From 1940-1969, Frank Howard roamed the sidelines at Clemson.
During his 30 seasons as the Tigers’ head coach, “The Bashful Baron of Barlow Bend” posted a 165-118-12 record, while guiding the Clemson Football program to national acclaim. Howard’s teams won eight conference championships and played in and won some of the biggest bowl games of his time.
The Tigers were invited to six bowl games, during a time when there were just a handful of bowl games being played. There were only nine competitive bowl games in college football when Howard’s last bowl team played and won the 1959 Bluebonnet Bowl.
Clemson played in two Gator Bowls, two Orange Bowl Classics and one Sugar Bowl during his time with wins in one Gator Bowl and one Orange Bowl to go with his Bluebonnet Bowl victory.
Howard is known as “The Legend” at Clemson due to his success there, and for years no one ever imagined his records would be broken. However, no one ever imagined Dabo Swinney would have the success he has had in his 15-plus seasons as Clemson’s head coach.
With a win over Wake Forest on Saturday, Swinney will tie Howard’s 165 wins, while at the same time passing Howard for the program’s all-time mark in conference victories with 101.
Swinney already tied Howard’s conference championship record with his eighth ACC Championship last year. Howard won two in the old Southern Conference and six in the ACC during his time as a head coach.
Wake Forest (3-1, 0-1 ACC) at Clemson (3-2, 1-2 ACC)
Kickoff: Saturday, Oct. 7, 3:30 p.m.
Location: Memorial Stadium, Clemson, S.C.
TV: ACCN
Spread: Clemson -21
Over/Under: 51.5
Series: Clemson leads 70-17-1
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Clemson is looking for its 15th straight victory over the Demon Deacons. The Tigers’ last loss to Wake Forest came on Oct. 9, 2008, a defeat that led to the elevation of Swinney to interim head coach four days later. Swinney is 14-0 against Wake Forest, and among coaches to start their head coaching careers in 1996 or later, he is the only coach to win his first 14 games against a single FBS opponent. After playing for an ACC Championship two seasons ago, the Deacs are trying to avoid their first 0-2 start in ACC play since 2020.
KEY MATCHUP
Wake Forest likes to still run its slow-mesh action in the RPO game, which can be a headache for any defense if it is working. The key to stopping it is a defensive line that can dominate the line of scrimmage. It must also have a secondary that can play man defense. The Tigers have both, which is why they lead the ACC in yards allowed per game (266.4) and are second at stopping the run (83.2 yards/game). Wake Forest quarterback Mitch Griffis should be forced to get rid of the football quickly, which should lead to turnover opportunities. Griffis is tied for the most thrown interceptions in the league (6). In the Deacs’ loss to Georgia Tech on Sept. 23, he threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik seems to be finding his groove. He played with a ton of confidence in the Tigers’ last two games, and his progression at the position has gotten better with each game. With Klubnik and receivers like Tyler Brown, Beaux Collins and Troy Stellato stepping up, the Tigers are primed to get big games out of running backs Will Shipley and Phil Mafah. Wake is allowing just 109.5 yards per game on the ground, and just 3.62 per carry. However, the interior of its defensive line is small, and Clemson has mass up front on its O-line to cause problems for the Demon Deacons.
THIS AND THAT
Since a first-quarter pick-six against Charleston Southern, Clemson has thrown 137 consecutive passes without an interception (29 against Charleston Southern, 33 against Florida Atlantic, 38 against Florida State and 37 against Syracuse). Klubnik has thrown 123 of the 137 passes in that span… Last week, Shipley (2,273) entered the Top 15 in rushing yardage in Clemson history, passing Ken Callicutt (2,256 from 1973-77) for 15th all-time. He also became the 12th player in Clemson history to reach 3,500 career all-purpose yards… Clemson has now scored at least one rushing touchdown in a national-best 72 of its 74 games since the start of the 2018 season… Clemson is 40-7 in the series while playing at home, including a 35-7 mark at Memorial Stadium. Wake Forest has not won at Death Valley since 1998.
FINAL ANALYSIS
Wake Forest is second in the ACC with 7.5 tackles for loss per game and leads the league with 4.0 sacks per game. With that said, the Tigers need to keep Klubnik upright and allow him the time to get the ball down field to his talented receivers. Clemson’s reemergence with the forward pass should open up things in the run game, while its defense on the other side should control the line of scrimmage and limit a Wake Forest offense that is not as sharp or as explosive as it has been in year’s past under head coach Dave Clawson.
PREDICTION
Clemson 42, Wake Forest 13
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