose yards (3,138) and could vault to the top of that list this season. He has averaged 6.23 yards per carry and is a threat to do something spectacular on every play.

Many consider them the best backfield tandem in college football. So it's not as though what's unfolded to this point can be classified as anything close to a failure.

But there's no denying Davis and Spiller feel a sense of incompleteness, and even dissatisfaction, with the way things have unfolded since they combined for 332 rushing yards in that blissful 31-7 thrashing of the Yellow Jackets.

That dissatisfaction has been evident in various forms. After a 28-20 loss to Kentucky in the 2006 Music City Bowl — a defeat that cemented a four-losses-in-five-games meltdown following the spectacle against Georgia Tech — Spiller told his mother and Davis he was transferring to Florida.

Spiller was angry and disillusioned after he and Davis combined for just

13 carries against the Wildcats. He was miffed about the play-calling late in a 31-28 home defeat to South Carolina that closed the regular season.

Add to that Florida's trouncing of Ohio State in the 2006 BCS title game, and the grass seemed especially greener in Gainesville, Fla., than in Clemson.

Only long conversations with Davis, head coach Tommy Bowden and then-running backs coach Burton Burns kept Spiller from leaving for the Gators, whose campus is a short drive from his home in Lake Butler, Fla.

Florida was the team he grew up following. Florida was the team his friends and family just knew he would pick on national signing day in 2006. Florida remains the team he chooses when he and Davis play NCAA Football on Xbox.

Mark Crammer
AP

Clemson running backs James Davis (left) and C.J. Spiller work on drills during a practice in Clemson.

"I was locked, loaded and ready to go," Spiller said. "All I had to do was pack my bags."

Last year, a struggling offensive line made rushing difficult at times. Spiller said the low point of his career came in the third game against Furman, when he was held to minus-1 rushing yard on nine carries.

He also faced criticism from his coaches and others for his unwillingness to run straight ahead and his lack of toughness.

Davis had 12 carries or less in six of Clemson's games, and the tipping point for him and Spiller was the final two games of the regular season. Against Boston College and South Carolina, the two were upset when offensive coordinator Rob Spence chose to pass the ball on drives that penetrated the 5-yard line.

In Columbia, television cameras caught Spiller venting his displeasure at the sight of passing plays being signaled in from the sideline. Both players let loose on the sidelines.

"You could see it as they came off the field," said safety Michael Hamlin. "They were yelling and throwing their helmets and stuff like that."

Even after the Tigers pulled out a 23-21 victory over the Gamecocks on a last-second field goal, Davis groused about the play-calling as he walked off the field.

When Bowden recently spoke about Clemson's wealth of offensive weapons and the potential perils of keeping everyone happy, Davis and Spiller were presumed to be Exhibits A and B.

Bowden doesn't want egos to be the downfall in his 10th season, one in which the Tigers are expected to run away with the ACC title. Clemson will enter the season No. 9, its highest preseason ranking since 1991.

"You have to be very unselfish," Bowden said. "That is something we surely have addressed. ... It could create problems."

Davis and Spiller maintain it won't be a problem this year because they've matured and are bent on subverting their individual ambitions to achieve the collective goal of winning Clemson's first conference crown in 17 years.

"I think it's going to be very important for us not to show that frustration out there on the field where everybody can see you," Spiller said. "You might have it inside you. You might be frustrated when you go home. But I know I have to become a better person in showing my actions on the field, because you've got everybody watching. ... We want to improve on that this year."

Davis said he and Spiller have "grown up" and are "all about winning this year."

Hamlin, a fifth-year senior who's the unquestioned leader of the defense, said he's detected a difference in the two.

"I feel like those guys have grown up," he said. "I feel like they're going to do what's best for the team. They're not going to try and make it all about themselves. They've just got to go with the game plan. They're not the only weapons we have on offense."

Both Davis and Spiller say the maturation process has been accelerated by the presence of their toddler children.

Spiller's daughter Shania is 2; Davis' daughter Jakia turns 2 this month. Both of the girls were in Clemson a week ago for the Tigers' Fan Appreciation Day.

"We talk about our daughters a lot," Davis said. "We know we're out here to play football, and we've got to find it in our hearts to do whatever we can to try to feed our daughters, because we want them to have everything. I mean, that's your little girl."

Davis' daughter lives two hours away in Atlanta, but Spiller's is a long way off in Florida. After spending a year in Clemson, Spiller's girlfriend and daughter moved on earlier this summer. His girlfriend was eager to pursue her modeling career and is now in Atlanta.

Spiller said he hopes he'll be able to get by with them not around.

"I guess we won't know what it will be like until the season starts," he said. "But I think I'm going to be OK."

Davis and Spiller became instant friends when Spiller took a recruiting visit to Clemson in January of 2006. Spiller wasn't all that interested in the Tigers before the visit; Tigers coaches considered themselves lucky just to get him onto campus.

Davis scrapped a planned trip home to Atlanta to hang with Spiller and show him around town. He sold Spiller on all that could happen with them occupying the same backfield.

When Davis went back on his decision to turn professional last January, his first call was to his mother. His second was to Spiller, who allowed Davis to live with him for two weeks while his housing got back in order.

The two keep to themselves off the field and seldom venture downtown at night with other teammates. They would rather stay home and play NCAA Football, go eat at Ruby Tuesday, or go watch some film.

"We try to stay together and not do anything stupid off the field," Davis said. "I don't really go downtown that much, and I think the only time C.J. has ever been down there is in the daytime."

They say the craziest thing they've ever done at Clemson was hop in the car and make an all-night drive to Florida immediately after returning from a loss at Virginia Tech in 2006.

Even though they share the same backfield, there's never been a hint of jealousy about who's getting more carries than the other. After Davis announced his decision to turn pro, Spiller began gaining weight and preparing to be the Tigers' feature back. When Davis changed his mind, Spiller welcomed him back with nothing less than wide-open arms and started preparing for another season of sharing the spotlight and the headlines.

"He takes a lot of pressure off me, and we both keep each other fresh on the field," Spiller said. "We both know that we bring something."

If there's one thing the tailbacks hope will change this season, it's getting them both on the field together more frequently. Concerns about pass protection and blocking have limited that combination in the past, but both are longing to ditch the rotation that's been the rule thus far.

"It helps when both of us are on the field because it really screws the defense up," Davis said. "Because they don't know what's about to happen."

Said Spiller: "The only way we're going to be able to score a lot of points is putting a lot of playmakers on the field at the same time and keep defenses guessing. That means getting me and James on the field together, and we've got other playmakers, too."

Davis is trying to become a first-round draft pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Spiller is considered a likely candidate to bolt early, and NFL scouts will be watching him closely to see if he's become tougher and more willing to run between the tackles.

So there's plenty at stake for these two individually. And as a tandem, leading the Tigers to the achievements that have eluded the program for so long would serve as the perfect exclamation point.

A few more nights like the one against Georgia Tech in 2006 wouldn't hurt, either.

"We've got one year left," Davis said.

Reach Larry Williams at lwilliams@postandcourier.com and check out the new Clemson blog at www.charleston.net/blogs/tiger_tracks/>