WINSTON-SALEM — Wake Forest was expected to roll over. Instead, the Demon Deacons
bowled over Georgia Tech.Underdog
Wake earned itself a postseason bid, possibly to the Aloha Bowl in Hawaii, by stunning
Tech 26-23 at Groves Stadium on Saturday.
“I told them before the game
we were going to a bowl game,” said coach Jim Caldwell. “I knew we were going
somewhere, even if we had to do our own bowl game back here in our back yard.”
Wake, in danger of finishing in a
three-way tie for last place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a defeat in the
regular-season finale, tied Duke and N.C. State for fifth place by pulling off the upset.
Each team finished 3-5 in the ACC, while North Carolina and Maryland tied for last at 2-6.
More importantly, the win gave
Wake a record of 6-5 for its first winning season in seven years and made Wake
bowl-eligible. The ACC has tie-ins with five bowl games, and Wake is one of five league
members that won six or more games against NCAA Division I opponents.
“We believed that we could
win this game, but I don’t think anybody else believed,” said star running back
Morgan Kane. “Everybody basically thought that Georgia Tech was going to roll over
us.”
The Yellow Jackets, finishing in a
tie for second place at 5-3 with Clemson and Virginia, dropped to 7-3 overall heading into
their final game against rival Georgia.
Kane was one of the many Deacon
seniors who made sure that didn’t happen.He rushed for a career-high 224 yards on 39
carries, giving him 1,161 yards for the season — third-best all-time at Wake. Kane
became only the third Deacon with two 200-yard rushing games in the same season and now
ranks sixth on the school’s all-time single-game yardage list.
“Every one of these seniors,
we came here with a goal, and that goal was to go to a bowl game, turn this program around
and get over the hump. We wasted a couple of chances there earlier in the year, but when
it came down to it, there was nothing going to deny us today, especially not on Senior
Day,” said the 6-1, 220-pound Canadian.
“Two hundred and twenty-four
yards? I knew he ran well; I didn’t know he ran that well,” said Caldwell.
Kane’s power running was only
part of the impressive senior-led victory. His backfield teammate, quarterback Ben Sankey,
directed a ball-control offense that had no turnovers. He completed 10 of 13 passes for 88
yards and a touchdown and ran for 48 more yards.
A jubilant Sankey, at the end of
the game, climbed onto the goalpost crossbar as excited Wake students roared their
approval. After Sankey jumped off, the fans tore down the goalpost and carried it around
the field.
“I just knew that if I could
control our offense and lead my team ... keep us going and keep us motivated, that
anything could happen,” said the Chicago senior.
It became obvious that anything
could happen when the home team charged to a 20-0 halftime lead against the nation’s
14th-ranked team.
Wake drove 79 yards in nine plays
for a first-quarter touchdown, scored by running back Chris McCoy on an 8-yard pass from
Sankey. Kane got the second TD on a 4-yard run in the second quarter to cap off a
seven-play, 70-yard drive.
The Deacons’ Matt Burdick
added 22- and 40-yard field goals in the last 3:49 of the first half for the 20-0 lead.
While Kane and Sankey led the
offense, it seemed as if every senior on the defensive unit was making a big play against
a Tech team that came into the contest ranked No. 1 among major colleges in total
offense(510.7 yards per game) and scoring (41.6 points per contest).
“We had nothing to
lose,” said senior linebacker Dustin Lyman, who batted down two passes with Tech
threatening to score. He also was one of three Deacons with 11 tackles.
“Nobody expected us to win
this game,” said the 6-4, 248-pounder from Boulder, Colo. “Even ourselves:Nobody
expected it to turn out certainly the way it was going the first half. ... The way it
turned out, it probably is the best feeling I’ve ever had on a football field.”
With Heisman Trophy candidate Joe
Hamilton at quarterback, no one expected the inspired Wake defense to shut out the Yellow
Jackets, and Tech finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter. Sean Gregory’s
2-yard TD run enabled the visitors to pull within 20-7 with 8:50 left in the third period.
However, Wake’s Burdick added
two more crucial field goals of 36 and 35 yards in the fourth quarter, and it seemed the
Deacons had put it out of reach at 26-7 with only 5:41 to play.
“It doesn’t take Joe
very long to get the ball in the end zone. He’s a magician with that ball. ...
He’s the best quarterback in the country,” said Caldwell.
It took Tech only 1:05 to score
another touchdown on a 25-yard pass from Hamilton to wide receiver Brett Basquin. After
Hamilton’s pass to flanker Kerry Watkins for the 2-point conversion, it was 26-15
with 4:36 to play.
Then, after Ron Mabra recovered
Luke Manget’s perfectly executed onsides kick, the Jackets had the ball again at
their own 46.
Hamilton quickly ran and passed
Tech down to the Wake 3, but cornerback Adrian Duncan, another senior, and Lyman broke up
third- and fourth-down passes to end the threat with 3:30 to play.
Amazingly, it still wasn’t
over. Four plays later, Tech’s Shannon Ashmon blocked James MacPherson’s punt,
and Jeremy Muyres recovered the football in the end zone. The Georgians had pulled within
five points with 2:27 to play. Watkins ran for the two extra points, and it was 26-23.
Manget then attempted another
onsides kick, but Wake’s Duncan had one more big play left. He fell on the football
at the Tech 40. |
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