Wake Forest No Longer ‘House of Horrors’ for Clemson

Tigers have won previous six meetings in Winston-Salem, 13 straight overall.

There was a time when going to Wake Forest was a House of Horrors for the Clemson Football Team, the site of the fifth-ranked Tigers’ matchup with No. 21 Wake Forest on Saturday.

No, it was not because the Tigers were intimidated by the Demon Deacons or anything like that, but there was a stretch when Clemson did not play well in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Why?

No one is sure.

But starting in 2001, when Tommy Bowden’s Tigers escaped Groves Stadium (now known as Truist Field) with a 21-14 win, Clemson went 2-3 there during a five-game stretch. In 2003, Wake pummeled Clemson, 45-17. The result nearly got Bowden fired, as Tiger fans chanted “Fire Tommy” over and over in the fourth quarter.

However, Bowden beat his late father, Bobby, and Florida State the next week to save his job (Clemson’s first win over the Seminoles since 1989). But that did not end the Tigers’ struggles at Wake Forest.

In 2005, a barrage of special teams’ blunders led to a 31-27 Wake win. In 2006, Clemson trailed 17-7 heading into the fourth quarter. However, the late Gaines Adams made a miraculous play on a muffed snap during a Wake Forest field goal attempt on the first play of the fourth quarter and returned it for a touchdown. The Tigers rallied for a 27-17 win.

But Adams’ late-game heroics did not fix the hex Bowden and Clemson had at Wake Forest. In 2008, even with playmakers like James Davis, C.J. Spiller, Aaron Kelly and Jacoby Ford, the Demon Deacons beat Clemson 12-7 on a Thursday night.

This time, Bowden could not save his job. Four days after the 2008 defeat, Bowden was asked to resign as head coach.

The next time Clemson traveled to Wake Forest, Dabo Swinney was the man in charge, and it was obvious the Winston-Salem hex had been lifted. Though Swinney was in the midst of his worse season at Clemson, the Tigers easily disposed of the Demon Deacons, 30-10.

In Clemson’s six previous trips to Winston-Salem since Swinney took over as head coach, the Tigers are 6-0 and have won by an average margin of 28.2 points, including a 63-3 victory in 2018. The closest Wake has come to beating the Tigers in Winston-Salem was in 2014, and that was a 34-20 Clemson win.

Clemson’s success over Wake Forest has not been just in Winston-Salem. The Tigers dominate them just the same at Memorial Stadium in Clemson. The Tigers average margin of victory in those seven games is 27.2 points.

In all, Swinney is 13-0 against the Demon Deacons. The second longest win streak in the series. Clemson won 15 straight over the Deacons from 1977-’91.

By the way, Clemson’s average margin of victory in the previous 13 meetings is by 27.7 points. The Tigers have outscored Wake 527-167 in the 13 meetings or by a score of 41-13 if you average it out.

It has not been much better in the Dave Clawson era. While the reigning ACC Coach of the Year has given other ACC teams fits during his eight years at Wake, that has not been the case against Clemson.

In Clawson’s eight matchups against the Tigers, the Demon Deacons have scored more than 20 points just twice, including 27 last year. However, Wake’s last two touchdowns last year came after Clemson built a 38-13 lead through three quarters.

Clawson’s potent offense, which gives everyone else fits, has averaged just 12.4 points and 236.8 yards per game against the Tigers. Four times Wake did not even reach 200 total yards and six times it failed to gain more than 71 yards on the ground.

The Demon Deacons have averaged just 70.3 rushing yards per game and 1.9 yards per carry against Clemson since Clawson became the head coach.

My point to all of this is Winston-Salem is no longer a House of Horrors for Clemson. Instead, Wake Forest is probably horrified to see Clemson come to town.

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