Tigers come a-Wake in second quarter, blow out Demon Deacons

Troy Stellato celebrates his touchdown.

David Hood - Senior Writer - Saturday, October 12 2024

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – No. 10 Clemson didn’t look fully awake in the first quarter Saturday but shook off the cobwebs and scored 28 points in the second quarter and never looked back in a 49-14 beatdown of Wake Forest at Allegacy Stadium.

Clemson improves to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the ACC, while Wake Forest falls to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in league play.

Quarterback Cade Klubnik was 31-of-41 for 309 yards and three touchdowns. He added 30 yards on the ground on seven carries, but Phil Mafah led the rushing attack with 19 carries for 108 yards and two scores. Tight end Jake Briningstool had seven catches for 104 yards, while Antonio Williams added six catches for 69 yards and Troy Stellato added seven for 68 yards. The 100-yard receiving game was the third of Briningstool’s career and second this season.

Briningstool becomes the first tight end in Clemson history with three 100-yard receiving games. He is also the second tight end in Clemson history with 100 receptions (he has 102, behind leader Jordan Leggett’s 112).

Clemson improves to 72-17-1 all-time against Wake Forest, pulling Wake Forest within one defeat of Clemson’s most-defeated opponent, South Carolina, which Clemson has beaten 73 times. Clemson also won its 16th consecutive game against Wake Forest to take sole possession of the longest winning streak in series history (passing its 15 from 1977-91). Clemson’s current 16-game winning streak since 2009 against Wake Forest is the Tigers’ longest active winning streak against an ACC foe.

Clemson returns home next weekend – the last game in the month of October for the Tigers – hosting former offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and Virginia. Kickoff is set for Noon.

The Wake Forest defense forced two Clemson punts in the first quarter and scored the game’s first points late in the period. Demon Deacon quarterback Hank Bachmeier hit Horatio Fields on a 31-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead.

The Tigers took the ensuing kickoff and marched 75 yards in eight plays. Passes of 14 yards and 19 yards to Troy Stellato set up a 22-yard scoring strike to Antonio Williams, tying the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter.

Two plays into the Wake Forest drive, safety Kylon Griffin stepped in front of a Bachmeier pass for an interception that he returned 12 yards to the Demon Deacon 23-yard line. A 22-yard pass to Jake Briningstool on the next play set up Mafah’s one-yard scoring run and the Tigers had the lead at 14-7.

Khalil Barnes intercepted Bachmeier on the next drive, setting the Tigers up at the Wake Forest 43-yard line. A 16-yard pass to Williams put the Tigers in the redzone, but Klubnik’s third-down scramble was two yards of the goal line. Facing a 4th-and-goal at the two, Swinney went with the Jumbo package, which saw defensive lineman Peter Woods at fullback and defensive tackle Demonte Capehart at tight end. Mafah followed Woods’ block – Woods buried the poor defensive back – and Mafah scored easily for a 21-7 lead.

Wake’s slow mesh caught Clemson looking too long into the backfield on the next drive, and Bachmeier’s 38-yard pass to Deuce Alexander set up a 6-yard scoring pass to Michael Frogge, making it 21-14 with 3:18 to play in the half.

It took the Tigers just six plays to respond, with Klubnik hitting Stellato on an 8-yard pass with a little over a minute remaining to give the Tigers a 28-14 lead at intermission.

Clemson took the opening kickoff of the second half, and Klubnik’s 14-yard pass to Briningstool on 3rd-and-loss set up a nine-yard pass to Adam Randall for the touchdown, and the Tigers started to open it up at 35-14.

The defense moved to more of a five-man front and forced Wake into a three-and-out on the Deacs’ first drive of the second half, and the punt gave the Tigers the ball at their own 47. A 10-yard pass to Briningstool and a 15-yard pass to Moore meant a 1st-and-10 at the Wake 28-yard line, and Klubnik threw a pass to Williams at the sideline. Williams pulled up and tossed a pretty pass to Briningstool in the endzone for a 42-14 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Tigers then put together a soul-crushing drive to end any and all Wake Forest hopes. The drive covered 87 yards and 17 plays, with backup running back Keith Adams doing the late damage. Adams carried the ball five times for 26 yards and put the exclamation point on the drive with a physical 4-yard scoring run that made it 49-14 with 8:55 to play.

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