Eric Meekins Hometown: Easley, SC High School: Easley Position: FS Experience: 4VL

Overview Finished the 2002 season third on the Clemson team in tackles with 97…improved his tackle total by 25 over his junior season…celebrated his 23rd birthday at the Tangerine Bowl, the final performance for Meekins in a Clemson uniform…hard hitting safety who has ranked in the top five on the team in tackles each of the last two seasons…had 169 tackles over the last two years …had three straight games with 11 tackles against Georgia Tech, Ball State and Florida State early in the 2002 season…had season-high tying eight first hits against Ball State…also had eight against Maryland and nine for the game…had at least five tackles in every game but the contest at Virginia…had five passes defensed and four of them came in consecutive road wins on tobacco road…had three of his five passes defensed in the 34-31 win over Duke, two passes deflected and one interception…also had two passes broken up in the win at North Carolina…had solid game against Georgia in the opener with eight tackles, a big reason Georgia had just 203 yards of total offense…his all-around play is a reason Clemson ranked 17th in the nation in pass defense entering the bowl game…went over 200 tackles for his career in the bowl game… veteran of 49 games, he tied the Clemson record for games played with classmates J.J. McKelvey and Bryant McNeal… never missed a game in four years… veteran of over 1700 career plays…has 23 career starts, all over the last two seasons…wore a wristband that said JB3 on it in honor of high school friend Justin Bray, who was killed in an auto accident the summer before he came to Clemson…Bray was to join Meekins at Clemson as a walk-on and three was Bray’s favorite number…Meekins switched numbers with Brian Mance in 2000 so he could wear three in Bray’s honor…

Prior to 2002 Fifth on the team in tackles from his starting strong safety position…had 72 tackles in the 12 games, he started 10 of the 12 games…started the opener against Central Florida and had seven tackles in 53 plays…came off the bench against Wofford, but had a 29-yard fumble return for a score…only Clemson return for a touchdown by a defensive player that year…moved back into the starting lineup for the Virginia game when Marcus Houskin suffered broken neck...had career high 13 tackles in the win over Wake Forest, his performance was a key to the win over the run-oriented Demon Deacons…had seven hits and six assists in his 78 plays…had three PBUs for the season, all came in the win over NC State…also had six hits in that game in 77 snaps…had nine tackles against Florida State and eight against North Carolina…served as a second team linebacker and strong safety his first two years....had 19 tackles in 1999, he had 16 in 2000...second-team strong safety behind Charles Hafley all of 2000 season...had 14 of his 16 tackles within the first five games of the 2000 season... played 20 snaps when Clemson went to a fifth defensive back vs. Georgia Tech... had his season high in tackles in his first college game, he had seven in 52 plays against Marshall... that was the first game of the Tommy Bowden era…had 19 tackles as a freshman in 1999...played both linebacker and safety…came to Clemson from Fork Union Military, his school for the 1998 season....a running back in high school, he had 2415 yards rushing and scored 24 touchdowns at nearby Easley High School...born 12-23-79...majoring in speech and communications.

Meekins Career Stats
Year	GP-GS	PL	Hit	Ast	Tot	TFL	Int	PBU	CF-RF
1999	12-0	93	10	9	19	1-2	1-2	1	0-0
2000	12-0	151	13	3	16	1-2	0-0	2	0-0
2001	12-10	710	40	32	72	3-8	1-9	3	0-1
2002	13-13	755	61	36	97	0-0	1-0	5	0-0
Totals	49-23	1709	124	80	204	5-12	3-11	11	0-1