What Dabo Swinney wants to see from his team against Wake Forest

Clemson has proven that, at its best, it is better than every team remaining on its schedule.

The Tigers are 5-0 with three wins over top 15 teams and do not play another team ranked in the top 15.

What Clemson coach Dabo Swinney would like to see the rest of the season is his team show maturity and play at a high level every week, regardless of the opponent.

Clemson is coming off an emotional win over Virginia Tech -- a ranked team on the road with College GameDay in town and tons of hype surrounding the game.

The last time the Tigers were in this scenario was Week 4 against Boston College. Clemson was coming off a primetime win over Louisville and playing an unranked BC team as a heavy favorite. The score was tied at 7 entering the fourth quarter.

“What I’m looking for in our team is maturity. I’m looking for a team that will match that intensity, match that precision, match that discipline and heart because that’s what it’s gonna take,” Swinney said. “This is a Wake Forest team that will win a bunch of games this year, mark it down. Stay healthy, they’re gonna win a bunch of games. They’re gonna be a tough out for everybody.”

Wake Forest has made steady progress under Dave Clawson and this appears to be his best team.

The Demon Deacons won a bowl game last year, and Clawson has mostly his recruits in place after taking over a team that was stuck at the bottom of the ACC.

Most of the nation has Clemson already penciled into the College Football Playoff and a rematch against Alabama. Swinney wants his team to prove that it is tuning out the outside noise and taking it one week at a time.

“You go get beat this week, they won’t be talking about that anymore. I promise you that. It’s just a mindset,” Swinney said. “Our team has shown great maturity through five games. But five games don’t make a season… I’m looking for a biggest-game-of-the-year intensity and mindset every single week.”

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 11:46 AM with the headline "What Dabo Swinney wants to see from his team against Wake Forest."