Clemson delivers late to thwart Wake Forest
Uiagalelei throws five touchdown passes, and Tigers’ defense makes big play in second overtime.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — DJ Uiagalelei kept delivering the ball on target downfield for No. 5 Clemson in a shootout with No. 21 Wake Forest.
That offered enough cover for a defense that struggled for stops — right up until finally coming up with the winning play to cap a double-overtime classic.
Nate Wiggins broke up Sam Hartman’s fourth-down pass in the end zone to help the Tigers hold off the Demon Deacons 51-45 on Saturday. It marked
Clemson’s 14th straight win in the series, this one coming in a tense road game pairing two of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top teams.
Uiagalelei, a former Bellflower St. John Bosco High standout, threw for 375 yards and five touchdowns to lead Clemson (4-0, 2-0 ACC), including the go-ahead score over the middle to Davis Allen to start the second overtime.
“Honestly, man, that was a crazy game,” Uiagalelei said. “You could just see the heart of our team — the heart of the offense, the heart of the defense. When plays had to be made, we made the plays. That just shows a great sign of a good football team.”
Or, at the least, plenty of perseverance — particularly for Wiggins.
He had been targeted frequently by Hartman and the Wake Forest receivers but came through to knock away Hartman’s final pass for A.T. Perry. He fell to the end zone turf, then sprung up to join his team in celebration.
Before that stop, Wiggins had thrice been flagged for pass interference in an injury-battered secondary and was beaten on Donavon Greene’s 25-yard touchdown catch.
“The only good thing about the game [defensively] is we gave up six touchdown passes — we didn’t give up seven,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said with a chuckle.
“That’s the only good thing I can say. And they never quit and they kept battling and they played one more play — and Nate came up with it right there at the end.”
Hartman threw for 337 yards and the six touchdowns to set a program record for Wake Forest (3-1, 0-1), including two each to Greene and Jahmal Banks.