Despite Tremendous Efforts, Demon Deacons Drop Hard-Fought Loss at Clemson

courtesy GoDeacs.com

by Will Pantages

CLEMSON, S.C. — The Wake Forest football program suffered its first road defeat of the 2023 season on Saturday in front of a sellout homecoming crowd at Memorial Stadium against Clemson, 17-12. Despite the loss, the Demon Deacons defense played extremely well and held the Tigers to just 17 points in their home stadium. Saturday marked just the third time since the 2017 season that Clemson had been held to that 17 points or less in Clemson.

Additionally on defense, Wake Forest was able to force Clemson to commit a pair of turnovers on Saturday for the first time in this annual series since 2017. 

Individually on that side of the ball, junior safety Malik Mustapha recorded a game-high tying nine tackles and sophomore linebacker Dylan Hazen tallied eight stops and had one tackle-for-loss. The Deacs turnovers came on a pair of fumbles by Clemson, which were recovered by senior Chelan Garnes and junior Kevin Pointer.

On the offensive end, QB Mitch Griffis recorded his first-career road ACC start and threw for 137 yards and did not commit a turnover. Meanwhile, sophomore running back Demond Claiborne rushed for 60 yards and scored a touchdown. Also, redshirt sophomore kicker Matt Dennis made field goals on Saturday from 35 and 22 yards, respectively.

https://c992fd45c450b191be9b65c5747af789.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.htmlWake Forest and Clemson have now met 72-straight years following Saturday’s contest and it is the longest active uninterrupted series for the Tigers.

Wake Forest continues its road swing at Virginia Tech (Oct. 14) next weekend. The Demon Deacons next home game will be on Saturday, Oct. 21 when Pittsburgh comes to Winston-Salem for Homecoming Weekend. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Clemson won the toss and deferred its choice to the second half. The Demon Deacons took over at the 25 following a touchback.
• After a 40-yard Ivan Mora punt to the Clemson 20-yard line, the Wake Forest defense forced a quick three-and-out.
• Mora booted his second punt inside the 20 in the opening 15 minutes with a 48-yarder down to the Clemson 8-yard line.
• On 2nd-and-6, Kevin Pointer recovered a Clemson fumble on a botched handoff exchange to set the Deacs up at their own 9-yard line.
• After a turnover-on-downs, the Wake Forest defense forced another Clemson three-and-out and set up the offense with great field position at the Wake Forest 45-yard line.
  • The Tigers were held to just 13 total yards and zero first downs over its first three drives of the contest.
• With 2:25 remaining in the first quarter, Matthew Dennis gave Wake Forest a 3-0 lead with a 35-yard field goal.
  • The first scoring drive of the afternoon was highlighted by a 23-yard connection from Mitch Griffis to Wesley Grimes on the first play.
• Clemson took a 7-3 lead at the 10:18 mark in the second quarter following a seven-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Cade Klubnik.
• On the following drive, Mora booted his second-consecutive put inside the 10-yard line, as his season-long 59-yarder pinned Clemson at its own 3-yard line with 7:35 remaining in the first half.
• For the third time in the first half, Wake Forest started a drive inside Clemson territory, as Morin called a fair catch at the 42-yard line.
• After a fumble, the Wake Forest defense held strong and got the ball back for the offense with just over three minutes to go in the second quarter.
• At the 1:57 mark, Chelen Garnes pounced on a muffed punt by the Clemson returner and set the Deacs up at the Clemson 31-yard line. 
• As time expired in the first half, Dennis missed a 39-yarder just left and Clemson took a 7-3 lead into halftime.
• The Demon Deacons went into the locker room down four.
  • Offensively in the first half, the Deacs were led by Grimes (two catches for 41 yards) and Claiborne (54 rushing yards).
  • Dylan Hazen and Nick Andersen recorded four tackles apiece as the Deacs held the Tigers to just 40 yards on the ground. 
• Clemson opened the second half at the 25 after a Tyler Black touchback.
• Despite the Tigers reaching the two-yard line, the Wake Forest defense held them to a field goal and kept the game within one score.
• The Deacs responded with a field goal of their own on the following drive, as Griffis led the offense on a 12-play, 71-yard drive capped off by a 22-yarder from Dennis with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter, making it a 10-6 game.
  • Griffis recorded 43 passing yards in addition to 18 rushing yards during the drive, including three plays of 10 or more yards.
• Clemson missed a 51-yard field goal on the next possession, which set the Wake Forest offense up at its 34-yard line.
• After three-consecutive punts between the two teams, Clemson extended its lead to 17-6 with a one-yard Will Shipley touchdown run at the 5:49 mark in the fourth quarter.
• The Deacs responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a three-yard touchdown rush from Claiborne. The two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful as the Deacs trailed, 12-17 with 1:34 to go.
• The Deacs were unable to recover Mora’s on-side kick attempt as the Tigers took over at the Wake Forest 44-yard line.
• Clemson ran out the clock as the Deacs fell, 17-12.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

https://c992fd45c450b191be9b65c5747af789.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.htmlThe Demon Deacons recorded their best performance against the Tigers in 15 years. Overall for the game, Wake Forest held the Tigers to just 6-of-15 on third down and recorded a pair of tackles-for-loss and forced two turnovers. 

