Game 599: Louisville speeds ahead to fight off Wake Forest comeback in Collegefootballfan.com record-setter, 62-59
Winston-Salem, NC – The Louisville Cardinals’ speed vaulted them past the Demon Deacons early to post a 28-7 lead early in the second period. However, the undefeated Deacs ranked 19th in the AP poll coming in, surprisingly out-scored their ACC foe from that point on, 52-34. However, it wasn’t enough to avoid the upset by the Cards to fall, 62-59. Had the Deacs (5-1,1-1) recovered their onsides kick with 1:10 remaining, no doubt here that the result would have been different. Ironically, these two made collegefootballfan.com history as both had played in our top three scoring games among 598 previously witnessed contests. However, the performances by both defenses makes a fan wonder, “Quarterbacks attend passing camps to hone their skills. Maybe some smart coaches should start camps to teach pass coverage and improve tackling as well.”
Louisville starts full speed ahead
Wake’s fumble by Cade Carney put Louisville on offense at the 28 of WFU. LU drew first blood with Javian Hawkins TD run at the eight. Wake’s next punt put the Cards with their backs supposedly to the wall starting for their eight. WR Seth Dawkins burned the Deac secondary 55 yards catching Micale Cunningham’s pass (5 of 6, 99 yards, two TDs). Wake showed that they wouldn’t go down easily with a 75-yard drive with QB Jamie Newman (24 for 41, 251 yards, three TDs, two INTs) hooking up with Sage Surrat for a 12-yard score. The speed of Louisville flashed by us on the ensuing kickoff return by Hassan Hall. He worked his way up the right sideline drawing in the coverage team, then cut left, and sped around the outside for a 100-yard TD jaunt.
Host and Guest Game Analyst Jim Harton’s buddy and fellow Wake alum, “Goober”, commented that on the entire Deacon team, probably only two or three players could match the speed displayed by the entire Louisville offense we watched. We witnessed that speed once again firsthand as LU’s Tutu Atwell returned Wakes ensuing punt 50 yards to the 13. Heading into the second period, Cunningham connected with Atwell for a nine-yard strike for a 28-7 lead that seemed to be mounting.
Wake awakes
In the second, the Deacs fought their way back into contention. Newman finished off a 74-yard drive with a three-yard pass to Surrat (12 catches, 196 yards, three TDs). The Deacs supposedly got a big break after that on a run by Cunningham who got upended hard by Safety Nasir Greer to force a fumble. Not only did DB Traveon Redd recover the football and return it to the LU four, but the hit put Louisville’s starting QB on the sidelines for the rest to the game. FB Cade Carney converted the turnover into six points for the Deacs with a one-yard run somewhat making up for his earlier fumble – with this score and 95 yards on 17 carries.
Frosh QB Evan Conley took over for the injured Cunningham. The Cards went four-and-out. Their next possession started with Dom DiMaggio’s shanked punt that went out at the 46. Conley moved his team to the 14 for Blanton Creque’s 23-yarder. The Deacs responded with a drive down to LU’s 13 before DB Yasir Abdullah picked Newman for a key defensive stop to avoid another Deacon score that would have added to their comeback effort and given them momentum going into the second half. Instead, the Cards took a 31-21 lead going into halftime.
Could Louisville continue to dominate offensively with their speed, or would Wake’s contention not to give in overcome the Louisville lead for good? GGA and host Jim Harton commented bluntly, “Our special teams are killing us.” Wake Forest’s Marching Band performed with Motown sounds and fireworks from the Dixie Fair nearby lit up the night. One thing that could be expected for sure in the second half the way the offenses and defenses played, more fireworks for sure. Who could ignite the most?
And the answer(s) is (are)…
Speed still kills, and so do Wake’s specialty teams as abruptly pointed out by Jim already. The second half kickoff return by Louisville looked like the 100-yard jaunt in the first half – except for the immediate finish. Hall started down the right side again and drew in the coverage before cutting to his left to ramble down field before he got caught at the 13. After this cruise of 83 yards, Conley threw a scoring strike to Dez Fitzpatrick from 15 yards away. Demon Deacon S Grier captured a Conley pass on the next Cardinal drive to take over from the 14. Wake closed the gap once again, 38-28, with Newman’s TD pass to Surrat for 47 yards. No quit in sight from the Deacs offense. Different story for the defense. Conley connected with his receivers several times on a 70-yard drive before Hall did the honors from the eight. Wake responded with Nick Sciba’s kick from 34. The third ended with the Cards in the lead, 45-31. Despite many Wake fans already leaving, I felt this game was still within reach for the Demon Deacons.
