Clemson Football: 3 takeaways from domination of Wake Forest

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WINSTON SALEM, NC – OCTOBER 06: Amari Rodgers #3 of the Clemson Tigers reacts after a defensive play against the 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) /

3. Clemson’s defense is incredible

This one is kind of a given but how can you not talk about how well this unit played today.

Thirteen of the Wake Forest 16 drives were comprised of less than 30 yards gained and the other three drives that went for more than 30-yards resulted in an interception, a field goal, and a turnover on downs. Four of the Demon Deacons’ drives resulted in negative gains and while they gave up 175 yards on the ground, they needed 51 total carries in order to do so.

Sam Hartman came into the game averaging 7.2 yards per attempt with a completion percentage of 57.9 percent. The Clemson secondary that has quietly allowed 168 yards through the air held the freshman quarterback to 74 passing yards with a 35 percent completion percentage and a measly 3.7 yards per attempt. Sophomore wide receiver Greg Dortch was held to his lowest production in his college career with 37 receiving yards while 22 of those came on one play.

The running backs for Wake Forest were held to 2.1 yards per carry by the Top-20 run defense nationally and further cemented themselves as one of the best defensive lines in all of college football.

It’s also worth mentioning that Christian Wilkins was begging coach Dabo Swinney to let him play offense in the final minutes of the game.

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