Something very rare is happening at Death Valley on Saturday.
Clemson is hosting a ranked Wake Forest team.
Saturday’s Noon kickoff will mark just the second time in the series’ history that a ranked Wake Forest team will play at Memorial Stadium in Clemson. The last time it happened was in 1979.
The Demon Deacons are currently ranked No. 13 in the latest Associated Press Poll. The new College Football Playoff Ranking will be released on Tuesday night.
Wake Forest was ranked No. 12 in last week’s CFP Poll before beating No. 16 NC State. So, the Deacons are likely to be ranked either No. 12 or higher come Tuesday night.
In all, Wake has played the Tigers just five times in the previous 86 meetings as a ranked team. In 1944, No. 17 Wake took down the Tigers 13-7 at Wake Forest. In 1948, No. 10 Clemson beat No. 19 Wake, 21-14, on the way to an undefeated season.
Then, in 1950, No. 16 Clemson again beat the Deacons on the road, 13-12. Wake was ranked No. 17 in that game.
Of course, the most infamous game involving Clemson and a ranked Wake Forest squad came in 2008, when the Demon Deacons knocked off the Tigers 12-7 in Winston-Salem. That following Monday, then head coach Tommy Bowden and Clemson agreed to part ways.
Since 1999, Clemson has lost just three times to Wake Forest (2003, ’05 and ’08) and all three losses came under Bowden.
“I was 7-2 against South Carolina, so if I could, I would have dropped Wake Forest off the schedule and played South Carolina twice every year,” Bowden recently said jokingly.
The last time Wake Forest brought a nationally ranked team to Death Valley was way back in 1979, as John Mackovic led them to Clemson with a 7-1 record and a No. 14 ranking in the AP Poll. That Wake Forest team had wins at No. 12 Georgia, at No. 14 North Carolina and vs. No. 13 Auburn prior to coming to Death Valley.
In fact, they were coming off a 42-38 win over Auburn when they headed to Clemson to face Danny Ford’s 5-2 Clemson Tigers. Similar to this year’s team, the Tigers were not ranked. They struggled to move the football consistently on offense and had a dominating defense.
Clemson was coming off a 16-13 loss to NC State, a game in which Ford decided to go for the win at the end of the game instead of kicking a field goal and settling for a tie. It turned out to be a move that ultimately cost the Tigers a third straight ACC Championship at the time.
But the Tigers did not allow the heartbreaking loss to the Wolfpack to beat them twice. Though Wake had one of the more explosive offenses in the country—sound familiar—it was no match for Jeff Davis and the Clemson defense.
The Tigers were flying all over the place on defense. Davis even returned an interception 13 yards for a touchdown. Wake Forest quarterback Jay Venuto was on his back all afternoon thanks to Davis, Bubba Brown and the Clemson defense.
The Tigers won the game 31-0. After the game, Venuto told reporters all he saw the entire afternoon were orange jerseys everywhere.
I am not saying history is going to repeat itself on Saturday at Death Valley, but if I had to guess, Wake quarterback Sam Hartman will see a lot of orange jerseys flying around everywhere this coming Saturday.
Like in 1979, Wake Forest has one of the most explosive offenses in the country. Like 1979, Clemson has one of the country’s most stifling defenses.
The Demon Deacons lead the ACC and rank second nationally in scoring, averaging 44.7 points a game. The Tigers lead the ACC in scoring defense and rank third nationally, yielding just 15.3 points a game.
Something has to give, right?
Who knows? Maybe history will repeat itself.
Clemson Variety & Frame is doing their part to help bring you some classic new barware and help one of the local businesses that helps make Clemson special.
Order your Nick’s barware and do your part to help. #SaveNicks
