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Deacs smack Tigers
WFU shuts down Clemson to stay unbeaten in ACC
Journal Photo by Bruce Chapman
D.J. Boldin avoids Clemson defenders Chris Clemons (22) and DeAndre McDaniel to scored Wake Forest’s only touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
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Published: October 10, 2008
Updated: 10/10/2008 01:16 am
Wake Forest seared a familiar brand into Clemson's hide with last night's 12-7 victory at BB&T Stadium.
"That was Wake Forest football," senior Alphonso Smith said. "It looked just like '06 and like late last year.
"We played good defense, didn't give up big plays, wanted to fly around and have fun. The offense (wants to) take care of the ball and make the big play when you can. When you can't, let's punt and play some good defense."
What was described by quarterback Riley Skinner as an ugly victory left the 21st-ranked Deacons sitting pretty in the ACC standings. Wake Forest, coming off a sobering loss to Navy, improved to 4-1 and 2-0 in the ACC despite playing the game without injured kicker Sam Swank.
Clemson, which lost running back C.J. Spiller to a leg injury in the second quarter, tumbled to 3-3 and 1-2.
"It was a true team win," tight end Ben Wooster said. "It was huge for us, coming back after the Navy game.
"We needed to get together as a team and pull out a win."
Carried by the defense for more than three quarters, the Deacons' offense finally came through in time to march 78 yards for the game-winning touchdown. The drive took 15 plays, none of them bigger than Skinner's 28-yard completion to senior D.J. Boldin on a third-and-24 from deep inside Wake Forest territory.
"He definitely threw it to the right guy," Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest said. "I just can't tell you how proud I am of D.J. Boldin. He's our leader right now offensively. He's a tough guy and he makes plays."
Brandon Pendergrass' 13-yard gain on a draw carried the ball almost to midfield, and Skinner's completions to Chip Brinkman and Kevin Harris moved the Deacons into scoring territory.
After having to settle for field-goal attempts all game, the Deacons finally scored their first touchdown in their two ACC games when Skinner found Boldin alone along the right sideline for a 7-yard touchdown pass and a 12-7 lead with 5½ minutes remaining.
It was the first career touchdown for Boldin, who entered the game with an ACC-high 28 catches.
"We knew we had to score," Skinner said. "We couldn't get a field goal. We really needed a touchdown. We kept chipping away. D.J. made a great play down the stretch.
"We just somehow got it down. It was ugly but it's a win and we'll take it."
Skinner's passing and surprising running accounted for 259 of the Deacons' 342 yards on a night when Wake Forest had more than twice as many first downs (21 to 10) and controlled the clock for almost 36 of the game's 60 minutes.
But the Deacons' most impressive offense statistic was zero, the number of turnovers they committed one game after losing six in the loss to Navy.
"Don't worry, we've been preached that for three or four years, ever since I've been here," Skinner said. "And it's true. It's the turnover battle. That's what wins it.
"We know if we're going to win we're going to have to let our defense go to work and take what they give us."
In fact, the game's only turnover was Alphonso Smith's fourth-quarter interception that led to Shane Popham's 32-yard field goal. Popham, a freshman from Crestview Hills, Ky., drilled the field goal with 12:57 remaining that sliced the Tigers' lead to 7-6.
Wake Forest embarked on its game-winning drive on the next possession. Clemson's bid to answer ended when quarterback Cullen Harper threw four straight incomplete passes from Tigers territory.
"We tried everything," Coach Tommy Bowden of Clemson said. "We tried going deep to Aaron and throwing deep over the middle to our tight end. We tried reverses, we tried fake punts, we tried C.J. on the outside and James (Davis) in the middle...."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
Clemson 0 0 7 0 -- 7
Wake Forest 3 0 0 9 -- 12
First Quarter
WFU--FG Popham 22, 1:23.
Third Quarter
Clemson--J.Ford 10 pass from C.Harper (Buchholz kick), :07.
Fourth Quarter
WFU--FG Popham 32, 12:57.
WFU--Boldin 7 pass from Skinner (pass failed), 5:28.
A--33,988.
TEAM STATISTICS
Clemson WFU
First downs 10 21
Rushes-yards 23-21 46-156
Passing 177 186
Comp-Att-Int 15-35-1 22-36-0
Return Yards 0 11
Punts-Avg. 7-40.6 5-34.6
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 7-59 3-17
Time of Possession 24:08 35:52
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Clemson, Davis 12-25, Spiller 2-10, J.Ford 1-2, Hamlin 1-0, C.Harper 7-(minus 16). Wake Forest, Skinner 11-73, Adams 12-56, Pendergrass 12-33, Boldin 4-11, K.Harris 1-1, Team 4-(minus 4), Brown 1-(minus 5), Mars.Williams 1-(minus 9).
PASSING--Clemson, C.Harper 15-35-1-177. Wake Forest, Skinner 22-34-0-186, Boldin 0-1-0-0, J.Williams 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING--Clemson, J.Ford 5-43, Kelly 3-9, Grisham 2-38, Davis 2-27, Faerber 1-35, Dye 1-19, J.Harper 1-6. Wake Forest, Wooster 5-36, Pendergrass 5-32, Brinkman 4-31, Boldin 3-35, Mars.Williams 2-34, K.Harris 1-11.
, Adams 1-8, Belton 1-(minus 1).
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