Skinner’s late pass lifts Wake Forest to victory

Riley Skinner threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Boldin with 5:28 left to help No. 21 Wake Forest beat Clemson, 12-7, on Thursday night at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Skinner completed 22 of 34 passes for 186 yards and led the decisive 15-play, 78-yard drive in the fourth quarter for the Demon Deacons (4-1 overall, 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference).

Wake Forest outgained Clemson, 342-198, to end a two-game losing streak in the series and remain the only Atlantic Division team with a perfect conference record.

Shane Popham -- starting in place of injured kicker Sam Swank -- had field goals of 22 and 32 yards for Wake Forest, and a dominant defense held the Tigers’ strong ground game to 21 yards rushing in 23 carries.

Cullen Harper was 15 for 35 for 177 yards with an interception for Clemson (3-3, 1-2) in the Tigers’ second straight loss. His 10-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Ford with seven seconds left in the third quarter put Clemson up 7-3.

------

Auburn assistant coach Steve Ensminger will run the offense the rest of the season.

Coach Tommy Tuberville said Ensminger won’t be a candidate to replace Tony Franklin as offensive coordinator. Tuberville fired Franklin on Wednesday, six games into his first season with the 20th-ranked Tigers.

Ensminger, who is Auburn’s inside receivers coach, will work from the press box. A former Louisiana State quarterback, he had coaching stints with Georgia, Texas A&M;, Clemson and Louisiana Tech.

Tuberville hired Ensminger initially to work with the quarterbacks.