Wake Forest head coach impressed with what Swinney has done at Clemson

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Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson is a big believer in what Dabo Swinney has built at Clemson.

The Tigers and Demon Deacons renew acquaintances this weekend when No. 10 Clemson (4-1 overall, 3-0 ACC) travels to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest (2-3, 1-1). Clemson is attempting to win 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 15-game winning streak against Wake Forest is the Tigers’ longest active winning streak against an ACC foe.

Clawson has suffered 10 of those losses and knows what Swinney has at Clemson is special.

“We've got Clemson, a top 10 opponent coming to Allegacy Stadium. And really, this has been, to me, the most dominant program in the ACC over the last decade. What Dabo has built at Clemson to me, the consistency of it, the championship level program that he built and has been able to maintain is one of the most impressive coaching jobs in the whole country,” Clawson said this week. “They're a complete football team. The quarterback (Cade) Klubnik, I don't know what they did in the offseason down there with him, but he looks bigger, stronger, and faster.

“He's a good pocket passer, but what really scares you, some of the plays he makes with his feet, he ran a quarterback counter against NC State, one of his scrambles against Florida State. He's capable of making explosive plays with his arm and his feet. They're averaging over 450 yards and close to 40 points a game. And it's even more impressive when you take out the Georgia game, right? It's close to 50 points a game if you take that one out.”

Clawson is also impressed with running back Phil Mafah, who ranks third in the ACC in rushing.

"He will be the best or one of the top two or three best running backs that we'll see all year. I know North Carolina has a really good back, but this guy's impressive,” Clawson said. “He's 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, and he has breakaway speed, and he tried to arm tackle him. It's not going to turn out real well. Their receiver corps, to me, is back to looking like Clemson. When I first got here, this was Wide Receiver U, and I think it kind of fell off a little bit. Now they look like they're coming back to where they were. But I think the real story about Clemson is you'd say, okay, what's the biggest difference is the O-line. They've got 113 career starts, it's a veteran group and coaching matters.

"I mean these guys are playing physically assertively with confidence. I mean just the way they take the ball and point things out, the physicality that they're playing with. And what that allows 'em to be balanced. This is now a football team that can run and throw the football, and they can beat you either way, and those are the teams you hate playing against. So whatever tweaking they did in the offseason from last year with a new coordinator and a new line coach, I think they found their sweet spot. And it's really, I mean, I'd enjoy watching it if we didn't have to play against it.”

Clemson’s defense doesn’t rank among the nation’s best units, but Clawson says it’s still a dangerous group.

“And defensively, Clemson is Clemson, it's always one of the top units in the country,” Clawson said. "It starts up front for them. It always has. T.J. Parker was a freshman All-American. Every other defensive lineman that starts for him is over 300 pounds. And really where they're most impressive is the depth. They have nine guys that are averaging over 25 plays a game, so they're good, and they've got a lot of 'em. (Barrett) Carter is one of the best linebackers in the country. His versatility, his ability to play in or outside the box as a blitzer, as a run fitter, as a coverage guy. And what's really impressive about him is what he does on their punt team. That's one thing that Clemson's always done is their best players have always played on special teams. It goes back to Wilkins being on the punt team and watching him perform on special teams. He's a high level player there as well.

"And the secondary is excellent. R.J. Mickens is a safety who is just an outstanding open-space tackler. Both corners, (Jeadyn) Lukus and (Avieon) Terrell would be some of the very best in the conference. So always a tough matchup but always a great challenge. The last two years it's been a very competitive football game and we need people to show up and wear black at Allegacy Stadium. And we had a home field advantage in this game two years ago and it helped and it would be great if we had it again."

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