This UNC squad just gave #11 Notre Dame almost all they could handle, but they also lost to the FSU team the Deacs annihilated, Virginia Tech in their season opener, and the Tar Heels got utterly lambasted by a Georgia Tech squad that, aside from has only won against Duke and Kennesaw State. This coming Saturday against a similarly explosive (but also fairly porous) UNC squad in Chapel Hill, in a game that somehow manages to be a non-conference outing (I know the story behind how and why it’s still weird). Granted, the upcoming stretch for the Deacs is quite possibly the most brutal. The Demon Deacons clearly weren’t going to be caught napping, as Sam Hartman gashed the Duke defense so badly that, on his second rushing touchdown of the day, the electric QB could do nothing other than give an almost Jordan-esque shrug in the endzone, and the defense answered at least some of the fair criticisms leveled their way, giving up only a single touchdown when starters on both sides had long since gone to their respective corners. Still, all Wake Forest could worry about was what was in front of them: the mother of all trap games at home against a pretty woeful Duke squad. After all, Kentucky saw more of a bump in its ranking off a literal bye week than Wake Forest did after hanging 70 on an Army defense that previously had only given up half that on its worst day to a Western Kentucky team that hung 31 on Michigan State in East Lansing. It probably could be argued that Wake Forest being outside of the top 10 ahead of their matchup with Duke was something of a slap in the face. What followed was one of the most insane college football games that almost no one saw, a record-breaking day for both schools that saw neither defense being able to do much, save for two forced turnovers for the Deacs, including a truly incredible pick 6 from Traveon Redd on a fake field goal attempt that arguably was the tipping point in the game for Wake Forest. Suddenly, the Army Black Knights found themselves with probably one of the biggest opportunities for their school in decades: to topple a 6-0 ranked team in their home stadium, where they’d won 12 straight games. Another team had taken a shot at the kings, and unfortunately for them, they had missed. Still, Wake Forest was 6-0, bowl eligible before Alabama for the first time in.if not ever, certainly an extremely long time. Perry for an OT win in the Carrier Dome after the Wake Forest defense gave up an infuriatingly easy game-tying drive with only 2:17 left for the Orange to go 94 yards. And if Louisville gave Wake all they could handle, the Syracuse Orange had them down for a nine count, Sam Hartman lofting an absolute prayer to A.T. Louisville took a shot at Wake, and came close, but the Demon Deacons would not be exorcised, and remained still atop the ACC Atlantic mountain.
The then #24 Deacs started the 4th quarter with a 10 point lead, and it was only thanks to the sure foot of Nick Sciba that the Deacs remained faultless. But the road game against Virginia proved to be nothing to sweat, and it wasn’t until the home game against Louisville that the team was truly tested. The next three games were a lot more interesting, especially on paper. But the Deacs decided they didn’t care and took the Seminoles for a walk, getting to 3-0 with a 35-14 drubbing that left folks in Tallahassee with existential questions. 0-2 wherein your losses are by a combined 6 points doesn’t mean much. The Deacs absolutely obliterated Florida State, and sure they were 0-2 at the time including a home loss to Jacksonville State on a Hail Mary (sort of it was the worst-defended desperation play I’ve ever seen), but they also had been a last second field goal away from taking top 10 Notre Dame into overtime. It was Week 3 that I really started to raise an eyebrow and wonder if Coach Clawson was doing more than blow smoke.
How the hell would LOWF rebound from something like that? Was Dave Clawson out of his mind making the season mantra “Good To Great”? I know the schedule is pretty favorable, but really? In the COVID ravaged 2020 campaign, the Deacs finished 4-5 (though admittedly, two of those losses were single possessions, and the Deacs did topple #19 Virginia Tech), and even worse, they lost running back workhorse Kenneth Walker III to the transfer portal and Donavon Greene and starting RT Je’Vionte’ Nash to freak injuries in the offseason. It was hardly a controversial take Clemson is still Clemson, and NC State had by far the most pieces on paper to take a run at the crown.
In July of 2021, the preseason ACC media poll had Wake Forest 5th in the Atlantic, in front of only Louisville (by 472-462 points) and Syracuse.
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