Tigers on watch for Demon Deacons

CLEMSON - Next up on Clemson's ''watch out'' list - Wake Forest.

It seems like every week, there's a new reason for the 20th-ranked Tigers to be wary, and this Saturday, it's a thorny game with the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

A victory by Clemson (7-2, 4-2 ACC) against Wake Forest sets up a nationally televised showdown with Boston College for the ACC Atlantic Division and a spot in the league's title game.

To get there, though, the Tigers must move past a team in Wake Forest (6-3, 4- 2) that's no longer the easy out it had been for much of the past four decades.

Clemson was 28-4 against the Demon Deacons from 1971 through 2002. But the Tigers have split the past four games in the series, including a 45-17 win by Wake Forest in 2003 that nearly cost coach Tommy Bowden his job.

Bowden joked Tuesday that Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe could've piled up even more points than he did that afternoon. ''That's when I knew he was a Christian,'' Bowden said.

There's no doubt the Tigers know what they face in Wake Forest. Bowden said Monday's practice was as intense and spirited as the team has had all year.