You can stride right up to Dave Clawson at the ACC Kickoff without having to fight through a crowd, which makes him unique among ACC coaches.
Try getting within 20 feet of Dabo Swinney or Mack Brown, for instance. They’re rock stars. Clawson, a damn good football coach, is still the coach at Wake Forest, the fourth of four North Carolina schools in the ACC.
Who just happens to expert at rebuilding programs. Fordham was 0-11 in his first season, and 10-3 by Year 4. Richmond was 3-8 in his first season, 9-4 a year later, and 11-3 and an FCS semifinalist by Year 4.
Bowling Green was 9-16 in his first two seasons, 10-3 by Year 5.
He’s working his magic at Wake, which went 3-9 in each of his first two seasons, 2014 and 2015, before a run of four consecutive winning seasons.
And now in Year 8, he has his Demon Deacons off to a 3-0 start that includes a 35-14 win over Florida State in Week 3.
You’d love to see what he could do in a job with resources more than an FCS, Group of Five or lower-level Power 5.
I should ask him his thoughts on that next year at the ACC Kickoff.
Players to Watch
- QB Sam Hartman: A lot to like about this guy, who is averaging 230.3 yards passing per game, completing 68.7 percent of his passes, with six TDs and one INT and a 160.1 passer rating. Fundamentally sound, Hartman is solid against the blitz, under pressure, and he can beat you in the play-action game.
- TB Christian Beal-Smith: Leads the team with 76.3 yards per game on the ground. Not much of a threat out of the backfield (just two catches in 2021).
- WRs A.T. Perry and Jacquarii Roberson: Both Perry (13 catches, 255 yards) and Roberson (12 catches, 154 yards) can beat you deep, and the way Clawson uses them, they do most of their damage on passes of 10+ and 20+. Not a lot of screen action with these guys. You have to cover them downfield.
- CB Caelen Carson and S Traveon Redd: Pro Football Focus loves both (Carson gets an 84.4 season grade, Redd an 83.9 season grade). Wake’s secondary, across the board, gets solid PFF grades. They’ll of course be tested by Brennan Armstrong, but it’s strength against strength here.
Broadcast Info
The game will air on ESPN2 beginning at 7 p.m. Fans can also stream the game live on ESPN.com or the ESPN app. The contest can be heard on Virginia Sports Radio Networks around the commonwealth and live on VirginiaSports.com. A list of stations can be found here. Fans can follow along via live stats and the Virginia Mobile app and get in-game updates on the team’s official twitter account, @UVAFootball.
Betting Line
- Vegas: Virginia -4
- ESPN FPI: Virginia 70.3 percent win probability
Forecast
Virginia gave up 699 yards and 59 points in the loss to North Carolina in Week 3. Wake will attack the UVA D similar to what you saw out of UNC – running through the A and B gaps, passing off play-action. The Deacs will score points. Can Virginia keep up? The strong Wake secondary is the key here. The defensive numbers look good, but it’s come against ODU, Norfolk State and Florida State. The first team to make a mistake falls behind, and that will make it hard to keep up. Last year, that team was Virginia. I think it will be again this year. Final: Wake Forest 42, UVA 38.
Story by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
