Clemson

Camden High senior-to-be Shukree Barfield, one of the top two-way linemen in South Jersey, has made an oral commitment to attend Clemson on a football scholarship. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Barfield said he chose Clemson over Tulane, Penn State and Tennessee. "I thought they have really treated me well while recruiting me," Barfield said. "I think I'm going to a good football program, and I'll get a good education. " Barfield said he was being recruited as a defensive lineman, although he was also a dominant offensive lineman.

Gary Downing could have spent the past weekend making one last football recruiting visit to West Virginia or Ohio State. Instead, he and his family all but barricaded themselves in their home and sent out for provisions. "We went outside a couple times; took little breaks," said Downing, a 6-3, 245-pound, two-way tackle from George Washington High. "But basically, we just talked all weekend. We had good discussions. The decision was left entirely up to me. Finally, on Sunday night, I said, 'I like Clemson.

To those skeptics who thought Clemson had squandered its potential and become mediocre, Merl Code has a message: "I would definitely have to say we're back," he said. Fourth-seeded Clemson held 13th-seeded Miami of Ohio to its lowest point-total of the year in a 68-56 victory yesterday in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional. Miami also scored only 56 in a one-point victory over Western Michigan in February. Greg Buckner scored 22 points as Clemson (22-9) put the brakes to a 2-5 season-ending skid that included losses to Duke, Florida State, Wake Forest and North Carolina.

Stadium security admonished young Clemson fans for throwing a blue-and-orange football during halftime last night. Apparently, they said nothing to Clemson's backups. Will Proctor threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns to stake the 12th-ranked Tigers to a 46-point halftime lead. Cullen Harper took over in the second half, throwing for 71 yards and another touchdown as Clemson scored 14 more points en route to a 63-9 win over Temple, in front of 30,246 at Bank of America Stadium.

When Arthur Bussie went to bed Tuesday night, he realized something was terribly wrong. Bussie, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Camden High senior who was The Inquirer's South Jersey defensive player of the year last season, couldn't sleep - even though, a few hours earlier, he had ended the draining recruiting process by announcing his intention to attend Ohio State. "I tried to sleep, but I kept thinking about it and thinking about it," Bussie said yesterday. Bussie got out of bed. He sat down with his father, Arthur Sr., who had recommended that his son select Ohio State.

The California Bears, who needed double-digit comebacks to win their first two NIT games, got off to a quick start for once - and then struggled to handle their early success. The Bears had a 26-2 run in the first half and survived a second-half scare from Colorado State to defeat the Rams, 71-62, last night and reach the NIT semifinals. California blew a 21-point second-half lead over the Rams, who briefly took the lead twice while holding the Bears to one basket in a 14-minute span.

The basketball season ended in disappointment last night for Rutgers, which struggled against the size and strength of Clemson in a 78-68 second-round defeat in the National Invitation Tournament. Guard Terrell McIntyre had 16 points, and three other players reached double figures to help the Tigers, taking advantage of their power game inside, move into the tournament quarterfinals. Clemson (18-14), which had advanced with an opening-round 77-57 triumph over Georgia, will face Butler, which advanced with a 75-62 second-round win over Old Dominion.

Bishop Eustace senior Marc Sauer, a pitcher who helped guide the Crusaders to the Parochial A state baseball title, has accepted a baseball scholarship from Clemson. Sauer made an oral commitment late last week and will sign with the Atlantic Coast Conference school during the early signing period Nov. 12-19. As a junior, Sauer was an Inquirer first-team all-South Jersey selection, with a 12-1 record and a 2.04 ERA. "The school and the baseball program are excellent," Sauer said yesterday.

Clemson's success is due to great defense. Then the Lady Tigers ran into Connecticut's defense last night. "It was shocking. Just getting across halfcourt was tough," sophomore guard Krystal Scott said after the top-seeded Huskies routed visiting Clemson, 83-45, holding the Lady Tigers to three field goals in the first half. "It seemed like there was an open lane to the basket, and here comes someone at you," Scott said. The Lady Tigers, the No. 11 seed, shot just 10-for-49 for the game (20.4 percent)

Some silver linings are harder to find than others. But Villanova coach George Bennett didn't have to search too hard to find one for his Wildcats after yesterday's 8-3 loss to top-seeded Clemson in the NCAA Northeast Regional baseball tournament. "We're a notch below the top two or three teams in this regional," Bennett said after his team was eliminated from the tournament. "But we're climbing, and I think we gained a lot of respect here. " The fourth-seeded Wildcats (37-15-1)

KYLE STANLEY rebounded from a devastating loss to win the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz., overcoming an eight-stroke deficit yesterday in a comeback as unlikely as his collapse last week at Torrey Pines. In tears 7 days ago in San Diego after blowing a big lead - dropping the final strokes with a triple-bogey 8 on the final hole - and losing a playoff, Stanley took advantage of Spencer Levin's meltdown yesterday to win his first PGA Tour title. "I'm not sure what I'm thinking right now," said Stanley, 24, a fomer Clemson star.

