C.J. Spiller thought he had finally eluded the injury bug that had seemed to find him each week throughout the 2009 season. Playing through most of the year with multiple injuries, Spiller was at long last completely healthy heading into Saturday’s game against South Carolina.

Then he woke up on game day to a surprise.

‘Well, the injuries, they were fine,’ Spiller, Clemson’s senior running back, said of the nagging hamstring and toe ailments that have plagued his 2009 campaign. ‘I think I had more of a bug, a virus or something when I woke up Saturday.’

Despite the flu-like symptoms, Spiller managed to go out and set the NCAA record with his seventh career kickoff return for a touchdown in the Tigers’ 34-17 loss to the Gamecocks. It was a return that also pushed Spiller past 7,000 all-purpose yards in his career, something only four other players have accomplished in NCAA history.

And despite the injuries that have lingered for the length of the season, Spiller has burst onto the national scene in his first full season starting with the Tigers, casting his own image on a program he had shared with current Cleveland Browns running back James Davis for the past three seasons.

As he leads the Tigers into the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game against Georgia Tech, Spiller has a chance to add another keepsake to the ever-shrinking space on his mantle – he is hoping to lead the Tigers to the program’s first conference championship trophy in 18 years.

‘He’s by far the best player I’ve ever coached or been around,’ Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. ‘I mean – he’s just unbelievable.’

In his Clemson career, Spiller has set 26 school records. He’s the only player in school history to record 100-yard games four different ways – rushing, receiving and kickoff and punt returns. This year, he’s the only player in FBS with a touchdown in every game.

Since Spiller played in Clemson’s Wing-T formation in high school, an offense that values rushing as its main point of attack, Swinney said he was unaware of the versatility Spiller could bring to the Tigers offense, particularly in the passing game.

‘What I didn’t know is how good his hands were,’ Swinney said. ‘That’s just made him even that much more of a threat. He’s hard to take away because he has a great ability to catch the ball.’

Spiller also added another chapter to the Clemson record books this season when he became the first player in program history to have a touchdown pass, catch and run in the same game. It came in the Tigers’ 43-23 romp of North Carolina State.

Consider Swinney unimpressed.

‘I’m just proud of C.J. – another ho-hum day for him,’ Swinney said after the game. ‘I don’t know how many other ‘first evers’ the guy can have.’

And if versatile is at the top of the list of adjectives to describe Spiller, explosive isn’t very far behind.

Spiller has 20 touchdowns in his career of 50 yards or more, far and away the Clemson record and more than Heisman Trophy winners Tim Brown and Reggie Bush.

Swinney, who was Clemson’s recruiting coordinator that was instrumental in bringing Spiller to Clemson, saw Spiller’s potential impact from his first steps on the gridiron.

‘Right out of the gate he was dynamic,’ Swinney said. ‘I just remember going, ‘Wow,’ at the way he could plant, cut and change direction and accelerate from 0 to 60. I knew we had something pretty, pretty special.’

All of Spiller’s attributes as a player make even the best defensive players shiver at the thought of trying to contain him.

‘It’s hard to stop a guy of his caliber,’ said Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan, who is tied for third in the nation with 12 sacks this season. ‘He’s so elusive as a player, it’s hard to stop him. You’ve just got to try to contain him the best you can.’

Instead, teammates and coaches typically find out that not much can contain Spiller. Not even that dreaded injury bug.

Since he was first injured in September, Spiller has had to follow the same demanding routine.

It starts with an early morning rise, usually before sunrise, when he dunks his toe in a bucket of ice water. He then ventures to the training room to get more treatment on the toe and stretch it out. Later in the afternoon, he repeats the same process.

But Spiller doesn’t let the injuries get in the way of why he came back to Clemson for his senior season.

‘Usually after the games it’s sore, but that’s something that I had to get the mindset that I didn’t want to miss any games,’ Spiller said. ‘Some guys probably would have sat out, but being that it’s my senior year, it’s my last time going around, I didn’t want to sit out any games.’

‘W’ is not for ‘Wins’

When Charlie Weis took over the reins of the Notre Dame football program in 2005, he inherited a team that went 6-5 on the season. He declared that record ‘not good enough.’

By his own standards, his past three seasons at the school haven’t been good enough.

Weis was fired Monday as Fighting Irish’s coach after five seasons at the helm. The team blossomed with him initially, jumping out to a 19-6 record his first two years on the job. But the Fighting Irish have gone just 16-21 since.

Speculation is rampant about who will replace Weis. Considered the top favorites are Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson.

Game to Watch: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 Alabama

It’s championship weekend, and the cream of the crop rests in Georgia, where the Gators will take on the Crimson Tide in the SEC championship, in what has become an unofficial national semifinal. The winner moves on to the BCS National Championship Game, while the loser is likely off to another BCS bowl.

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on December 2, 2009 at 12:00 pm