Postgame Notes and Quotes: Clemson 28 - Wake Forest 14

Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney

• "Proud of how we set the tempo on both sides of the ball."
• "Not crazy about how we finished in that last little part of the 4th quarter."
• "We are committed to playing a lot of guys. That's the only way we are going to continue to improve our depth."
• "It's a quick turnaround. I'm not a big fan of these Friday night games. We've got to come back in here tomorrow and it will be a Monday."
• "I thought that Kelly (Bryant) played really well. He was 21-29 in three quarters before he went out. Rolled his ankle there. It didn't appear to be too serious."
• "Ray-Ray, I think he averaged fifteen yards or so on the returns. He's a huge weapon for us."

On the victory:
“I’m happy with the win. Wake Forest was a tough team to get ready for because they’re so deep and

talented. I just like how we got ready throughout the week’s preparations, and we were locked in today and got off to a good start. One side of the ball was always there to pick the other ones up. We got control of the game early. I didn’t like how we finished, though, but we’re playing a lot of guys, and we’re committed to doing that. You have to let them experience growing pains. But I’m really proud of how we played today.”

On some of the key playmakers in the win:
“It seemed like guys on each side of the ball made great plays throughout, from Kelly Bryant completing 21 of 29 passes at quarterback on the offensive end to our pass rushers playing well on defense and guys making good plays in the secondary. Ray-Ray McCloud had a couple of big returns on special teams, too. It was just a well-rounded performance today.”

On his outlook for next week:
“We have another difficult test next week with a late game on the road. Since it’s a Friday game, tomorrow is like a Monday for us. We’re going to come in and practice tomorrow night and get ready for the next game. We have to take what we can from today’s win and build upon it as we continue to move forward.”

Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson

Opening Statement
“First off, congratulations to Clemson. They really came out and played well, and they jumped on us early. I thought we then settled in defensively to keep us in the game; we made some big plays on offense and just never capitalized on it; we missed the short field goal and then the long field goal. Our guys battled

hard, fought till the end. That is a really good football team, and we just have to play at a higher level than what we did. We missed too many opportunities early, missed too many tackles, and when we play a team the caliber of Clemson, you aren’t going to beat them.”

On this Clemson team vs. last year’s team:
“They were really good last year, and they are really good this year. The two tackles, [Dexter] Lawrence and [Christian] Wilkins, are excellent players, the two ends are very athletic; they can cover in the secondary, and they make you earn everything on defense. Offensively, No. 9 is really coming on as a tailback and is a big play maker for them, and when you combined that with the quarterback and the skill they have on the perimeter, there is nobody you can cheat against; they can beat you at every position.”

On having Kendall Hinton in at quarterback:
“In the first half, [Hinton] was a little shaky, because he hadn’t played in a while. I thought in the second half, he got his rhythm, found his feet and started feeling comfortable. We got a few drives and moved the football. He played much better in the second half than in the first half, but this is just not a team that you can afford a slow start against.”

On what he learned about his team during this game:
“Well, we compete and play hard, but we still have to execute at a higher level. I don’t like to use a measuring stick, as it is a one week season and we didn’t measure up this week to the team we played.”

Clemson Team:

Clemson won its 11th consecutive game, tied for the fifth-longest winning streak in school history. The record is 17 between November 22, 2014, and December 31, 2015.

Clemson won its 11th consecutive game, dating to 1944, against a Wake Forest team that entered the game with at least a 66.7 winning percentage (minimum of five games played by the Demon Deacons).

Clemson won its ninth in a row over Wake Forest, marking Clemson’s longest winning streak over the Demon Deacons since a 15-game winning streak from 1977 to 1991.

Clemson won its 20th of its last 21 games overall and its 37th of its last 39 games.

Clemson won it 20th consecutive game over an ACC Atlantic Division team.

Clemson won its 15th straight game in the month of October.

Clemson won its 51st straight game when holding an opponent under 23 points.

Clemson won its 36th straight game when holding an opponent under 40 points.

Clemson won its 49th of its last 50 games against an unranked opponent.

With the win, Clemson ensured its third consecutive season with at least a 6-0 start. It is the first time that Clemson has started at least 6-0 for three straight years since doing so between 1928 and 1930.

Clemson improved to 71-20-3 on homecoming, including a 41-4-2 record since 1971.

Clemson Individual:

Head coach Dabo Swinney earned his 95th victory in his 10 years as the Clemson head coach. With the win, Swinney moved into a ninth-place tie with Lloyd Carr and Phillip Fulmer for total wins in the first 10 years as an FBS coach.

With the win, quarterback Kelly Bryant improved to 6-0 as a starter. Tajh Boyd, who started 8-0 in 2011, is the only other Clemson quarterback to win the first six starts of his career.

Wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud hauled in the 100th reception of his career on a nine-yard reception in the first quarter. Later in the contest, McCloud reached the 1,000-yard mark for career receiving yards.

On special teams, McCloud amassed a season-high 58 punt return yards.

Running back Travis Etienne, who scored his fifth rushing touchdown of the season, became the first true freshman to score at least five rushing touchdowns for Clemson since Deshaun Watson scored five in 2014.

Wide receiver Cornell Powell experienced multiple career-highs, establishing new bests in receptions (three) and receiving yards (39), as well as garnering a career-long 20-yard catch.

Quarterback Hunter Johnson, who was credited with a career-high 42 passing yards, threw his first career touchdown pass on a 13-yarder to tight end Cannon Smith, which marked Smith’s first career touchdown catch.

Linebacker Tre Lamar matched his career high with seven tackles.

Safety Hall Morton collected his first career tackle.

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