The Clemson football team will take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons Saturday afternoon. Here are five Tigers to watch in the ACC matchup.
The Clemson football team will play its final regular-season ACC game Saturday afternoon when the Wake Forest Demon Deacons come to town.
The Tigers clinched the ACC Atlantic Division with a 55-10 win over NC State last week and improved to 10-0 on the season. Clemson is currently inside the top-four of the CFB Playoff rankings and the Tigers are looking to get back to the CFB Playoff for a fifth-straight season.
Just a couple of weeks ago, this matchup looked as if it could be a battle of two ranked teams. Wake Forest had lost just one game- a 62-59 tilt to Louisville- and the Demon Deacons were sitting inside the top-20 of the initial CFB Playoff rankings.
However, the pressure of trying to compete for the division seemed to be too much for Dave Clawson’s program and they fell short against Virginia Tech last week, opening up the door for the Tigers to clinch before the two teams played.
Though this game against Wake Forest will not determine the division like we thought it would, this is still an important matchup for Clemson football.
The Tigers have no room for error as they head down the stretch and need to continue winning to get a spot in the playoff.
Here are five Tigers to watch as Clemson football takes on Wake Forest Saturday in Death Valley.
5. Tanner Muse
Tanner Muse and the entire safety group will be challenged Saturday when Wake Forest comes to town.
Though the Demon Deacons have struggled defensively, they are one of the better passing offenses in the ACC. They’ve scored a ton of points all season and they do a good job in the spread and using tempo to their advantage.
There have been times this season where the safeties have been out of position and quarterbacks haven’t been able to make the Tigers pay.
This week, that may not necessarily be the case. Wake Forest QB Jamie Newman has been slowly healing from an injured shoulder and he has the ability to complete deep passes and hit his intended wide receivers.
Muse will be tasked with doing a solid job in run-support and remaining disciplined even with Wake Forest’s run-pass-option game.
4. Nyles Pinckney
Nyles Pinckney has yet to have a huge game or come up with too many highlight-reel plays.
He’s done an excellent job anchoring down the interior with freshman DT Tyler Davis, but we haven’t called his name a bunch.
Look for Pinckney, the leader of that defensive tackle group, to make a few plays this game.
Pinckney will have an opportunity to rack up some tackles and potentially even come away with a sack and a couple of tackles for loss in this one.
3. Amari Rodgers
Amari Rodgers is too explosive to not make a big play against this Wake Forest defense.
Though we spotlight the duo of Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins, Rodgers is going to shine with a couple of explosive runs and plays of his own.
He’s been very close to breaking off a big punt return and perhaps this is the game we see that.
Either way, Rodgers is going to be a problem for a worn-down Demon Deacon defense that just gave up 36 points to Virginia Tech a week ago.
2. Travis Etienne
You think the Demon Deacons are going to be able to slow down Travis Etienne? Think again. Virginia Tech rushed for 228 yards and four touchdowns against Wake Forest last week.
Expect much of the same this week.
One of the major reasons that Clemson football fans should keep their eye on Etienne- other than the explosiveness, big-play ability and skill as a pure-runner- is the fact that he’s closing in on a major milestone.
Etienne is currently third all-time in career rushing yards (3,618) and is just 348 yards away from breaking the record (3,966) set by Raymond Priester in 1997. Etienne is also closing in on James Davis, who is No. 2 on the list (3,881).
There’s a solid chance Etienne surpasses Davis by the South Carolina game and he very well could close in on the all-time record during the ACC Championship or the CFB Playoff with a few more performances similar to what he has had in the past few weeks.
1. AJ Terrell
Wake Forest couldn’t get much going last week against Virginia Tech. The Demon Deacons scored just 17 points, but still threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns.
We’re going to see Wake Forest put the ball in the air quite a bit this weekend. The Demon Deacons are going to challenge the Clemson CBs, in particular AJ Terrell.
Both Terrell and Derion Kendrick have had moments where they’ve been picked on this season.
Terrell is going to be challenged and I think this could be the week that we see him come up with an interception and perhaps even a pick-six.
Terrell has been fairly quiet this season, but I believe we’ll see him make a big-time play in this one as the Tiger defense looks to shut down a talented offense.