Wake Forest - Clemson Pregame Notebook |
CLEMSON - Will history repeat itself? Clemson fans should hope so.
In 1995 the Tigers began the season 3-3, with losses to Georgia, Virginia and Florida State. Sound familiar? The total margin of defeat to those three teams that year was 19 points. This season it is 17. What's more, the '95 Tigers also held a sizable advantage in total offense through six games that year, 47, while this year the margin has been 85 yards. Those Tigers scored 21 touchdowns in the first six games, these Tigers have scored 20. Both teams committed 14 turnovers during the span, and quarterbacks Nealon Green (.581) and Willie Simmons (.580) had almost identical completion percentages. One other trend Clemson fans hope will hold true - the 1995 team didn't lose again in the regular season and earned a trip to the Gator Bowl. MILD DEMONS Clemson leads the all-time series with Wake Forest 52-14-1, and has won seven of the last eight. Interestingly, the last two Clemson coaches to lose to the Demon Deacons at home - Ken Hatfield in 1993 and Tommy West in 1998 - did not return the following season. Meanwhile, the Tigers have a 26-3-2 Homecoming record over the past 31 years, and are 8-5 vs. Atlantic Coast Conference opponents at home under head coach Tommy Bowden. Wake Forest has won four of its last five ACC road games SHORT STUFF CLEMSON The Tigers have out-gained their opponents in each of the six games this season ... backup QB Charlie Whitehurst was 7-for-7 for 92 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's loss to Virginia ... on the year, Whitehurst is a perfect 11-for-11 for 113 yards and a TD ... sophomore Derrick Hamilton had his third 200-yard all-purpose yardage game of the season with a 206-yard effort against UVa ... Hamilton leads the ACC and is eighth nationally (174.7) ... the Tigers have held four teams to under 300 yards in total offense this season and are 10th in the nation in total defense allowing 282.2 yards per game as compared to 395.0 yards allowed per contest last year ... Brian Mance has three interceptions on the year and nine for his career ... the Tigers have completed 61 percent of their passes for the year ... junior Aaron Hunt is tied with Lester Brown for seventh on Clemson's all-time scoring list with 192 points ... sophomore Yusef Kelly leads the team in rushing with 384 yards and seven scores. WAKE FOREST Chris Barclay and Nick Burney each had 54 yards rushing and a touchdown as the Deacons topped Duke 36-10 snapping a six-game losing streak at home to ACC teams ... despite its lowest offensive output of the season (224 yards), Wake posted its highest point total of the season and its largest win margin since defeating UAB 47-3 on Oct. 23, 1999 ... the Deacs lead the ACC and rank 15th nationally in rushing offense (233.4) ... the Deacs are one of three ACC teams to not have had a 100-yard rusher this season ... led by Nick Burney's 375 yards, Wake has six players with 170 or more yards rushing ... WR Fabian Davis is second in all-purpose yardage (156.0) and fifth in punt returns (10.1) ... the Deacs lead the ACC and are second nationally in turnover margin (+2.43) ... senior QB James MacPherson has attempted 149 straight passes without an interception ... senior tailback Tarence Williams is eighth on Wake's all-time rushing list with 1,978 yards.
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