After an exchange of punts, Louisville thrived with their speed game as Conley tossed the ball to Fitzpatrick who turned on his afterburners for a 50-yard TD. The Deacs responded with 59 yards culminating in a three-yard TD run by Ken Walker III. Five minutes and 35 second remained when Creque put up another FG for a 17-point Cardinal lead. Most of the Wake “faithful” already filtered out. Jim promised to give his frat buddy, “One-Iron”, a ride out to Greensboro and it was well past 11. I had a long ride to Charlotte to catch a morning flight home. I hate these evening kick-offs!
It’s not over till it’s over
Jim and I sauntered out, made our “pit stop”, and continued out to our disassembled pregame tailgate in the Gold lot close to the stadium. A few of Jim’s friends lingered to share their disappointments regarding their Demon Deacons. A couple of roars let out from the remaining crowd. The Wake band belted out, “Oh here’s to Wake Forest!” And a couple more times! What’s going on? Speed kills, special teams stink, time’s running out! Out came all the cell phones. Updates varied. WTH? 55-52? We missed two Deacon scores? Turned out Wake QB Sam Hartman, the starter from a year ago, hit Scotty Washington for a 22-yard TD pass. Sciba’s onsides kick recovery put Wake at LU’s 47. Three plays later, Hartman completes a 21-yard scoring pass to TE Jack Freudenthal. I’m heading back into BB&T Stadium.
I get inside and easily find a seat. I see a first down challenged and under review for several minutes. The replay video on the scoreboard is frozen showing Conley’s knee definitely down a yard short of the marker to the embarrassment of the refs, who by the way, were horrible all night. Louisville breaks from the sideline with their offense, not their punt team. Fourth and one at the Wake 41 means the game here based on a first down or a stop.
Conley fakes a handoff to a back through the middle, takes it along the right side of his protection, turns upfield past one defender, and then bolts 41 yards untouched for a TD – unbelievable! It looked too easy. Untouched. 62-52 with 2:15 left. I start walking out. Two more Deacon scores? No way! Leftovers cheer again? “Oh, here’s to Wake Forest!” In only 1:05 and in seven plays, Hartman gets the Deacs back on the board with a one-yard TD run following his 27-yard pass to Surrat. With 1:10 left, Sciba’s onsides kick gets recovered by Louisville. 1:10? If WFU recovered, no doubt they would have won. Unbelievable. They dropped out of the rankings. Louisville overwhelmed them with speed. Their specialty teams stink. Their defense can’t tackle, but “Here’s to Wake Forest!”
Final score ties record, but we put this one at the top
For the second year in a row, we saw this same score that set our record a year ago when UMass defeated Liberty, 62-59, but that resulted after three overtimes. Over in regulation, we now officially consider this our highest scoring game. Throughout our forty-year history, we’ve attended five games totaling over 100 points. Only WVU over Clemson in the 2012 Discovery Orange Bowl ended one-sided, 70-33, but the four higher scores were all competitive. Making it more interesting, Wake and Louisville competed previously in two of the contests. Wake Forest, of all teams! That occurred in the 2015 Belk bowl where they defeated Texas A&M, 55-52. Our first 100+ points came twenty years ago, almost to the day. On a cold, clammy, Thursday night at West Point on October 7, 1999, Army defeated the Louisville Cardinals, 59-52, in two OTs. That record stood until last year’s the UMass-Liberty game. One year later, the same score ties the record. The way the game is played today, a new record probably looms not too far in our distant future.
Next!
The Deacons and the Cardinals (4-2, 2-1) host two ACC teams that played each other last Saturday. Florida State (3-3,2-2) visit Winston-Salem. The Deacon fans have high hopes for that one. Louisville hosts No. 3 Clemson (6-0, 4-0) with Heisman QB Trevor Lawrence who knocked off FSU last week, 45-14.
As for collegefootballfan.com, we celebrate our 600th game at The Birthplace of College Football where it all started 150 years ago. With about 100 others joining us for our landmark game, it should be a great tailgate party! The Big Ten game, however, between the No. 20 Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-0, 3-0) and the hurtin’ Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-5, 0-3) could be another 100-point game, but it would be more one-sided than the aforementioned WVU-Clemson game! In their past five games, they’ve been outscored, 195-23. Let the good times roll. We have 26 Minnesota fans joining our tailgate. Looking forward to it.
