Clemson survived an upset bid from Wake Forest 51-45 on Saturday afternoon in Winston-Salem.

It’s Clemson’s 14th consecutive win over the Demon Deacons. The Tigers now have the inside track to re-claiming the ACC Atlantic title.

Here are 3 takeaways from Clemson’s win:

DJ Uiagalelei gave Clemson a chance

Clemson’s offense has been inconsistent to start the year, but the much-maligned DJ Uiagalelei was excellent in this game. He made multiple pin-point touchdown throws, including a 3rd-down conversion into the end zone in overtime.

He finished the game 26-of-41 for 371 yards, 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. It’s still not perfect, but Uiagalelei is starting to live up to his 5-star billing.

Clemson’s secondary is a mess

Despite offensive issues over the past couple of seasons, the Tigers have been able to win games thanks to a dominant defense. That defense was highly-ineffective on Saturday because of Clemson’s secondary. Hartman threw for 6 touchdowns in this game.

Wake Forest got almost whatever it wanted through the air. Often the only times Wake Forest didn’t complete a deep ball was because a Clemson defensive back was forced to commit defensive pass interference. The Tigers committed 9 penalties for 115 yards in this game.

The secondary was bad enough that Clemson’s defensive line often didn’t have enough time to make an impact. As a team, the Tigers recorded 3 sacks and 6 tackles for loss in this game.

Clemson was without several important defensive backs, including safety Andrew Mukuba and cornerback Sheridan Jones. Still, the Tigers offers little-to-no resistance against Wake Forest’s passing attack.

Winning tough

It wasn’t pretty, but Clemson found a way to get just enough stops in crunch time. The Tigers forced a punt from Wake Forest in the final minute of regulation and Nate Wiggins was able to knock down a pass on 4th and 6 to clinch the win.

The Tigers got it done with an impressive ground game and timely passing plays. Running back Will Shipley carried the ball 20 times for 104 yards and a crucial touchdown on a 3rd down play in the second half.

Kicker BT Potter also came up clutch, hitting a game-tying 52-yard field goal in the final few minutes of regulation.