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| Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka- Getty Images |
By: Brian Schaible
Twitter: @SBNationReports
For the Clemson Tigers, there are very few roadblocks
between now and a possible fourth straight appearance in the College Football
Playoff.
Saturday was an absolute walk in the park in
Winston-Salem, N.C for Clemson.
For Wake Forest, the 63-3 throttling is the
worst home loss in school history.
Other than the fact that it was a beautiful
day outside, there was absolutely nothing enjoyable for fans of the Demon
Deacons to experience.
Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson summed it
perfectly. “Well that was just a good old-fashioned butt whipping.”
The challenge for Clemson may be finding a way
to stay motivated for the remaining stretch of regular season games. But
Clemson’s defensive coordinator Brent Venables is not anticipating any
challenges in keeping his unit focused.
“No, it’s never a challenge to find the good
and find the bad. We have a mature group of guys that are easy to coach,”
Venables said. “They played well today and we’re going to recognize that and
recognize the work they put into it too.”
Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney was equally
impressed with both sides of the ball.
“Offensively, I’m just so pleased with our
ability to run the football. Every team dreams about the ability run the ball,
I think we had a school record 11.8 yards per carry,” Swinney said. “We’ve been
really explosive. We can be a little inefficient at times and then bam, we have
an explosive play and that’s the thing we didn’t have last year.”
If you thought Clemson couldn’t be any more
loaded in the backfield, another star emerged today in Winston-Salem in the
form of Lyn-J Dixon.
Normally averaging 16.3 yards rushing is good
enough to lead your team and possibly the nation on any given Saturday.
However, Travis Etienne’s 167 yards on 10 carries led the way. For Dixon, 163
on the ground and another 41 receiving certainly announced his presence loudly
and to thunderous applause from traveling fans.
It was the first time since 2006 that Clemson
had three running backs rush for more than 100 yards in a game.
“We strive for perfection,” Clemson
co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “We know perfection cannot be
achieved but one thing you can control is a perfect effort. And you’ve seen it
since day one, effort had never been a challenge either this offense. Now we
just have to focus on the details and understand every single play. As we go forward
in the season, the margin of error is going to get smaller and smaller and we
can’t come out and squander three drives before we hit our stride.”
After a bye week, Clemson hosts undefeated NC
State on Oct. 20 and in a matchup worthy of primetime consideration.
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