Top 10 plays of 2010

The last few days of the year just wouldn't be complete without all the "best of" stories you see in the run-up to New Year's.

We'll join the fun with a look back at Clemson's season. And we'll look at not just the good, but the bad as well. It's only fitting with a team that finished 6-6, no?

So the Top 10 plays of 2010 are today, followed by the Bottom 10 plays tomorrow. This was done mostly on memory, so if you think something has been left out don't hesitate to speak up.

TOP 10 PLAYS

1. Jamie Harper's catch at Auburn

That's really all you have to say, because surely it goes down as one of the more memorable plays of the college football season, period.

Late in the first half, Clemson is up 10-0 but wants more. Billy Napier dials up the perfect play call -- a fake screen underneath, then a deep throw to Harper on a wheel route.

Kyle Parker's throw is absolutely perfect. The catch is even better, a 24-yard touchdown strike that left the denizens of Jordan-Hare Stadium stunned.

Auburn came back and won that night in overtime, and Clemson spent the rest of the season unsuccessfully trying to capture what it possessed through that first half.

2. Dawson Zimmerman's grab against N.C. State

It was Clemson's best catch of the year -- and that's saying something, because DeAndre Hopkins had some nice ones.

With a little over three minutes left and Clemson holding on to a one-point lead, Zimmerman stood inside his own 40 and saw the snap by Matt Skinner sailing over his right shoulder.

With the Wolfpack needing only a field goal for the win, it was a disastrous situation. But Zimmerman somehow extricated the Tigers from it by leaping high to snare the ball with his right hand, then getting off a rugby-style kick that put the Wolfpack at its 15-yard line.

3. Da'Quan Bowers' sack against Maryland

The Terps were moving the ball with little resistance and seemed poised to take a 14-10 lead halfway through the first half at Death Valley.

But on third-and-1 from Clemson's 7, Maryland ran play-action and Bowers ate it alive. He blew up the right tackle and tailback on his way to quarterback Danny O'Brien, sacking him for a 9-yard loss.

The Terps missed a field goal on the next play, and Clemson went on to win 31-7.

4. Hopkins' one-handed stab against Georgia Tech

This one made Hopkins feel like he was back at Daniel High School.

On third-and-3 in the first quarter, Parker dropped back and threw a fade to Hopkins. The pass was a little high, and Mario Butler had good coverage. No problem for Hopkins, who leaped and brought it down with one hand.

5. Bowers' sack of North Carolina's T.J. Yates

Kevin Steele is probably still marveling at Bowers' ability to use one arm to drive back 6-foot-5, 300-pound tackle Mike Ingersoll about 7 yards, all the way into Yates.

“It was textbook technique and it was sheer speed and power,” Steele said. “When you can stick your hand in a man’s chest that weighs 300 pounds with one hand, one hand, and you can carry him seven yards to the quarterback’s lap, reach around him and grab the quarterback, you are a man.”

6. Andre Ellington's early touchdown run against Georgia Tech

Clemson's offense was a mess on its first possession against the Yellow Jackets. The Tigers went 3-and-out, but Georgia Tech roughed Zimmerman to put the offense back on the field.

On first down, Ellington went 55 yards for a touchdown. Left guard David Smith helped with a pulverizing block on a linebacker, and Ellington did the rest with a few excellent cuts.

7. Marcus Gilchrist's 76-yard kickoff return against N.C. State

Clemson did not cash in on this excellent fourth-quarter return, failing to get a first down and then watching Richard Jackson miss a short field goal.

But Gilchrist's return was still huge, because it greatly influenced field position. Clemson's defense got a stop after Jackson's miss, and the Tigers took over at N.C. State's 39 and ended up scoring the go-ahead touchdown on that possession.

8. Jarvis Jenkins' blocked field goal against N.C. State

The Wolfpack seemed poised to run away from the Tigers in the first half of this one.

Up 7-0, N.C. State swiftly moved into Clemson territory in the second quarter. The defense came up with a stop, but the Wolfpack had a chip-shot field goal from 30 yards to go up double digits.

Jenkins didn't let it happen. He bulled in to block the field goal, and the Tigers ended up winning by a point.

9. Ellington's 71-yard run against Miami

Yeah, the Hurricanes ended up winning this one 30-21 in Death Valley. But Ellington's blazing first-quarter run ended up serving notice that C.J. Spiller's successor had some breakaway ability, too.

Ellington took a zone run right, then cut back and found daylight before beating a fast Hurricanes secondary to the end zone.

10. Parker's pass to Jaron Brown against Wake Forest

Clemson won this game 30-10, but who knows what would've happened had the Tigers not reached the end zone late in the first half in Winston-Salem.

The offense was sputtering and, the putrid Demon Deacons were only down 6-0. That's when Parker lofted a pass to the right corner of the end zone for Brown, who came down with the 40-yard catch to allow the Tigers to breathe more easily at halftime.

LW