Clemson Football: Bold predictions for Tigers vs. Deacons

Bold predictions for Saturday’s game between Clemson football and Wake Forest.

Will Shipley will extend his streak of games with multiple touchdowns

If Shipley has been a heat-seeking missile, then the end zone has been fire so far this season.

Last weekend, Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter flipped the momentum of their game against Wake Forest with a 43-yard touchdown run. Salter is a bit taller than Shipley, but he has a similar running style and has the same kind of quickness.

This is going to be dependent on the offensive line putting a hat on a hat. If they can get the job done and open a hole for Shipley to find the second level, he will find the end zone at least a couple times.

DJU has been running the ball well too, and I think he will continue to keep the defense honest, but Shipley (and maybe Pace) have the speed advantage over the Deacon defense.

Two freshmen will catch touchdowns for the Tigers

Antonio Williams has been a solid contributor for the Tigers in their first three games. He scored his first touchdown against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs this past Saturday. The calls for Williams to be promoted to the starting lineup have begun.

Adam Randall has generated similar excitement, but his opportunity to show it on the field was delayed by an ACL injury in the spring. He got his first reception against the Bulldogs and should have gotten a pass interference call after being hacked in the end zone.

I think both freshmen will haul in touchdowns against the Wake defense. As mentioned earlier, their defense doesn’t have a lot of speed. Williams should perform well against that competition. As for Randall, the coaches think he has the ability to high point the ball and bring in 50-50’s and based on the highlights of Wake’s game against Liberty, he will have an opportunity to do that this weekend.

Clemson will hold the Deacons to less than 30 rushing yards in the first half

Over three games, Wake Forest has 383 yards on the ground, an average of 128 yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry. Those yards came against FCS team VMI, Vanderbilt and Liberty.

Per Teamrankings.com, if you exclude VMI and only look at FBS opponents, Wake Forest has the 107th ranked rushing offense. This comes against Vanderbilt, who has the 64th ranked defense against the rush and Liberty, who has the 87th ranked defense against the rush. Translation: they can’t run against teams that aren’t great at defending the run.

Bold predictions for Saturday’s matchup in Winston-Salem between Clemson football and Wake Forest

Clemson has 6th best defense against the rush, allowing 46.5 yards per game through three games against FBS competition.

The slow mesh will meet a quick demise. Assuming the Tigers have the advantage as the game ages, and begins putting in backups, the Deacons might find more room to run in garbage time, but while the starters are in, Wake won’t find yards on the ground.

Clemson will block a punt against the Deacons

Clemson’s special teams have been making plays this season, especially on punt and field goal defense. They had two blocked punts against Georgia Tech and a blocked field goal against Louisiana Tech.

This past weekend, Wake Forest surrendered a blocked punt to Liberty at the worst possible time: backed up in their own end zone. The play resulted in a safety for the Flames.

I think logic says the odds of Clemson blocking a Wake punt are favorable.