CLEMSON — Dabo Swinney said last season’s double overtime win over Wake Forest was one of the worst performances by one of his defenses in his coaching career.

The Tigers allowed then Wake quarterback, Sam Hartman, to throw for 337 yards and six touchdowns, while forcing five pass interference calls.

It was a bad day for the defense and for the secondary.

On Saturday, at Memorial Stadium, Clemson rectified its performance. The Tigers held Wake Forest to 239 total yards, while limiting new quarterback Mitch Griffis to 137 yards and no touchdowns on 15-of-27 passing.

“Y’all saw that game last year. That was one of the worst defensive games we have had in a long time, so I am really proud of our defense,” Swinney said. “Their performance today, the no points off the turnovers, the red zone defense, the turnover that we did create, all of those things were a huge part of the game.”

Clemson (4-2, 2-2 ACC) finished the afternoon with four sacks and eight tackles for loss, while forcing one fumble. The Demon Deacons were just 2-for-12 on third down.

“What their offense did to us last year, lit a fire in us. We came out on fire,” safety R.J. Mickens said. “We pressured them. We played aggressive. I felt like we really answered the challenge with that slow mesh that they do. It puts a lot of stress on the backend because they walk down, so all the linebackers give so depth.

“So, you are playing zero (coverage) for like five seconds. It is kind of tough.”

What made it tougher was the fact the Tigers were without two starting cornerbacks—Sheridan Jones and Nate Wiggins—and then lost starting safety Jalyn Phillips in the first quarter to an arm injury. Jones missed the game due to a migraine, while Wiggins has now missed the last two games with a bruised knee.

Still, Clemson limited the Deacs to 137 passing yards on 15-of-25 passing.

“We were down three starters, and we had the young guys step up,” Mickens said. “We had three true freshmen—Shelton Lewis, Avieon Terrell and Khalil Barnes—and those guys balled. I talked about them earlier in fall camp, and it just translates right into the season. Those guys have really been putting in the work ever since they got here.

“They really got the game plan down. They are going to be special.”

Jeadyn Lukus and Toriano Pride were also special. Pride broke up three passes in the secondary, while Lukus had two.

“There was something we really wanted to improve on going into this game, turnovers and red zone defense,” Mickens said. “Coach Swinney challenged us to that and Coach Wes (Goodwin) challenged us and we really answered.

“I feel like we took a big step today in that area of responding to adversity.”

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