Just another 'playoff game' against Wake

CLEMSON -- They were sandbagging us the whole time, the pranksters. After all this talk about Clemson going through a smoother football season with a relatively lackluster home schedule, here comes that nemesis Wake Forest and a mega-clash with life and panic implications.

As the voice of reason, I was forced to spend most of Tuesday working the extremes.

Talking people off the Esso Club roof.

Telling others not to buy those Atlantic Coast Conference championship game tickets just yet.

But there is no doubting the wild swing associated with Saturday's game for a 2-3 team in choppy water.

With a win, Clemson is in first place in the Atlantic Division.

With a loss, there is a good chance the Tigers will not play in a bowl game this season.

Win, and a lot of the Georgia Tech, Texas Christian and Maryland problems will seem corrected.

Lose, and the struggles of a first-year head coach might start to hurt the Tigers in recruiting.

Win or lose, the reality of Clemson football is somewhere between grand and hopeless.

At least head coach Dabo Swinney knows that.

"I can think of three plays," he said Tuesday, suggesting the Tigers "would be at least 4-1" had those three plays gone Clemson's way.

"And the perception would have been a lot different," Swinney said. "The reality is, we'd still have the same problems."

NFL talent factor

Yes, like consistent execution.

From a young group of wide receivers and redshirt freshman quarterback Kyle Parker, and from ball carriers other than C.J. Spiller.

No offense, but there is no offense without Spiller, wide receiver Jacoby Ford and tight end Michael Palmer, all seniors.

They have accounted for 406 of the 676 rushing yards.

They have caught 47 of the 77 completed passes.

Spiller and Ford account for 311.4 of Clemson's 479.8 all-purpose yards per game.

"We just have to get some guys to grow up for us and make some plays," Palmer said, without naming names.

More than one Clemson player Tuesday used "playoff game" to stress the importance of high noon Saturday.

As with wins over the Deacons in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006 and losses in 2005 and 2008, this game figures to be close. But the altered status of three of the best players on the field in last year's 12-7 Wake Forest victory should work nicely for Clemson. Deacons linebacker Aaron Curry (fourth overall pick, Seattle) and cornerback Alphonso Smith (37th overall pick, Denver) have gone to the NFL. Spiller, also bound for early NFL selection, left the game in the second quarter with a leg injury and did not return.

'Whole lot left'

Still, all over town, it's impossible to ignore the extremes.

Clemson believers talk about the Tigers as so close to undefeated. Wake Forest is closer, with a 24-21 loss to Baylor and an overtime loss at Boston College.

Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner, in his fourth year as a starter, has guided the Deacons to more fourth-quarter comeback wins (seven) than Parker has college starts (five).

"We look forward to the challenge," Clemson line-backer Brandon Maye said.

The best thing about being challenged in the ACC?

The Atlantic Division is upside down, starting at the bottom with 0-3 Florida State.

"I don't think anybody pictured us being 2-3," Palmer said, "but there's still a whole lot left on the table."

Starting with what has become the nearly annual mega-clash against Wake Forest.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com or 937-5593.