Courtesy GoDeacs.com
CLEMSON, S.C. — Wake Forest suffered its second loss of the season to Clemson Saturday at Memorial Stadium, 48-27. The No. 10 Demon Deacons fell to 9-2 overall and 6-1 in the ACC with the loss, while the Tigers improved to 8-3 overall and finished ACC play at 6-2.
The Demon Deacons set a new season scoring record with 474 points through 11 games.
Wake Forest was led offensively by WR A.T. Perry with 113 receiving yards on five catches. The Lake Worth, Fla. native crossed the 1,000-yard mark for the season becoming just the eighth player in school history to accomplish that feat.
Defensively, the Deacons forced a pair of turnovers of forced fumbles by linebacker Chase Jones and defensive end Rondell Bothroyd, respectively. Wake Forest has now had 15 different student-athletes force a turnover this season with a forced fumble and fumble recovery Additionally, Wake Forest has now recovered 13 fumbles this season, which would tie the Demon Deacons for second among all FBS schools.
Wake Forest remains atop the Atlantic Division entering its regular season finale at Boston College next week.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Clemson connected on a 50-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 12:39 left in the first quarter after forcing a Wake Forest punt on their first offensive possession.
The Tigers extended their lead to 10-0 with a one-yard touchdown rush with 6:41 remaining in the first.
On the Tigers third possession of the game, Wake Forest forced its ACC-leading 22nd turnover of the season as LB Chase Jones stripped RB Kobe Pace and it was recovered by captain Ja’Sir Taylor.
Nick Sciba split the uprights on a 23-yard field goal to cut into Clemson’s lead, 10-3, five minutes into the second quarter thanks to the Demon Deacon defense that kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for the second-straight possession.
The Deacs put together a 14-play, 81-yard drive to move into scoring position, highlighted by six completed passes from Sam Hartman to four different Wake Forest receivers.
A.T. Perry led the way with three catches for 38 yards on the drive.
The Tigers answered on the next possession with an 11-play 71-yard drive that ended in a running back pass for a touchdown
Undaunted, Wake Forest responded with a touchdown of their own as Christian Turner powered his way into the end zone on a direct snap, cutting Clemson’s lead to seven, 17-10, with just over a minute remaining in the first half.
Hartman and Jaquarii Roberson connected on back-to-back plays for a total of 41 yards to move into the red zone.
Malik Mustapha forced Wake Forest’s second turnover of the game as the freshman made a diving effort to give Wake Forest offensive possession with 35 seconds left.
The turnover helped keep the deficit at a touchdown heading into the halftime break, 17-10.
Rondell Bothroyd forced and recovered the Demon Deacons’ second fumble of the game on the opening possession of the second half as Wake Forest took over at their own seven yard line.
Clemson increased their lead to 24-10 with a rushing touchdown at the 10-minute mark after regaining a Wake Forest fumble.
Wake Forest answered on its next possession with the help of a career-long 58 yard pass from Michael Kern to A.T. Perry down the left sideline to put the Demon Deacons in position to score.
Sciba connected on his second field goal of the afternoon, hitting the 31 yarder to make it a 24-13 game with 8:08 remaining in the third quarter.
Clemson went on to score on their next two possessions to stretch its lead to 38-13 entering the fourth quarter.
For the first time in his Wake Forest career, Quinton Cooley found the endzone, scoring from seven yards out on a run to the left.
The scamper to the endzone was the first play of the fourth quarter and the Deacs cut into the deficit by six after the two-point conversion try was unsuccessful.
The score stood at 38-19 with 14:55 left in the game.
Clemson tacked on a field goal on the next drive to make it a 41-19.
Wake Forest bounced back with its second consecutive touchdown drive in the fourth quarter as the Demon Deacons marched the ball down the field for the second consecutive 10-play 75-yard drive.
The drive was capped off when Sam Hartman rolled to his right and found Blake Whiteheart in the back of the endzone for their second touchdown connection this season.
Christian Turner added the two-point conversion to make it a 41-27 game with 4:50 left in the game.
The Tigers closed out the scoring with a rushing touchdown 2:30 minutes later.
Clemson gave the Demon Deacons their first loss in conference play, 48-27.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Freshman running back Quinton Cooley found the endzone for the first time in his Wake Forest career on Saturday afternoon while also leading the Demon Deacons in rushing yards for the first time in his career.
The Bailey, N.C. native finished with a career-best 39 yards on eight carries (4.9 yards per carry), topping his previous career-high of 30 yards in the victory over Duke earlier this season.
STAGGERING STATISTIC
With Nick Sciba’s third quarter field goal, Wake Forest broke its all-time scoring record for a single season (2017: 459). The Demon Deacons are now up to 474 combined points this season.
Wake Forest is currently averaging 43.1 points per game, which would be another school-record setting season.
Coach Dave Clawson and Warren Ruggiero averaged 36.0 ppg. in 2020, 35.3 ppg. in 2017, 32.8 ppg. in 2018 and 31.8 ppg. in 2019.
Wake Forest and Clemson are the only schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference to average over 30 ppg. over the past four years. The Demon Deacons are well on pace to achieve this mark again.
FROM COACH CLAWSON
“Obviously, we’re disappointed by the result. Clemson outplayed us, outcoached us and they took advantage of our mistakes. I thought our team played hard and never quit. However, we just made too many mistakes. We had three turnovers and a lot of penalties. We could not get off the field on third down defensively. We have to bounce back. We have a championship game next week at Boston College. We will look to correct a lot of the mistakes and get our team to bounce back.”
UP NEXT
Wake Forest closes the regular season on the road at Boston College on Saturday, Nov. 27. The kickoff time and network will be determined at the conclusion of the Saturday games this evening.
