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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 18, 2017

Dave Clawson

Greensboro, North Carolina

THE MODERATOR: We welcome Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson. Coach, an opening statement.

COACH CLAWSON: We're coming off a very good, very productive bye week. We've got a few extra Georgia Tech practices in. But I think more importantly the bye week worked out well that it was our players' fall break weekend. So they were able to get out of here for a couple days and get some rest physically. And probably just as importantly just get a little bit of a mental break.

And now we're looking forward to head to Atlanta and play an excellent Georgia Tech team that is really two plays away from being undefeated and probably a top 10 team.

The offense is talented and well coached. The quarterback, Marshall, is a heck of a player. Defensively they're really good. They're only giving up about 300 yards a game, and they're the best defense in the conference on third down.

So they hold onto the ball for a long time and then they get people off the field. And that's a winning formula. And this will be another great challenge for us and we look forward to playing another game on Saturday.

Q. In this bye week that you just had just recently, obviously Clemson went up against Syracuse and Syracuse was able to handle the defending champion. Inside of your Atlantic Division there's been movement in the Coastal Division from year to year. Just what you could say about, from top to bottom in the ACC, how the teams that are maybe expected from the outside looking in to win every game, it's changing. And you've seen success at Wake Forest, NC State has had success, Syracuse and whatnot -- just what can you say about the level of talent and how it continues to rise in the ACC?
COACH CLAWSON: Well, I've only been in the league now for three and a half years. But just in the three and a half years that I've been at Wake and just watching the film and the crossover film, I think the gap from the bottom to the top has never been tighter. And I think in this league you've got to show up every week.

Everybody's got good players. Everybody's well coached. There's no gimmees. And I think you see that throughout our league. And it's not only some of the games that people consider upsets, it's the competitiveness of other games. There's a lot of tight games in this league. And very few blowouts. So I just think the top to the bottom is probably as tight as it's ever been.

Q. When you look at just inside of the Atlantic Division itself with the speed that Syracuse likes to go on offense and as well as what Boston College will do defensively and some of these schemes. And Georgia Tech, which was brought up, and what they can do to hold onto the ball and their option. Just what can you say about how it's not only competitive but there are these MOs of teams that make for very interesting week-to-week in the ACC?
COACH CLAWSON: Yeah, and I think this league is really well-coached. So every team we play presents challenges on both sides of the ball, whether it's defending the triple option this week or defending the pace of a Syracuse or defending the quarterback running game of Clemson or some of the RPOs that NC State runs.

Everybody we play, you know, they know how to attack you, and they add wrinkles every week. And I don't feel like any week in this conference is an easy prep. And that's why every week you have to have great preparation and show up with energy and have great Tuesday and Wednesday practices. And if at any point in your prep you don't those things, you're going to be in trouble.

Q. How was John Wolford looking for this week's game? And in terms of the offense in general what do you need to recapture to get back to the team that was so productive against, say, BC or Utah state?
COACH CLAWSON: John's practiced every day and he's going to start on Saturday. And, I mean, it's as simple as you just have to execute. And part of executing has to do with the defense you're playing.

Sometimes there may be things that you execute a little better against Utah State or a little more difficult when you play Clemson, just because of who the 3 technique is or who the corner is. And we play a lot of good defenses in this league. And this week is no exception.

Georgia Tech right now is again the second, statistically the second best defense in the conference. And they're the best defense on third down. So we have our plan and our preparation, but they're going to be well prepared too. And at the end of the day you've got to win matchups and make plays and execute.

Q. I had a question for you about Georgia Tech and Paul Johnson. You may or may not know but he's had a really good record against the Atlantic teams in this rotational scheme. And I'm curious if your experience thus far this week have given you any sense of why that might be?
COACH CLAWSON: Well, he's a good coach. And his teams are well prepared. I mean, he knows what he's doing with that offense.

They've won a lot of games at Georgia Tech with Coach Johnson. His record overall is good. It doesn't surprise me that his record against our division is good. And it's a unique attack. And he does all these different things to kind of see how you adjust. And once he finds a weakness and something you're not doing sound, he's just going to run it again and again until you figure out how to stop it and whatever you do he's got an answer to that. So it's a tough prep.

Q. You played Army last year; is that right?
COACH CLAWSON: Yes, we did.

Q. Has that helped you, you think, this week as far as you kind of knowing the best way to get your team ready and that kind of thing?
COACH CLAWSON: We've played a triple-option team once a year since we've been here. So I guess it helps from a standpoint that it hasn't been four years since we had to defend options. But what Army does and what Georgia Tech does, even though some things are similar, they're also very different formationally and the things they major in and the skill set of the players.

Georgia Tech has the quarterback and the B back and they've got a receiver, and Georgia Tech's offensive line is really, really good. These are guys that I think could play in any offensive system and be really good players. So there's a reason they average 400 yards a game, and the quarterback and B back both have over 500 yards.

And I mean they're good players. And it's well designed but they can also make people miss.

Q. You just got off the bye week. What do you like about your squad so far after the bye, your first and second half?
COACH CLAWSON: I liked our team before the bye week and I like them after the bye week. Nothing's changed. I think we have a team that we have a bunch of guys that love football and they care, and it matters to them and they're willing to work hard and they're competitive. And they take great pride in what they do.

And I think the bye week was good that they just -- with as early as camp started, the season got longer and longer and I just think that sometimes it's just good to let them get away for a little bit and recharge the batteries and catch their breath and prepare for the second half of the year.

So again we've got good kids that care about football and football's important to them and they work hard. And they know how competitive our conference is and our schedule is, and they know how to prepare week-to-week. So we've got to have a great prep this week and it certainly is a tough game coming out of the bye week.

Q. I know you played against Army and Army has the triple option, same as Georgia Tech. How do you prepare for a team like that? Do you use a lot of Army film to get ready for Georgia Tech? I know you played them last year, Georgia Tech, but every year it seems like they do something different that might mess up the planning for you guys?
COACH CLAWSON: There's a lot of film on Georgia Tech. We've watched a bunch of their games, and I'm sure Georgia Tech has looked at how we defended Army.

Those two, Coach Johnson and Monken, worked together. So I'm sure they've been on the phone a little bit. But they both know the offense well. And so, we haven't looked at a lot of Army film because there's enough Georgia Tech film to watch.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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