Stats & Storylines: Clemson offense powers Tigers past Wake Forest |
After an entire offseason of talking heads debating when DJ Uiagalelei would get benched and several weeks of frustration about the struggling wide receiver room, Clemson’s passing offense torched Wake Forest. The thrilling double-overtime win came complete with a storybook ending as Nate Wiggins, who
had a rough game, found redemption with a game-winning pass defense on fourth down.
The Tigers retain control of their destiny in the ACC Championship race and will host division-rival NC State under the lights in Death Valley on Saturday (7:30, ABC) in what could be the de facto Atlantic Division Championship. First, there’s a lot to unpack from this memorable battle in Winston-Salem so let’s dive right in. DJ Uiagalelei: 371 passing yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs, 52 rushing yards We have to start with Uiagalelei. Through the first three games, he certainly looked improved from last season, but this was the first time he looked like the elite quarterback who picked Notre Dame apart back in 2020. It was his most passing yards in a game since that contest in South Bend. He set a career-high with five passing TDs after having only nine passing TDs all of last season. He exhibited great accuracy completing four passes of 30+ yards and moved the chains with intermediate throws and shifty running. The Demon Deacon defense truly had no answers for him. It was enabled by an offensive line that excelled in pass protection and a wide receiver corps that came through with several great catches. The beleaguered wide receiver room has been hampered by drops and an inability to create separation not just in the first three games of this season, but also all of 2021. They received the lowest grade of any position in our end-of-season positional grades. They looked like a different group on Saturday. Joseph Ngata came up with several big plays including a 46-yard reception. Beaux Collins looked sharp early, left with a shoulder injury, and then showed grit by returning and coming through in several more critical moments. He finished with 60 yards and a TD. He also caught the two-point conversion on this incredible one-footed throw from DJ: Uncommon effort. What a play, @DJUiagalelei pic.twitter.com/mrzN1wfHjS Antonio Williams made several game-breaking plays and finished with 51 yards and Brannon Spector hauled in a 41-yard TD reception. Notably, offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter involved the tight ends much more than in games past. Briningstool had a game-high six receptions for 72 yards and a TD, while Davis Allen had four receptions for 36 yards and 2 TDs -- including the go-ahead score in overtime. Wake Forest isn’t a great defensive squad, but this was a championship-level performance by these players and the offensive staff who made all the right calls. Will Shipley: 20 carries, 104 yards (5.2 YPC), 1 TD Will Shipley had a big 53-yard carry early in the game and then was mostly bottled up after that. Excluding that big run, he only averaged 2.7 YPC. Despite that, he was one of the players whose performance stood out most throughout the game. There was seldom room to run for Shipley, but on a number of occasions, he exhibited incredible strength and determination to get the extra yard the Tigers needed. One of the most critical plays of the game came in the fourth quarter with Clemson trailing by one TD. He seemed to be tackled for a three-yard loss, but spun, stumbled, and dove for a 1-yard TD: Will Shipley REACHED for the end zone on this TD pic.twitter.com/0AtF7MoYce Clemson Pass Defense: 5 pass interference calls, 75 penalty yards, 337 passing yards allowed, 6 passing TDs allowed “Their coordinators put them in such precarious situations. They just kept playing single coverage against wide receivers that are better than them.” Coach Mark Richt, ACC Network Clemson cornerbacks Sheridan Jones and Malcolm Greene were out with injuries and the lack of depth at cornerback was painfully exposed. Whenever Hartman took a deep shot, it was either a completion or a pass interference penalty. While one or two of those flags may have been close calls, most were fairly obvious. Toriano Pride, Fred Davis II, and Nate Wiggins were all victimized multiple times. Pride is only a freshman and Wiggins may have been playing at less than 100% after missing last week with a hamstring injury, but none of them could find the ball in the air and lost 50-50 balls a lot more than 50% of the time. The defensive line did them no favors as they surprisingly struggled to create havoc in the backfield. The Tigers were fortunate that Wake Forest wasted time trying to stay balanced because they seemed to have no answer for Hartman chucking up jump balls. It’s vexing that Clemson’s defensive coaching staff continued blitzing and was slow to find an adjustment that worked. Fortunately for the Tigers, it was Wiggins who ended as the hero when he was perfectly positioned and knocked the ball away in overtime to seal the Tiger win. Tigers defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin will have to find some adjustments to compensate for a weakness at cornerback if Sheridan Jones and Malcolm Greene don’t return quickly and the other cornerbacks don’t rapidly improve. ACC Check-in The program implosion going on in Miami is quite unexpected. They were 15-8 in their last two seasons under Coach Manny Diaz, and decided to make tremendous investments in facilities and coaching to take it to the next level. They brought in Mario Cristobal, who was successful at Oregon and had an off-season full of momentum. They returned QB Tyler Van Dyke and were well-positioned for a strong first season with the new staff. Instead, they are sitting at 2-2 after back-to-back losses to Texas A&M and Middle Tennessee State. Their offense looked inept in the former, scoring just nine points, while their defense took it on the nose in the latter, surrendering 45 points. They’ve yet to play an ACC game, but you have to look at Pittsburgh as the favorite in an awful Coastal division now. Syracuse and Florida State are both looking like tougher challenges than originally expected as the two Atlantic Division foes each reached 4-0 and the Seminoles entered the AP Poll at No. 23. NC State took care of business against UConn and will now come into Death Valley ranked No. 10 at 4-0. Although they had a scare at East Carolina, they’ve found their footing and earned a 27-14 home win over Texas Tech – who just upset Texas – along the way. Devin Leary hasn’t been quite as sharp as last season, but he is very capable of taking advantage of the Tigers’ issues at cornerback. Clemson will need to get healthy or find some mastermind schemes by Saturday night because the Wolfpack defense is much tougher than the Demon Deacons’. It’s the biggest game in the country and College Gameday is coming to town. Get ready for another fun weekend.
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