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NCAAF Odds, Picks for Wake Forest vs Clemson

Wake Forest vs Clemson Odds

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The Wake Forest Demon Deacons face the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina Saturday afternoon.

Clemson enters with two losses this year to Duke and Florida State, so the Tigers need this ACC win to keep any ACC Championship hopes alive.

Wake Forest, on the other hand, enters the week at 3-1 following a 14-point home loss to Georgia Tech before its bye this past week.

Both teams need this win in order to stay competitive in the ACC, but who holds the edge?

Find a betting pick, preview and prediction for Wake Forest vs. Clemson below.

Check out our NCAAF Betting Hub for more college football previews, predictions, news and analysis.

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The Demon Deacons will face their toughest test of the season this week, as they play their first ACC road game of the year against one of the perennial conference powerhouses.

This game should be a good litmus test to show where Wake Forest is this season after the departure of quarterback Sam Hartman via the transfer portal to Notre Dame.

Quarterback Mitch Griffis leads the Wake Forest offense, as the redshirt freshman will make his sixth career start on Saturday.

This will be the toughest environment he will have faced in his young career, so things could be tough for a kid who’s already struggling thus far. Griffis has a 9:6 passing touchdown-to-interception ratio in four games this year, and it’s imperative that he takes better care of the ball in this matchup.

Luckily, this Wake Forest offense has some talented runners in Justice Ellison and Demond Claiborne. Ellison is averaging 5.7 yards per carry on 44 attempts while Claiborne is averaging 4.9 yards per carry on 63 attempts.

Much of their success can be attributed to an experienced and talented offensive line.

Wake Forest will need to play with good balance in order to keep the Clemson defense on its heels in order to hang around.

The Demon Deacons’ defense has been pretty impressive this season, as it’s led by a strong front seven that ranks 19th in Havoc. Defensive coordinator Brad Lambert continues to coach a talented defense that helps keep this team in games with its ability to apply pressure and get stops.

However, the Demon Deacons’ defense has been prone to the big play, as it ranks 117th in the country in Explosiveness Allowed. This defense does get stops, as it ranks 23rd overall in Defensive Success Rate Allowed and doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses in the pass game or run game.

However, the defense will need to excel during this step up in competition in order for Wake Forest to hang around.

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The Tigers enter this game with two ACC losses and need to start stacking conference wins. Clemson is coming off an impressive win over Syracuse last week in the JMA Wireless Dome.

To head coach Dabo Swinney’s credit, the Tigers seem to be playing better each week, and they now look to build on last week’s win.

Quarterback Cade Klubnik and the offense are starting to roll under new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. As expected, Klubnik has improved as he continues to gain more experience. This Clemson offense put up 31 points against a good Syracuse defense last week.

Wake Forest, albeit good defensively, ranks lower (23rd) than Syracuse (10th) in Success Rate Allowed.

I anticipate Klubnik and Riley will continue to find some success this week again, as Tyler Brown continues to try and separate himself at receiver as Klubnik’s favorite target. Clemson’s offense ranks 18th in Success Rate and should find some success running and throwing the football against Wake Forest.

Clemson holds the edge on defense, as it’s 17th in Success Rate Allowed this season. The Tigers’ defense has started to mesh after struggling against Duke in Week 1, as it now ranks 13th against the run.

If Clemson can continue to stuff the run and force Wake Forest into passing downs, the Tigers can tee off on the Demon Deacons’ young quarterback.

Unfortunately for the Demon Deacons, this Tigers front seven is just too good and should force Griffis to beat it through the air.

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Toggle the dropdowns below to hide or show how Wake Forest and Clemson match up statistically:

Wake Forest Offense vs. Clemson Defense
Offense
Defense
Edge
Rush Success 56 13
Line Yards 92 30
Pass Success 61 12
Havoc 119 11
Finishing Drives 115 75
Quality Drives 95 24
Clemson Offense vs. Wake Forest Defense
Offense
Defense
Edge
Rush Success 17 21
Line Yards 21 67
Pass Success 30 64
Havoc 61 19
Finishing Drives 84 45
Quality Drives 53 37
Pace of Play / Other
PFF Tackling 36 66
PFF Coverage 19 25
Special Teams SP+ 76 70
Middle 8 28 38
Seconds per Play 25.4 (40) 25.2 (35)
Rush Rate 58.4% (37) 49.4% (89)
Data via CollegeFootballData.com, SP+, Pro Football Focus and SportSource Analytics.

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Ultimately, Clemson should win this game, but winning this game in blowout fashion will come down to if the Clemson defense can generate a few turnovers against Griffis and the Demon Deacons’ offense early on.

This will be the first time Griffis has started on the road against a Power Five opponent, so there may be some growing pains in such a hostile environment.

Clemson has the talent to dominate on defense and generate short fields for Klubnik and the offense. The Tigers then can lean on running back Will Shipley late in the game to take the air out of the ball en route to a blowout win.

Give me the Tigers -20.5, and I’d bet them down to -22.

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