Other highlights from Saturday;s defensive effort include:

• Wake Forest held the Clemson Tigers scoreless for the first time in this series since Nov. 6, 2014. 
• The Demon Deacons were able to force the Clemson Tigers to commit a pair of turnovers on Saturday for the first time in this annual series since 2017. 
• Wake Forest’s defense held the Tigers to 17 points on Saturday, marking the fewest the Deacs have allowed against Clemson since 2008 when CU only scored seven points.
• Since the 2016 season, the Tigers have only been held at or below 17 points at Memorial Stadium on two other occasions.
  • A 14-8 win over Georgia Tech on Sept. 18, 2022. 
  • A 14-6 win over Auburn on Sept. 9, 2018. 

STAGGERING STATISTICS
One of the points of emphasis for the Wake Forest football team is winning the turnover battle. They have been one of the best teams in the country in that category since the start of the 2016 season.

In five of the last seven seasons, the Demon Deacons have finished inside of the top 25 in turnover margin while placing in the top three of ACC in each of those seasons.

Over the course of 2020-22, Wake Forest was +1 or better in turnover margin in 53 percent of games which ranked ninth nationally and fifth in the Power-5.

Over the past eight seasons, Wake Forest has a combined +36 turnover margin. Only 2018 and 2022 saw the Deacs finish with more turnovers lost than gained:

• Season TO Gained      TO Lost           TO Margin
• 2023     10                    11                    -1
• 2022     16                    19                    -3*
• 2021     29                    20                    +9
• 2020     17                    7                      +10
• 2019     25                    17                    +8
• 2018     16                    19                    -3*
• 2017     21                    13                    +8
• 2016     27                    19                    +8
  • *Only seasons in Wake Forest history where the Deacs reached a bowl game with a negative turnover margin.

Wake Forest forced two turnovers at Clemson (two fumble recoveries).

• 2023 Wake Forest Forced Turnovers
  • Demarcus Rankin Interception, Elon (Aug. 31) 
  • Dashawn Jones Interception, Elon (Aug. 31) 
  • Malik Mustapha Interception, Vanderbilt (Sept. 9)
  • Ke’Shawn Williams Forced Fumble, Brendon Harris Recovery, Vanderbilt (Sept. 9)
  • Dashawn Jones Interception, Vanderbilt (Sept. 9)
  • Evan Slocum Interception, Old Dominion (Sept. 16)
  • Jacob Roberts Forced Fumble, Jasheen Davis Fumble Recovery, Old Dominion (Sept. 16)
  • Dashawn Jones Interception, Georgia Tech (Sept. 23)
  • Kevin Pointer Fumble Recovery, Clemson (Oct. 7)
  • Chelen Garnes Fumble Recovery, Clemson (Oct.)  

FROM COACH CLAWSON
“Congratulations to Clemson and Coach (Dobo) Swinney. They made a few more plays than us, but it was a great, great effort by our football team. You know, in a lot of ways I feel better about our team now than I did after any of the wins. Our guys competed for 60 minutes. Our defense is playing at a really high level. We gave them everything they could handle. Our defense kept us in the game. On offense, other than the one turnover, we didn’t beat ourselves. We need to get better in the red zone, but we couldn’t beat ourselves. We turned it over once, we had opportunities. If we just get a few touchdowns in the red zone, then maybe it’s a different football game, but they stopped us and they made plays. Like I said, I feel better right now about our football team than I did after the previous four weeks and that includes three wins. Our kids played their butts off and I’m proud of them.”

UP NEXT
Wake Forest continues its road swing at Virginia Tech (Oct. 14). The Demon Deacons next home game will be on Saturday, Oct. 21 when Pittsburgh comes to Winston-Salem. 

Wake Forest Athletics continues to roll out unique ticket options, like the Bojangles 4-Pack, which includes a $20 gift card per account! This ticket option comes with four tickets on the east side of Allegacy Stadium and one LJVM Coliseum Lot parking pass. Based on high demand, 4-packs for Pitt (Oct. 21) is the best value for the 2023 season. At current prices ($99), fans can save a minimum of $66 with a single game 4-ticket pack which includes a parking pass. 

https://c992fd45c450b191be9b65c5747af789.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.htmlSingle-game tickets can also be purchased for the three remaining home games.