Why Wake Forest’s coach thanked Dabo after Clemson’s 60-point win last year
Dabo Swinney doesn’t remember at what point exactly in the offseason he spoke with Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson about Clemson’s 63-3 victory over the Demon Deacons in 2018 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
But he definitely remembers Clawson’s message.
“It was kind of a weird deal,” Swinney said during his Tuesday press conference to preview this year’s game. “He thanked me.”
Last year’s meeting was a beatdown of historic proportions.
The Tigers led 49-3 through three quarters and added a couple of touchdowns in the fourth as Clemson recorded its most lopsided victory in ACC history.
Clemson finished with 698 total yards, including 471 on the ground. And as bad as it was, it could have been worse.
“ I think Dabo unfairly is accused of running the score up. And in last year’s game, they had their subs in and they had their twos in and they were just running base plays and we didn’t stop them,” Clawson said during his press conference Tuesday. “At that point we had a bunch of backups in because we were injured, and after the game was over, I just wanted to diffuse any notion that they tried to run it up.”
Wake Forest rebounded from last year’s embarrassing loss to the Tigers in impressive fashion.
The Demon Deacons were 3-3 (0-2) after the loss but bounced back to win four of their final seven games, including a Birmingham Bowl victory against Memphis.
“He just felt like it kind of got some guys focused the way they needed to be, and they were able to get better from it,” Swinney said. “I kind of looked at him. But he was just disappointed. I think it was kind of a wake-up to their team and just kind of got them refocused on the things that they needed to do to win games. And they did. They went on and really responded and had a good year.”
Wake Forest has carried over the momentum from a strong finish to last year to go 7-2 (3-2) thus far in 2019.
However, the Demon Deacons will face their toughest test of the season this Saturday against Clemson. And Wake will do so without two of its best playmakers as Clawson announced Tuesday that the leading receiver in the ACC, Sage Surratt, is out for the season.
Surratt leads Wake Forest in all three receiving categories with 66 grabs for 1,001 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Scotty Washington, who is third on the team in receptions with 35 and yards with 607, will also be out Saturday. Surratt and Washington have combined for 17 of Wake Forest’s 25 receiving touchdowns.
Still, Swinney expects a challenge from the Demon Deacons come Saturday, despite the Tigers being favored by 33 points.
“They’re just playing with great discipline. They don’t beat themselves. They’re one of the best in the country in turnovers. They’re almost 50 percent on third down,” Swinney said. “They are unbelievably well-coached. Well-coached would be an understatement. They do an awesome job offensively and defensively with their scheme and giving guys a chance to be successful.”
NEXT
Who: Wake Forest at Clemson
When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 16
Where: Memorial Stadium
TV: ABC
Line: Clemson by 33
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 4:04 PM.
