WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Wake Forest football (2-4, 1-2 ACC) dropped a 49-14 contest to No. 10 Clemson (5-1, 4-0 ACC) on Saturday afternoon inside Allegacy Stadium.
Saturday’s game inside Allegacy Stadium, which was sponsored by Allegacy Federal Credit Union, brought together a sellout crowd of 31,553 fans to witness the game. This was the 11th sellout crowd since the 2021 season.
The contest featured redshirt junior Horatio Fields hauling in a touchdown for the second-consecutive week for his third score of the year. He finished the contest with three catches for 48 yards. Also on offense, redshirt junior tight end Michael Frogge recorded his first-career reception on a six-yard touchdown catch, while redshirt freshman wideout Deuce Alexander led the Deacs with 60 receiving yards on three receptions.
Defensively, redshirt freshman defensive back Davaughn Patterson led the team with a career-high 12 tackles and he tallied a forced fumble and one tackle-for-loss.
The Demon Deacons will look to bounce back on the road next week in their final non-conference contest of the season as Wake heads to Storrs, Connecticut for a matchup at UConn on Saturday, Oct. 19 that will kickoff at 12 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Clemson won the toss and elected to defer to the second half.
The opening kickoff went into the back of the endzone for a touchback and the Demon Deacons took over at the 25.
Wake Forest went three-and-out on the opening drive before a 54-yard punt from Mora pinned the Tigers back inside the 20.
Pressure from Kevin Pointer on third down forced an incompletion and forced Clemson to punt with 11:55 remaining in the first quarter.
After taking over at their own 21-yard line, the Deacs picked up a couple of first downs before Mora booted another punt to the Clemson 12.
A huge sack on third down by Davis and Ganious forced another Clemson punt as Wake Forest took over at the 27-yard line at the 3:41 mark.
Wake Forest took a 7-0 lead with 1:32 remaining in the first quarter on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Bachmeier to Fields.
Fields’ third score of the season capped off an eight-play, 73-yard drive that spanned just over two minutes.
Clemson tied the contest at the 13:39 mark in the second quarter following a 22-yard touchdown pass.
An interception on the following drive set up the Tigers at the Wake Forest 23-yard line.
Clemson capitalized and took a 14-7 lead with 12:34 remaining in the half.
Following another turnover, the Tigers doubled their advantage with a touchdown rush on fourth-and-goal at the 6:46 mark in the second quarter.
The Demon Deacons responded immediately as a six-yard Bachmeier toss to Frogge made it a one-score game with just over three minutes to go in the half.
This marked Frogge’s first-career reception and touchdown.
The score was set up following a 38-yard connection from Bachmeier to Alexander.
The Tigers extended their lead again two minutes later with an eight-yard touchdown pass.
Wake Forest went into the locker room trailing 28-14.
Clemson scored on their opening drive of the second half and extended its lead to 21.
After Wake Forest went three-and-out, Clemson made it 42-14 with seven minutes left in the third quarter.
The two teams traded punts over the next three drives until the end of the third quarter.
The Tigers added another touchdown at the 8:55 mark to make it 49-14.
Wake Forest turned it over on downs with 4:28 remaining in the contest.
Clemson ran out the clock and defeated Wake Forest, 49-14.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Throughout his career, Hank Bachmeier has been one of the most consistent quarterbacks in the country. He has accumulated 10,102 career passing yards in his six seasons playing which would rank second all-time in Wake Forest history. Additionally among active quarterbacks in the country, his career yards rank seventh:
Additionally, in 44 career games played, Bachmeier has thrown for 60 career passing touchdowns which would rank fourth in Wake Forest program history and currently ranks tied for 13th among active FBS quarterbacks and 10th among Power-4 quarterbacks:
Wake Forest University & Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium hosted 31,553 fans on Saturday, Oct. 12.
The total fan attendance for Wake’s fifth game of the year marks the highest attendance since hosting 32,849 vs. Ole Miss earlier this season and 31,061 against Louisiana.
Following this afternoon’s sellout crowd, Wake Forest Football has now had 11 sellouts since the 2021 season.
2024:
Oct. 12 vs. Clemson – 31,553
Sept. 13 vs. Ole Miss – 32,849
2023:
Aug. 31 vs. Elon – 30,028
Sept. 9 vs. Vanderbilt – 28,363
Sept. 23 vs. Georgia Tech – 31,865
Oct. 28 vs. FSU – 31,288
2022:
Sept. 17 vs. Liberty – 32,891
Sept. 24, vs. Clemson, 32,903
Oct. 8 vs. Army – 32,524
2021:
Oct. 30 vs. Duke – 31,613
Nov. 13 vs. NC State – 34,503
FROM COACH CLAWSON “Certainly thanks to the fans and students who came out. I wish we had played better for them. Today, we got beat by a better football team and we got beat by a better football program. Against Clemson, we have to play really well. Those two turnovers in the first half that led to two touchdowns really put us in a deep hole and, again, they’re a really good program. We know when we play them there’s a small margin of error. I trust that our players will press on. We’ve got a lot of football left. It is what it is; a bad day at the office, and we’ve got to get better.” – head coach Dave Clawson
UP NEXT The Demon Deacons hit the road for the final non-conference contest of the season as Wake heads to Storrs, Connecticut for a matchup at UConn on Saturday, Oct. 19 that will kickoff at 12 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
Wake Forest’s next home game will be on Friday, Nov. 8 against new ACC member California with kickoff set for 8 p.m. on the ACC Network. Tickets for the matchup with the Golden Bears can be purchased by clicking HERE. For questions or assistance, please contact the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext. 1 or [email protected]. Regular office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
