Wake Forest Football: Key takeaways from the loss to Clemson

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WINSTON SALEM, NC – OCTOBER 06: A general view of the action between the Clemson Tigers and Wake Forest Demon Deacons during their game at BB&T Field on October 6, 2018 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Third down struggles

This has certainly become a trend as the Wake Forest football team struggles to continue drives and convert on third down. On Saturday against Clemson, the Demon Deacons converted only 5 of 21 third down attempts and had eight drives end on three and outs.

Over the past four games, the Demon Deacons have converted only 27 of 76 third down attempts (35.5 percent).

One of the reasons for the poor third-down conversion percentage is that the offense is doing enough on first and second down to be in advantageous position on third down. In the game against Clemson, the average yards need for a first down was 9.2 yards.

If the Demon Deacons wants to extend drives and keep their offense on the field, they must win the battle on first and second down.

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