2019 Recap: Tigers Dismantle Wake Forest

The staff at AllClemson is taking a look back at the 2019 season game-by-game, featuring the highlights, momentum-changing moments and stars. We continue with a look at the Tigers' home victory over Wake Forest.

Clemson hosted Wake Forest on Senior Day in late November and the undermanned Demon Deacons were no match for the unbeaten and third-ranked Tigers.

Trevor Lawrence threw four touchdowns and Travis Etienne had more than 100 yards on the ground, as the Tigers cruised to a 52-3 win.

The Clemson defense harassed Wake quarterback Jamie Newman all game long, holding the Demon Deacons to just 105 total yards of offense.

It Was Over When:

Travis Etienne put Clemson up 14-0 on a 14-yard touchdown run on the Tigers' second possession of the game. Etienne would finish with 16 carries for 121 yards, with the one touchdown.

Play Of The Game:

With fifteen seconds left in the first half, Lawrence connected with Tee Higgins on a 30-yard touchdown strike putting the Tigers up 31-3 and erasing what little hope Wake had of making it a game in the second half. It was Higgins' third touchdown catch of the half.

Player Of The Game:

Lawrence was lights out in this one, finishing 21-of-27 passing for 272 yards and four touchdowns. Those four scoring throws matched a career-high.

What Was That?

Many thought Wake was the ACC's second-best team and could give Clemson a competitive game. They were quickly proved wrong. The Deacs were admittedly missing their top two wide-outs, but there was still a huge gap in talent when comparing the two teams. So much so that the Tigers were a 34.5-point favorite coming in.

Freshman Impact:

Joseph Ngata finished with 2 catches for 42 yards, including catching a 21-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Chase Brice, the Tigers final touchdown of the game.

It's a Chase Brice ➡️ Joseph Ngata touchdown! Clemson leads 52-3 💥#ALLIN | #WAKEvsCLEM pic.twitter.com/S065Pw1YEH
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) November 16, 2019

Stat Of The Game: 41

The Clemson defense held Newman to just 41 yards passing. The Tigers only finished with two sacks, but Newman was running for his life the entire game, finishing just 6-of-14 through the air, including being picked off twice.

He Said It:

"It's not like we're trying to score a certain amount of points. We just let them play. We're doing the things you need to do to win a championship."- Dabo Swinney after the win.

Add us as a preferred source on Google