Wake Forest Shocks The World (And Me), Defeats NC State 34-30

First off, I’m going to just say, best wishes to Grayson McCall. Some things are bigger than football. Here’s hoping that injury wasn’t as scary as it looked, and that McCall makes a full recovery and can continue whatever path he wishes with happiness and health. Additionally, much love to all those struggling with the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene. Some things are bigger than sports, and there’s two of them right there.

I started to write this late in the third, with State up 10 with all the momentum in the world. And then something changed. The Demon Deacons woke up.

With 8:43 remaining, Demond Claiborne did Claiborne things to bring it to a 3 point game. NC State then proceeded to get the ball back and do nothing with it. “My God,” I hear you thinking, “they have a huge chance here!” The problem is that, again, consistency just hasn’t existed. The offense then went on an UNBELIEVABLY gutsy, 13 play, 65 yard, 6 minute touchdown drive wherein Hank Bachmeier, who’d had a terrible day, converted a literally key 4th and short when the Deacs were probably in field goal range to tie it. But Coach Clawson didn’t want to leave it to possible OT. On the road, at a rival, he wanted to go for the throat. The first play after the TD, Wake’s defense came up with a game-sealing pick.

What is the future of this season? An inversion of Wake’s seasons recently, wherein they start rough and finish strong? Maybe. Is this quite possibly an aberration? Quite possibly. But here’s the thing. Wake had the Louisiana and UVA games there for the taking, they just didn’t finish. And today, in the toughest environment, against quite possibly the toughest opponent of the three, they did finish. At this point, I totally understand Dave Clawson’s seat heating up, at least a little bit, but then there are games like these. Hell, I gave up on this game. I’ll admit it. When I started writing this, I literally wrote it as if they lost, because I saw it as an inevitability. I had to flip the script just like the team did. I don’t know what the future holds. But for today, I’m gonna do something I haven’t in a long while. Damn it, I’m gonna give love to the team and the coaches alike, and I’m gonna just enjoy it. Clemson comes to town next week, and that could get real ugly real quick. But then again, I thought the exact same thing today, and they made idiots outta me. All of a sudden, at least for a day, it feels like we MIGHT, maybe, just have a new season on our hands.

On to the next. Go Deacs.

—SF