Play it again, LSU and Alabama. The No. 2 Crimson Tide (.9419) edged out No. 3 Oklahoma State (.9333) in the final round of voting and will play the top-ranked Tigers in an all-SEC BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 9 in New Orleans. It's not exactly a rematch the public was clamoring for - at least outside of Southeastern Conference territory. And it certainly will do nothing to quiet the critics of the Bowl Championship Series or the calls for a college football playoff.

1. RG3 is No. 1 The numbers posted by Robert Griffin III defy logic. The Baylor quarterback has more touchdown passes (13) than incompletions (12) in three games, and he leads the nation in pass efficiency and completion percentage (85.4). Naturally, the Bears' athletic communications staff has begun a Heisman Trophy campaign utilizing social media to the fullest (@RG3forHeisman on Twitter). Griffin actually is seeking the Heisman but purely as a team project. "The guys have done a great job, and they want that Heisman," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

1. OKLAHOMA (3-0) def. Missouri, 38-28 Next: vs. Ball State Saturday 2. LOUISIANA STATE (4-0) def. West Virginia, 47-21 Next: vs. Kentucky Saturday 3. ALABAMA (4-0) def. Arkansas, 38-14 Next: at Florida Saturday 4. BOISE STATE (3-0) def. Tulsa, 41-21 Next: vs. Nevada Saturday 5. STANFORD (3-0) Idle Next: vs. UCLA Saturday 6. WISCONSIN (4-0)

CLEMSON, S.C. - Tajh Boyd threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as No. 21 Clemson opened Atlantic Coast Conference play with a 35-30 victory over No. 11 Florida State on Saturday. Boyd threw for 344 yards for the Tigers, who reached 4-0 for the first time since 2007. Freshman Sammy Watkins had two of Boyd's scoring passes for 24 and 62 yards as Clemson beat the Seminoles (2-2, 0-1) for the fifth straight time in Death Valley. Watkins finished with eight catches for 141 yards, his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game.

That porous defense finally caught up to Auburn and the longest winning streak in the nation no longer belongs to the defending national champions. Led by Tajh Boyd, Clemson (3-0) wiped out a big deficit then pulled away from the Tigers from the Southeastern Conference in the fourth quarter and won, 38-24, in Clemson, S.C., on Saturday. Auburn's 17-game winning streak was the longest in school history since the Tigers won 20 straight in 1993-94. Oklahoma 23, Florida State 13 - Kenny Stills grabbed a 37-yard touchdown pass from Landry Jones midway through the fourth quarter for the tiebreaking score, and the top-ranked Sooners' defense held to beat the No. 5 Seminoles (2-1)

The director of the antidoping lab for the 2012 London Olympics has a warning for any athletes considering using banned substances. "If you want to take drugs don't come to London - because we'll catch you if you take drugs," professor David Cowan said at the end of a World Anti-Doping Association symposium on Thursday in Rome. Cowan heads King's College London's Drug Control Center, the only WADA-accredited lab in Britain. "The IOC is aiming to test more and more athletes," Cowan said.

The NCAA Tournament's new format, the "First Four," debuts with doubleheaders tomorrow and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. In the newly expanded field, there are 68 teams competing, so there is a need to knock four unlucky souls to the curb. All four games will be on truTV, with the opening games at 6:40 p.m. Tomorrow, it will be North Carolina-Asheville vs. Arkansas-Little Rock in the JV game with Alabama-Birmingham playing Clemson in the varsity game. The Asheville vs. UALR winner will play No. 1 seed Pittsburgh in Washington on Thursday.

These days, John Heisman isn't remembered for much beyond his name on an iconic trophy - a trophy he didn't approve of in the first place. Heisman the man is more interesting than Heisman the trophy, which will be awarded Saturday for the 75th time. He stands as one of the University of Pennsylvania's great contributions to football, explaining why a replica Heisman Trophy was donated to Penn this year and now stands at Franklin Field. Heisman, who died in 1936, was a driving force behind introducing the forward pass to college football.