Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson discusses final regular-season game vs Duke
In what Dave Clawson called “a good win,” Wake Forest broke a three-game losing streak with a 45-35 victory over Syracuse on Senior Night. Along with shaking some of their troubles over the past month, several players put forth positive performances.
“It was great to see Brandon Harris get a pick six,” Clawson said in his midweek press conference. “I thought that sealed the game. A.T. Perry broke a program record for receiving touchdowns. Sam [Hartman] played at a really high level. I thought our offensive line, Sean Maginn in particular, had a great game. Defensively, [DL] Tyler Williams had one of the best games that he's ever had here. We did a lot of good things.”
But, there are still some points of the game that Clawson wants the team to improve upon.
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“Once again, we fell behind by double digits,” he said. “It was our goal to not do that. A lot of credit to our players, we just keep playing. We didn't end fast [either]. But, from the middle of the second quarter, into the middle of the fourth quarter, we played really good football. We scored 35 unanswered points.”
This coming Saturday, Wake Forest has a chance to end their regular season on a high note, and get to eight wins. But the opponent they face, Duke, is not the same team Wake Forest beat 45-7 last year. Behind first-year head coach Mike Elko, the Blue Devils will be bowling for the first time since 2018.
Much of Duke’s success is a result of their explosive offense, which has averaged 33 points per game this season.
“They found a quarterback that really sticks out [in] Riley Leonard,” Clawson said. “He is going to be one of the top quarterbacks in this conference for the next few years. He's big, he's accurate and he takes care of the football. He's their leading rusher and he is very difficult to bring down.”
Leonard, who’s thrown for over 2400 yards and 16 touchdowns, while adding another 11 on the ground, has solid pieces around him as well.
“Their offensive line is really upgraded,” Clawson said. “They got four guys in the transfer portal who have really helped them. Duke has always had good running backs. Their skill is excellent. [Their wide receivers] can all make big plays.”
Despite some of the struggles of the season, most notably the three-game losing streak, the focus of the team is on what’s ahead.
“The goal every week is to go 1-0,” Clawson said. “That joy and feeling in the locker room every Saturday, regardless if you're 1-10 or 11-0, is a great feeling. And we want that feeling. We want more wins. Right now there's a bunch of ACC teams with seven wins. And some of us will get to eight.”
To Clawson, this game means a little something extra too.
“The bottom line is it's Duke week,” Clawson said. “In a lot of ways I view this as our biggest rival. The school is probably most similar to us in the ACC. And moving forward, this is one of our permanent games. With the North Carolina schools, this is the only one we're going to play every year.”
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“This is an in-state, Big Four rivalry,” Clawson continued. “We probably recruit against Duke [more than] any school we go against. You know, there's bragging rights on this one for a year. When you get to the end of the year, you want that number in the left hand column to get as big as you can make it.”
Kickoff is set for 3:30 Saturday on ACC Network.
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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.