Clemson Continues To Roll With Victory Over Wake Forest
CLEMSON, SC —
More than just a football game was taking place on campus Saturday in Clemson. With Homecoming festivities in full swing, including the floats on Bowman Field, many fan’s minds were on a variety of things. Notice I said fans and not Dabo Swinney’s football team.
The Tiger offense led by Kelly Bryant, had no trouble moving the ball in Death Valley against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. It took the Tigers only 7 plays to cover 75 yards and cap off the drive with a 28 yard touchdown pass from Bryant to Deon Cain.
Later in the first quarter, Clemson would tack on another score with a 4 yard touchdown run by Adam Choice.
The only highlight from the first half after Choice’s touchdown run, was a designed fake punt by Clemson as Punter Will Spiers threw a 5 yard pass to Cornell Powell for a first down to keep the drive alive.
While both teams were able to move the ball somewhat effectively in the second quarter, scoring stalled until the third quarter.
Wake Forest intercepted a Kelly Bryant pass and moved the ball well enough to set up Kicker Mike Weaver in a position to attempt a 50 yard field goal. The kick was wide left. Clemson would start a new drive from their own 32 yard line. A Travis Etienne run here, and a Hunter Renfrow reception there, drove the Tigers down the field to the Wake 1 yard line. Etienne, the freshman running back from Louisiana, punched in the Tiger touchdown.
After feeling comfortable with the lead and an apparent Kelly Bryant injury, Coach Swinney played many underclassmen in the third and fourth quarters. Quarterback Hunter Johnson notched up his first career touchdown pass with a throw to Tight End Cannon Smith. The touchdown was also Cannon Smith’s first career touchdown reception.
Wake Forest would finally crack the scoreboard with a 16 yard touchdown pass from Kendall Hinton to Scotty Washington. Mike Weaver’s extra point was good to cut into Clemson’s lead of 28-7 with 8:32 left to play.
Wake Forest’s only hopes on offense came when they were lining up with Clemson’s third and fourth string players. The Demon Deacons would load up another score with a 11 yard pass to Cam Serigne for a touchdown. Clemson would simply run out the remaining time on the clock to seal the victory with a score of 28-14.
On the day, Clemson racked up 453 total yards of offense compared to Wake Forest’s 336 yards.
Clemson’s defense continues to impress, as after today’s victory, they are only allowing an average of 11.3 points per game.
With the victory, #2 Clemson moves to (6-0) overall and (4-0) in ACC play. Meanwhile, Wake Forest falls to (4-2) overall and (1-2) in ACC play.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Clemson Tigers came focused into Death Valley for today’s matchup with Wake Forest. Swinney referenced this in his postgame press conference discussing how he “loved the focus coming into this game.”
While Swinney said that he’s “not a fan of these friday night games,” coming up for the Tigers, is a short week as they take on Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in New York on Friday, October 13th at 7:00 PM.
Scoring Summary:
- First Quarter
12:59 – CU Kelly Bryant 28 yard pass to Deon Cain for a Touchdown (Spence Kick)
7 plays, 75 yards, 2:01; Clemson 7, Wake Forest 0
6:18 – CU Adam Choice 4 yard run for a Touchdown (Spence Kick)
12 plays, 76 yards, 5:07; Clemson 14, Wake Forest 0
- Third Quarter
7:31 – CU Travis Etienne 1 yard run for a Touchdown (Spence Kick)
9 plays, 68 yards, 3:38; Clemson 21, Wake Forest 0
- Fourth Quarter
11:48 – CU Hunter Johnson 13 yard pass to Cannon Smith for a Touchdown (Spence Kick)
4 plays, 32 yards, 1:20; Clemson 28, Wake Forest 0
8:32 – Wake Kendall Hinton 16 yard pass to Scotty Washington for a Touchdown (Weaver Kick)
9 plays, 78 yards, 3:16; Clemson 28, Wake Forest 7
2:28 – Wake Kendall Hinton 11 yard pass to Cam Serigne for a Touchdown (Weaver Kick)
10 plays, 60 yards, 4:05; Clemson 28, Wake Forest 14
Image Credit: Clemson Football