For Wake Forest football, it’s become a tale as old as time. Another matchup, another loss. This time, a 29-14 loss to No. 10 Clemson at Allegacy Stadium.
“Today we got beat by a better football team, and we got beat by a better football program,” Head Coach Dave Clawson said postgame.
The game didn’t go without flashes of competitiveness, however. The Demon Deacons held a 7-0 lead throughout the first quarter, after the “next generation” of wide receivers — Horatio Fields, Micah Mays, Jr., and Deuce Alexander — each contributed early on. The three were relied on once again, as star wideout Donavon Greene remained sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Quarterback Hank Bachmeier found each of the three receivers on an eight play, 73-yard drive late in the first quarter — capped off by a 31-yard touchdown reception by Fields, who had his second touchdown in two weeks.
From then on, it was all Tigers. Of the 10 remaining drives that the Clemson offense took the field, the Tigers scored touchdowns on seven, including four scores in the second quarter.
To go along with the on-field performance seeming subpar on both sides of the ball, the Demon Deacons had a scare midway through the second half. Bachmeier (12-21, 126 yds, 2 TDs) showed a limp after a play in the middle of the third quarter, and didn’t see the field for the rest of the game as a precautionary measure. Michael Kern replaced Bachmeier and went 2-8 with 20 yards passing.
“[Bachmeier] got hurt last week, and he didn’t practice most of this week, and then he had one hit that he started limping,” Clawson said postgame. “At that point, I just didn’t think it was worth pushing, and I wanted to give a look at Michael [Kern].”
“I’ve never been a guy that ever shy away from anything,” Bachmeier added. “I was feeling pretty good to go and, regardless of how I feel, I’ve got to play better.”
Wake Forest hasn’t defeated the Tigers since Head Coach Dabo Swinney took over the Clemson program in October 2008. Swinney has won 16 straight contests against the Demon Deacons, including 11 straight against Clawson.
“We’ve got a lot of football left, and it is what it is,” Clawson said. “So, bad day at the office, and we gotta get better.”
