Clemson vs. Wake Forest Football Game Notes

Oct. 12, 2009

Milestones in Range, Streaks C.J. Spiller needs just 59 all-purpose running yards to become the first ACC player in history to reach 6000 all-purpose yards in a career. When he does he will become just the 27th player in NCAA FBS history to reach 6000 all-purpose yards.

C.J. Spiller needs three receptions to reach 100 for his career. He needs just nine receptions to become Clemson’s career leader for a running back. He has 97 and record is 105 by Travis Zachery (1998-2001)

Jacoby Ford has now caught at least one pass in 20 consecutive games he has played.

Saturday will mark Chris Chancellor’s 33rd consecutive start at cornerback. It will be Crezdon Butler’s 31st consecutive start at the opposite cornerback.

Crezdon Butler’s needs 80 interception return yards to become Clemson’s career leader.

Saturday will be Thomas Austin’s 30th consecutive start in the offensive line.

Clemson team has made 99 consecutive extra points. Current kicker Richard Jackson is 11-11 this year following 88 in a row by Mark Buchholz in 2007-08. Last miss was in the Music City Bowl at end of the 2006 season by John Early.

Clemson vs. Wake Forest Series Clemson owns 56 wins over Wake Forest in history, its second highest victory total over any opponent. Clemson has 65 wins over South Carolina. Forty-six of those wins against Wake Forest have taken place since the ACC was formed in 1953. Clemson is 33-7 against Wake Forest in games played in Clemson and is 28-7 in Death Valley in the series that dates to a 13-0 Clemson win in Charlotte in 1933.

Wake Forest won last year’s game by a 12-7 score in Winston-Salem. It was the last game of Tommy Bowden’s career at Clemson as he resigned the Monday after the Thursday night game.

Wake Forest Coach Jim Grobe has a 3-5 record against Clemson in his eight years at Wake Forest. All three of the wins have taken place at Wake Forest. He is 0-3 in Death Valley and Wake Forest has not won at Clemson since 1998 when Jim Caldwell coached the Demon Deacons to a 29-19 win. Wake Forest has won just twice at Clemson since 1962 and Caldwell won both games. He also defeated Clemson in 1993, Ken Hatfield’s last year as Clemson coach.

This will be Dabo Swinney’s first game as Clemson head coach against Wake Forest. The Tigers are 3-3 against Wake Forest in the six games he has coached in the series since he came to Clemson as an assistant coach.

Clemson won the 2006 game at Wake Forest, 27-17. Gaines Adams, now with the Tampa Bay Bucs of the NFL, had a game changing 66-yard fumble return on a botched field goal attempt in the fourth quarter to cut the Demon Deacons lead to 17-10. The Tigers scored 24 points in the fourth period to gain the victory. Current Tiger running back C.J. Spiller had a 72-yard run in that game.

Clemson played at Wake Forest three times in a four year period from 2003-06. But with last year’s loss, Clemson has lost three of its last four at Wake Forest. However, Clemson has won four in a row over Wake Forest in Clemson.

The Deacs won 45-17 in 2003 against a Clemson team that finished the year 9-4 and ranked in the top 25 in the nation. Clemson won four in a row after that game and Wake Forest lost its last three games.

Clemson has a 46-9-1 edge in the series since 1953, a .830 winning percentage. Clemson has played Wake Forest in football 56 consecutive years, as the last year the two schools did not play was 1952. The two schools are in the same division, so they will continue to play annually.

Clemson has a 20-10-1 lead in the series in games played at Wake Forest, including 12-6-1 in games played at Groves Stadium.

Only one coach in history won as many as four games against Clemson without a loss in Death Valley and the coach was from Wake Forest. Frank Howard and Peahead Walker had a close friendship, but Peahead had a 4-0 record against Howard in Death Valley.

Clemson has won 11 out of 15 against Wake Forest dating to 1994. The Demon Deacons won back-to-back games in 1992-93, the only time Wake Forest has won consecutive contests against Clemson since 1946-47. Wake Forest is looking for back to back wins in the series this year as well.

Clemson had a 7-3 record against Wake Forest under Tommy Bowden’s, but five of the seven Clemson wins were decided by 10 points or less.

The two teams have played at three neutral sites games over the years, including Tokyo, Japan. Clemson won that game in 1982 by a 21-17 score to close out an ACC Championship season.

Clemson defeated a Wake Forest team coached by current Virginia coach Al Groh on Halloween Day 1981 by an 82-24 score. That is the highest scoring game in ACC history involving two league teams. Clemson was 12-12 on third down in that game, a school record. The Tigers went on to win the national championship that season.