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Rex Brown

Former Wake Forest tight end John Tereshinski (88) tries to catch a pass in front of Clemson safety Michael Hamlin (25), as Chris Clemons looks on, during the Tigers' victory over the Demon Deacons last season at Memorial Stadium in Clemson.

CLEMSON — When defensive coordinator Vic Koenning first came to Clemson in 2005, one of the goals he set for himself and for his defense was to develop a scheme that would slow down Wake Forest’s high-powered rushing offense.

The Demon Deacons owned the Clemson defense at the time, thanks to head coach Jim Grobe’s complicated rushing offense, which ran skill players in orbits and reverses while using any number of combinations to get their speedy backs and receivers out on the edge.

Before Koenning’s hire, the Tigers gave up 283.3 rushing yards a game to Wake Forest from 2001-2004. In fact, No. 21 Wake (3-1, 1-0 ACC) rushed for 365 and 321 yards on the Clemson defense in 2002 and 2003.

Under Koenning’s guidance, however, the stats are totally different. The Deacons have averaged a mere 82 rushing yards a game against his Clemson defenses, while gaining just 31 (2006) and 82 yards (2007) in the last two meetings.

“They still know how to run the divide zone, which they run about every way known to man with their orbits and their three-back offenses and every other different (formation),” the Clemson coach said Monday. “There are guys everywhere. There are guys motioning, shifting and going all over the place in that offense.

“You have to try to be sound against all of that. It really gives your defense a bunch of different looks.”

But despite those things, the biggest difference with the Wake Forest offense this year is its lack of a running game. The Demon Deacons are averaging just 84.8 yards a game rushing, which ranks 114th nationally and next to last in the ACC.

Thanks to those kind of numbers, as well as injuries up front to an offensive line that has little depth, Wake Forest has started to air it with junior quarterback Riley Skinner and so far it has paid off. The Deacons lead the ACC in passing offense with a 243.5 yards per game average while Skinner leads the ACC in passing yards, completion percentage and passing efficiency.

“They throw the ball a lot. That’s the major point in their game,” Clemson safety Michael Hamlin said. “(Skinner) is real tough. He kind of reminds me of Brett Favre. He is very accurate. He is going to make plays, and he does the unexpected.”

On the rise. Koenning said he was glad to have bandit end Ricky Sapp back to full strength because he is one of his better players and is a guy they can count on to be productive.

Rested up. Because his safeties have been kind on dinged up and have played a lot on special teams this year, Koenning tried some different things during the off week to get those guys, and he would not specify who or what changes, rested and ready to go for Thursday. He also indicated some of the moves or personnel changes he experimented with could be used against Wake.

Injuries. Offensive guard Barry Humphries, who suffered a knee injury against Alabama, said he could be back in the lineup as early as the Georgia Tech game. He isn’t doing any full contact inside yet, but he is doing pass rush drills. There is a risk if he comes back too soon that he could tear the rest of his partially torn knee. He said that’s a risk he is willing to take if it means he can play this year. He doesn’t know if he will have the surgery after the season or not.

Guard David Smith (ankle) says he will not be back until the Boston College game. He was wearing a boot Monday and his left ankle is still swollen. Cory Lambert, who moved inside from tackle last week, will get the start at left guard. Smith suffered an ankle sprain against S.C. State on Sept. 20.

Defensive tackle Antwon Murchison (hamstring) is listed as questionable for the Wake game, while linebacker Stanley Hunter (ankle) is listed as probable.

TV game. The Georgia Tech at Clemson game on Oct. 18 has been picked for television and will be broadcasted at noon on ESPN2.