Clemson Defeats Wake Forest 51-45 in Double Overtime
A full game story with quotes and insight will be available later today.
In a back-and-forth double overtime classic, Clemson relied on their offense to secure the 51-45 win over Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.
In their first overtime drive, Wake Forest used the running game to set up the pass — a nine-yard touchdown to A.T. Perry. Clemson tied the game quickly with a 21-yard pass to Beaux Collins. The Tigers then scored again on a throw to tight end Davis Allen. Needing a touchdown to tie, or win, the Deacs had their fourth-and-six deep ball knocked away in the end zone.
Quarterback Sam Hartman had one of the best performances in his career, completing 20 of his 29 passes for 337 yards and six touchdowns, a new single-game school record. Sophomore wide receiver Jahmal Banks caught two of those touchdowns — he had six receptions for 141 yards.
After allowing 14 unanswered points to start the game, the Deacons responded by closing the gap to six at the half.
On their third drive, Hartman and the offense caught fire. With the receivers breaking free from their cornerbacks, Hartman found sophomore Jahmal Banks open for a 36-yard score to get Wake Forest on the board.
In the second quarter, aided by two defensive penalties, the Deacons were once again able to move down the field. After a 30-yard reception by Banks, Hartman went right back to the rising star for a five-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone.
Despite allowing 309 yards in the half, the Wake defense bent but didn’t break on multiple drives, only allowing two field goals after the two game-opening touchdowns.
To begin the second half, the Deacons forced a big stop on defense to get off the field. The offense then powered down the field with a 25-yard run by Hartman and a 22-yard screen to Christian Turner. On the following play, Donavon Greene ran under a 28-yard pass from Hartman for the touchdown, giving Wake Forest their first second half lead against Clemson in the Dave Clawson era.
After forcing a three-and-out on their second drive, the Deacs offense picked up right where they left off. After converting three straight first down passes, Hartman threaded the needle through tight coverage on a 19-yard touchdown to tight end Blake Whiteheart.
Trailing by eight, the Clemson offense recaptured their first quarter success with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. On third down, Uiagalelei found Collins for 28 yards, setting the Tigers up for a five-yard touchdown pass to Allen. On the two point conversion, Uiagalelei avoided a sack and connected with a wide-open Collins to even the score at 28.
In response, Hartman led the Deacs for 75 yards of their own, hitting Greene on a 25-yard touchdown pass on one of his best throws of the day. Wake Forest was also able to establish their running game on the drive, gaining 21 yards on the ground.
After a 46-yard pass to Joseph Ngata on third down, Clemson opened the fourth quarter by punching it in on the goal line on a Will Shipley rush. The sophomore back was just able to stretch the ball over the goal line to tie the game.
Hartman set up another Wake Forest score with a 46-yard pass of his own to Banks. In the red zone, the Deacs were unable to come away with six, but regained the lead on a Matthew Dennis 29-yard field goal.
With Clemson driving, Wake Forest relied on a safety blitz sack by Malik Mustapha to force a 53-yard, game-tying field goal by B.T. Potter to send the game to overtime.
Wake Forest will have to recover quickly, as they'll head to Tallahassee next weekend for a battle against Florida State.
Essex is the lead football writer and a managing editor for Deacons Daily. Essex served as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black for two years, in addition to roles as a beat and feature writer.