There’s no way around it….Saturday was a sad day for the Deacon Nation. For a senior class that accomplished so much, especially during its redshirt freshman season, the last home game at BB&T Field did not do their talents justice. It’s a disappointing end to a four-year career marked with so many high points and exciting moments, but here’s to finishing the season with a road win against long-time rival Duke.
Result: Wake Forest falls 41-28 to Florida State in the last home game of the 2009 season.
As has come to be a trend this season, Wake racked up some excellent stats but made some crucial errors that cost us the game. Offensively, we weren’t able to capitilize on key drives and defensively, well, we just couldn’t stop them. (For the record, both defenses were lacking.) As predicted, EJ Manuel ran the ball a ton. While our defensive running game has always left much to be desired, FSU was able to score a whopping 41 points. However, despite the score Wake Forest out-gained FSU 454 yards to 437 yards. We rushed for 277 yards, the most since our win against Stanford (who, I might add, just beat USC). Riley Skinner’s touchdown pass to Chris Givens in the fourth quarter allowed him to tie the school record for most touchdown passes in a single season with 21. On another note, Wake only had three penalties for a loss of 30 yards this game. This really shows how far the team has come since the beginning of the season. We’ve become more disciplined and are no longer being set back almost a full field length by mental errors (as was the case during BC and NC State).
Despite Saturday’s many losses- the game, the ability to go bowling, the bragging rights of beating FSU four years straight- it’s important to remember what our saniors have accomplished during their tenure at Wake. For starters, for a video recap of the 2006 season set to the musical stylings of The Boss himself, click here. But, to give a brief summary: an ACC Championship, an Orange Bowl appearance, the first shutout of Bobby Bowden at home, an overtime come from behind victory vs. Maryland in 2007, the chance to become the winningest class in Wake Forest’s history, three straight seasons of eight or more wins, three successive bowl appearances, two bowl victories, I could go on forever. I know that Wake Forest is not having the season that we anticipated, but I think that we can all console ourselves with trips down memory lane. We’ve had a great four years and we shouldn’t let Saturday’s loss, or this season in general, taint our experience with Wake football and its growing program. I’ve loved my four years here, am so happy that I was witness to 2006’s Cinderella season and will never forget my 2007 birthday win over Maryland. As a pathological fan of teams that disappoint (the New York Mets), the highlights of football seasons past are more than enough for me to keep my faith in the Wake Forest football program. I’ll be back for homecoming. Go Deacs!