{"id":66084,"date":"2024-10-11T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T16:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=66084"},"modified":"2024-10-10T17:09:03","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T21:09:03","slug":"66084-wake-has-to-face-the-streak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/10\/11\/66084-wake-has-to-face-the-streak\/","title":{"rendered":"Wake Has To Face The Streak as They Host the Clemson Tigers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week Wake Forest ended a three-game losing streak and there was joy in DeacTown. The win in the closing minute at North Carolina State put the Demon Deacons at 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. But now Wake has to face THE streak as they host the Clemson Tigers.<\/p>\n

Want some perspective on The Streak? George W. Bush was finishing his last year in office the last time Wake Forest beat Clemson. 2008. That is 15 straight years for anyone trying to do the math.<\/p>\n

There have been moments for sure when it looked like the streak could end. This site liked Wake\u2019s chances in 2022, even publishing \u201cIf Not Now, When?\u201d Wake lost that game in Winston-Salem in double overtime, 51-45. Last season, in a game that lacked consistent offense on both sides, Clemson won 17-12.<\/p>\n

Clemson on a Roll<\/h3>\n

The Tigers come into Saturday\u2019s game 4-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play. The one loss was on the season\u2019s opening weekend against an elite-level Georgia team. The 30-point drubbing caused pontificators to hasten their criticism of head coach Dabo Swinney<\/a>. His refusal to use the transfer portal, they said, was causing talent deficiencies on the field.<\/p>\n

That \u201ctalent deficient\u201d team has now four in a row, including the three conference games. Now let\u2019s not mistake those wins for coming against the college version of elite programs. They have beaten Appalachian State, NC State, Stanford, and Florida State.<\/p>\n

Still, the Tigers are showing life in an offense that has often, and rightfully, questioned. But with quarterback Cade Klubnik<\/a> and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley in their second year together, there seems to be more of a rhythm. The yards per passing attempt and yards per completion are up significantly for Klubnik. The offense is now less about keeping everything safe. Clemson now has the #19 ranked offense in the country at 465 yards per game.<\/p>\n

Oddly enough it is the defense, the strength of the Clemson team for the last handful of years, that is somewhat lagging. The Tigers are 80th<\/sup> in the country, giving up an average of 371 yards per game.<\/p>\n

Clawson’s Perspective<\/h3>\n

Still, Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson, (who is 0-10 against Clemson), knows what the Tigers are bringing to the football fight. \u201cThis has been, to me, the most dominant program in the ACC over the last decade,\u201d Clawson said at his weekly press conference this week. \u201cWhat Dabo\u2019s built at Clemson, the consistency of it, the championship level program that he built and has been able to maintain is one of the most impressive coaching jobs in the whole country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The improvement in Klubnik\u2019s game from 2023 to now has not escaped Clawson\u2019s notice. \u201cI don\u2019t know what they did in the off-season down there with him, but he looks bigger, stronger, and faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

The receiving group, which had been the position where many speculated Swinney should have shopping in the portal, has been playing at a more consistent level over the last four games. \u201cThey look like they are coming back to where they were,\u201d Clawson said of the receivers, as part of a legacy of Clemson standouts at the position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d enjoy watching them if we didn\u2019t have to play them,\u201d Clawson said of the Tigers.<\/p>\n

Dabo<\/h3>\n

From his vantage point, Swinney said Wake Forest is, \u201cA typical Dave Clawson team; well coached; play hard every snap; fundamentally sound.\u201d Swinney called Wake, \u201cOne of the best-coached teams we play year in and year out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of that 2022 double overtime Clemson win, Swinney recollected, \u201cWe were very, very fortunate to win that game. We literally made one more than they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swinney said he needs to see his team be more consistent over four quarters, saying they have played really well in spurts. \u201cComing off a really good win on the road, we\u2019re just 4-1,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean we ain\u2019t done nothing. We\u2019re just 4-1. That\u2019s it. All we\u2019ve done is create some opportunity for ourselves. But we\u2019ve got a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clawson is hopeful that the time has come for the streak to end. \u201cI think when we first got here, there was such a talent discrepancy. The double overtime one two years ago, that one I\u2019ll take to my grave and not feel good about,\u201d he said. \u201cOur players get excited to play them. They\u2019re a top 10 program. They\u2019re a national program.\u201d He added, \u201cWe know how good they are and our players get excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Wake
Photo courtesy: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week Wake Forest ended a three-game losing streak and there was joy in DeacTown. The win in the closing minute at North Carolina State put the Demon Deacons at 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. But now Wake has to face THE streak as they host the Clemson Tigers. Want some perspective on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1534,"featured_media":66087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7],"tags":[102,36,680,1135,1249],"class_list":["post-66084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-acc","tag-acc","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-dabo-swinney","tag-dave-clawson","tag-wake-forest-demon-deacons"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}