Clemson’s secondary was historically bad vs. Wake Forest

Clemson’s defense allowed 45 points to Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers were able to escape Winston-Salem with a win thanks to an incredible offensive performance and a couple clutch stops late in the game.

But it’s still an alarming result for Clemson’s defense, which entered this game with a sterling reputation. It’s exceptionally rare for the Tigers to give up 40+ points in a game.

In fact, it’s only happened 4 times vs. ACC opponents since the beginning of 2014 season. One of those instances was against Notre Dame in 2020 when the Fighting Irish were members of the ACC.

Clemson’s 2016 loss to Pitt and its 2015 win over NC State are the only other instances in which this has happened in that time frame.

Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman threw for 6 touchdowns in this game. He also threw for 337 yards — a number that likely would have been considerably more if not for Clemson’s repeated defensive pass interference penalties. In total, the Tigers committed 10 penalties for 120 yards.

Hartman’s 6 touchdown passes are also an ACC-best against the Tigers, dating back to at least 2000.

It’s worth noting Clemson was without several key contributors in this game, including safety Andrew Mukuba and cornerback Sheridan Jones. The Tigers will hope to get those guys healthy and be much-improved in the future.

Clemson is now 4-0 on the season and will go on the road to face NC State in Week 5.