At the half, Clemson has the six point edge over Wake Forest, but not without some attrition along the way.
Though the Tigers got on the board early with two back-to-back touchdown drives by quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, the Demon Deacons came up with their answer in the form of two Jahmal Banks touchdown receptions for a combined 41 yards.
Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei remained perfect in completions through the first quarter, but struggled to connect with his receivers downfield into the second. Uiagalelei finished off the half completing 14-of-22 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
The starter connected with eight different receivers including freshman Antonio Williams who led the way with three receptions for 51 yards. On the ground, running back Will Shipley led the way for the Tigers with 66 yards while reaching a huge career milestone of 1,000 career rushing yards.
On the defensive side, the Tigers came into todays matchup missing a few key players both on the front lines and in the backfield. Clemson was without key defenders in Sheridan Jones, Malcolm Greene, Xavier Thomas and Andrew Mukuba and that certainly showed in the 147 yards of offense put up by the Demon Deacons so far.
Here’s a look at how Twitter reacted to the first half of the Clemson-Louisiana Tech game:
We've got 309 yards of offense at the half! 🏈@DJUiagalelei leads the way with 192 yards through the air 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/pDVKS9iIFr
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) September 24, 2022
– Yards: Clemson 309 (47 plays), Wake 123 (25 plays)
– Time of possession: Clemson 21:27, Wake 8:19
– Penalties: Clemson 7 for 85 yards, Wake for 1 for 15 yards— Anna Adams (@AnnaH247) September 24, 2022
Biggest advantage Wake has is those WRs vs Clemson’s DBs & it’s showing
— Kelly Gramlich (@kellygramlich) September 24, 2022
That looked like a good football play to me… come off your man, read the play, deliver a hit to break up the ball. Exactly what you're supposed to do.
— Matt Connolly (@MattOnClemson) September 24, 2022
Idk what’s better, the catch or the throw 😳 pic.twitter.com/4JANesSAXQ
— Clemson Athletics (@ClemsonTigers) September 24, 2022
Wake is trying to pick on Clemson's shorthanded secondary, primarily the corners with 6-foot-5 A.T. Perry. Even if it's just drawing PIs, it's working a majority of the time.
— Davis Potter (@DavisEPotter) September 24, 2022
this not a team you want to give hope and keep around. need to put them away.
— 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 (@D_Rench_) September 24, 2022
My opinion: Clemson's safeties shouldn't care at all about the run. The back won't ever get to them. Stay deeper than the deepest and let the LBs eat.
— William Qualkinbush (@QualkTalk) September 24, 2022
DJ haters down horrendously
— Judah Davis (@The_Prophet_36) September 24, 2022
DJ Uiagalelei checks his texts, orders a pizza, looks up other scores and then finds Jake Briningstool in the back of the end zone for a TD.
— Matt Connolly (@MattOnClemson) September 24, 2022
Shipley needed 13 rushing yards entering the game to reach 1,000 for his career.
He, uh, got it. https://t.co/6ajJ7CSKcL
— Ross Taylor (@ClemsonFBRoss) September 24, 2022
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