Parker, Tigers back on track

CLEMSON, S.C. --- Clemson coach Dabo Swinney angrily watched his quarterback pitch the ball on an option look at practice last week, and he let Kyle Parker know it.

That touched off a heated exchange between Swinney and offensive coordinator Billy Napier, a blog report claiming dissension between the coach and his 30-year-old assistant, and two weeks of questions about Clemson's direction after a loss at Maryland.

So when Parker kept the ball for a 3-yard touchdown on the same play against Wake Forest in Clemson's 38-3 victory, the freshman hurried to Swinney on the sidelines and asked, "How do you like that, Coach?"

Swinney likes it just fine.

C.J. Spiller scored on runs of 66 and 14 yards, Parker added a touchdown pass to go with his leaping run and the Tigers (3-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) turned turmoil into triumph as they got back into the ACC's Atlantic Division race on Saturday.

Clemson seemed ready to implode after an unexpected 24-21 loss to Maryland on Oct. 3. The team held a players-only meeting when it returned to campus, but the flashpoint was an anonymous blog report during the bye week that detailed the shouting match Swinney and Napier.

Swinney acknowledged it was about Parker's decision to pitch the ball on that play when the coach wanted him to take it in himself. Parker "got chewed out," Swinney said. "His coach (Napier) took up for him and he got chewed out, too."

Parker and the Tigers showed their resiliency against Wake Forest (4-3, 2-2).

"The biggest thing about us is we didn't give up," Parker said. "We knew that we had a lot of football left to play. We kind of blocked everything out and went back to work."

Spiller finished with 106 yards for his 10th career 100-yard game. Clemson's defense sacked ACC pass-efficiency leader Riley Skinner five times to knock the Demon Deacons back into the pack of the Atlantic Division.

"That's the way we should've been playing all year," Spiller said.

Clemson's defense did its share, too. Wake Forest, which didn't have a TD for the first time in 14 games, ended with 178 yards a week after notching its highest total in four years with 516 against Maryland.

"They brought a bunch of blitzes and once they got up and we had to pass the ball, they started pinning their ears back and coming after us," Skinner said.