It wasn’t easy, but Dabo Swinney tied a Clemson legend with the Tigers’ 17-12 win Saturday over Wake Forest at Death Valley.

With the victory – the 165th of Swinney’s career – Swinney pulled even with legendary Clemson coach and late College Football Hall of Famer Frank Howard as the Tigers’ all-time winningest head coach.

Swinney reached the historic milestone in his 206th career game, improving his record to 165-41 all-time. Howard (165-118-12 record) notched his 165th win in his 292nd of 295 career games.

Howard was Clemson’s head coach from 1940-69 and prior to Saturday, he had stood alone atop Clemson’s all-time wins list for close to 54 years.

Swinney, who last week recorded his 100th regular season conference win to match Howard’s 100 conference wins at Clemson, also continued a streak against Wake Forest on Saturday.

The Tigers (4-2, 2-2 ACC) won their 15th straight game against the Demon Deacons (3-2, 0-2), and Swinney upped his record to 15-0 against Wake Forest since being elevated to head coach following Clemson’s last loss to the Demon Deacons on Oct. 9, 2008.

Saturday marks just the second time since 2011 that the Tigers beat the Demon Deacons by a single-digit margin. The other time came last season, when Clemson emerged victorious in a 51-45, double-overtime shootout in Winston-Salem.

Following an open date next weekend, Swinney’s Tigers will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 21, when they travel to play Miami at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

–Clemson Athletic Communications contributed to this story

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