Dan Benish was one of the few college football players who received a three-year dose of Herschel Walker.
Playing at Clemson from 1979-82, Benish and the Tigers faced Walker during his three seasons at Georgia, which began with UGA’s national championship season in ’80.
In those three games, Walker never scored against Clemson. He would finish with 52 touchdowns against all other opponents.
“That is saying something,’’ said Benish, a starting defensive tackles those three years. “I always make a point to people, to say that he never scored against us.’’
In Walker’s freshman year, Georgia was ranked No. 10 when it beat the Tigers 20-16 in Athens but Walker was held to 121 yards on 23 carries. The next season at Clemson, the unranked Tigers won 13-3 over the No. 4 Bulldogs on their run to a national title, Walker picking up 111 yards on 28 carries. During Herschel’s junior season in ’82, when he played with a much-publicized broken thumb, he had just 20 yards on 11 carries but the No. 6 Bulldogs won 13-7 in Athens. The Tigers were ranked No. 16 going into the game.
“The ’81 game was really the game that started the run for the national championship,’’ Benish said. “We went into the game unranked and Georgia turned the ball over a lot that day and we held Herschel in check. But that win really helped propel us to an undefeated season and national championship.’’
Walker gained 5,259 yards over his three seasons and won the Heisman Trophy his junior season. In three games against Clemson, he gained 252 yards (average carry: 4.1 yards) compared to 649 against Florida and 592 against Georgia Tech. He scored nine touchdowns against the Yellow Jackets.
“We played against a lot of good backs during that time, which included George Rogers at South Carolina. And Herschel was right up there at the top,’’ said Benish. “He was tough to bring down but like I like to say, he didn’t score against us.’’
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