No. 5 Clemson hangs on to beat No. 21 Wake Forest 51-45 in 2OT

No. 5 Clemson hung on to grab a 51-45 overtime win at No. 21 Wake Forest.

D.J. Uiagalelei found Davis Allen for a leaping grab to start the second overtime and the Clemson defense prevented Sam Hartman and the Wake Forest offense from getting a first down in the Demon Deacons’ possession. It’s the 14th consecutive win for the Tigers over the Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest won the ACC Atlantic division a season ago despite a loss to Clemson. That division title snapped a five-year division winning streak for the Tigers dating back to 2014. But now Clemson has an effective 2-game lead over Wake Forest in the ACC title game race before the calendar hits October.

Uiagalelei’s fantastic game

It’s not a stretch to say that Clemson QB D.J. Uiagalelei played his best game since a spot start against Notre Dame in November of 2020. Uiagalelei was 26-of-41 passing for 371 yards and threw for five touchdowns and didn’t throw an interception. He kept plays alive with his legs in the passing game and, most importantly, consistently delivered accurate throws into tight windows to Clemson’s receivers.

Clemson lost three games in 2021 because its offense struggled. That was largely a product of Uiagalelei’s play. He threw for just 2,246 yards and had more interceptions than passing touchdowns. Heck, the five TDs he threw on Saturday were more than half of his entire 2021 total (nine).

Uiagalelei set high expectations when he filled in for Trevor Lawrence against Notre Dame in 2020. While the Tigers lost that game in double-overtime, Uiagalelei threw for over 400 yards and had three total touchdowns a week after he threw for 342 yards and had three total scores against Boston College.

With Lawrence off to the NFL, Uiagalelei entered the season as the undisputed starter. He failed to crack 250 yards passing in any of Clemson’s 13 games a season ago and had just four games with a completion percentage of 60% or better.