"Fun and Business": Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson on Gasparilla Bowl
The Wake Forest football team has officially arrived in Tampa ahead of their matchup against Missouri in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 23. There’s plenty of preparation to be done before the Deacs take the field one last time this season, but head coach Dave Clawson wants to make sure the team enjoys all aspects of the bowl experience.
“We’re excited to be here,” Clawson said. “We’re looking forward to a great week in Tampa. We want this to be a really good mix of fun and business. The fun part of it is our guys have earned a bowl. But the best way to enjoy the bowl experience is by winning the game. So we’re focused on that. Today was a day to enjoy themselves, we’ll get back at it tomorrow.”
Unfortunately, Wake Forest will not be at full strength for Friday’s game. Halfback Christian Turner, who recently entered the transfer portal, will sit out, as will DE Jacorey Johns. Quinton Cooley, who plans to enter the transfer portal following the bowl game, will suit up.
“Christian was one of three guys playing for us [at running back] this year,” Clawson said. “Justice Ellison is the starter and he’ll get the bulk of the reps, Quinton Cooley will play and we’ll be able to get Will Towns and Demond Claiborne a lot more reps. At defensive end, Kendron Wayman split the game anyway. It’s allowed us to get BJ Williams more reps. We wish those guys could play but that is just the nature of college football right now and the way it works. Relatively speaking, I feel we’re in really good shape.”
Missouri is dealing with their fair share of opt-outs and injuries as well — it comes with the territory at this stage of the year.
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“It’s impossible,” Clawson said of roster management. “It’s three storms hitting at once. You have an early signing date, you have a transfer portal with instant eligibility. And you have name, image and likeness money being thrown around. It’s impossible.”
On Wake Forest’s opponent, Missouri came out on the wrong end of several close games much the way Wake Forest did. The Deacs aren’t fooled by Missouri’s 6-6 record — they know they’re set to battle a top-tier opponent on Friday.
“They’re kicking themselves the same way we are,” Clawson said. “Saying, with a little better execution in the fourth quarter, these can be two 10-win teams meeting in a New Year’s Six Bowl. I love their quarterback, I think he’s a great player. They’re outstanding on defense. You don’t get to a bowl game and ever play a team that’s not good.”
Clawson and Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz go way back — the two faced off against each other for several years when Drinkwitz coached at NC State. Even so, Missouri and Wake Forest have never played one another, which presents a unique opportunity.
“Because you’re playing teams from all over the country in different conferences, there’s not a lot of shared history,” Clawson said. “But having defended Eli three years at NC State, you know, there’s a lot of similar things that he believes in philosophically, offensively, that they’re still doing and they’re doing well. Now, they’re different players. To me, the adjustment in the bowl game is in that first quarter, getting your guys settled to play football again. College football openers and bowl games are games of mistakes, and we hope to make less than Missouri.”
Wake Forest’s regular season certainly wasn’t without its disappointments — the team finished 7-5 and lost five of their last six games to cap things off. Even so, the bowl matchup gives the Deacs the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and end on a high note.
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“The bowl game, to me, more than anything, creates the memory for the season,” Clawson said. “In the years we’ve won bowl games, that’s a great memory. You walk off the field and you get together with your team for the last time. In 2019, the Pinstripe Bowl, and in 2020, the [Duke’s] Mayo Bowl, those aren’t good feelings. We want to send these guys out with good feelings.”
A bowl victory would also go a long way in garnering excitement and energy among the program and the fan base for the Deacs’ 2023 campaign.
“When you win the bowl game, it sends you into ‘23 with momentum,” Clawson said. “You get a bowl trophy and a bowl ring, and it’s important. It’s a big deal. We are really proud that we’ve earned our way to a seventh straight bowl game. We want to win the 11th bowl game in the history of Wake Forest football. We have to do that against a team that is talented and well-coached.”
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