Clemson pulls away from Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 34-20

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons played some plucky football, but that was not enough to overcome the Clemson Tigers. The final score was 34-20, but the score would have been worse if not for the actions of senior Wake Forest cornerback Kevin Johnson. Johnson set up two Wake Forest touchdowns with turnovers. He intercepted a curl route pass and recovered a muffed punt for the Demon Deacons. Those touchdowns built and kept an early Wake lead at 14-10.

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Wake kept fighting throughout the third quarter, forcing a 20-20 game going into the last 11 minutes of the game. That was when Clemson finally got a big play as Cole Stoudt and Artavis Scott hooked up for a sixty-eight yard score. Clemson would score again three minutes later to put the game out of reach.

For Wake Forest, the story was all about the defense. No offensive player had statistics to be proud of.

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For Clemson, this was another episode of people scratching their head about this team. Despite DeShaun Watson not playing, Clemson still should have found a way to put Wake Forest away early, and they did not. They had a hundred yard rusher in Wayne Gallman and control of this game, and it was still tied in the fourth quarter. Does Clemson know that they don’t have another big game until South Carolina? If they are sleepwalking now, will they be able to get up for a redemption seeking Gamecocks team? Guys, the Orange Bowl is not a given for you.

For Wake Forest, real change and improvement will have to come next year. The next two weeks include games against NC State and Virginia Tech. Both teams have shown enough inconsistency to be had, but neither will be expected to lose a showdown with the Deacs.