If you’re someone that is a fan of college football, there’s a good chance your team’s schedule was cancelled for the fall.

Why? Let’s just call it an educated guess.

As of right now, the ACC, SEC, and Big 12 are all still scheduled to play (this blogger does not acknowledge that UCF still plays football) and you may be wondering, “who should I cheer for this year?”

If you’re still on the fence, and for some reason reading this article, may I propose the Wake Forest Demon Deacons?

On the Field Success

1. Until more football is played, Wake Forest currently holds the title of being the best team in the state after winning the “Big 4” championship by beating UNC, kicking the tar out of NC State, and dealing with Duke last year. But, it’s also not just a one year thing:

Oh did I mention they were petty enough to put up not one, not two, but TWENTY FIVE BILLBOARDS all across the state, and buy rings for the players. Imagine Miami doing that after beating FSU and Florida. Do you know how insufferable they’d be? But it’s college football.

The point is to be petty as HELL.

2. Wake’s offense puts on a show. What kind of show depends on what mood you’re in, is Mercury in retrograde, did you spin around, stop, double-take three times (one, two, three) stop on your right foot, and bring it around town.

You could get some fiery explosions like the 2017 Belk Bowl where Wake hung 55 on Texas A&M.

You could get the 2016 Military bowl against a ranked Temple team where Wake scored 31 straight points.

You could go full on derp and go the 2015 Wake-Boston College 3-0 game. I HIGHLY encourage reading this quick synopsis on this masterpiece. https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/10/10/9494551/wake-forest-boston-college-3-0-we-watched-it-so-you-dont-have-to

If you want true art...

Underdogs with Great Stories

So I could sit here and talk to you about how Wake has gone to 4 straight bowl games and won 3 out of 4, and how they had a legit Heisman contender in Jamie Newman, return Sage Surratt who is one of the best receivers in the country, Boogie Basham who might be a top 15 pick next season, but what’s the fun in that?

Wake is the smallest P5 school by a good margin, but isn’t short on head scratching stories to rival your Alabama’s, Clemson’s and USC’s of the world.

I think stories about how Wake’s QB back in 2014 was kicked off the team as he... well, let’s just get the story straight from when it broke:

“An eye-witness to the incident told Blogger So Dear that late Saturday night, Sousa was seen driving his vehicle onto the upper quad. He entered the quad by removing the black gate between the Kitchin and Poteat dormitories, before driving across the quad to the Subway located on campus. The eye-witness stated, “He was not driving recklessly, rather, he just coasted up on the sidewalk to the Subway and got out. It’s not like students were sprinting to get out of the way. Sousa was then chased down by several Wake Forest police officers, before being turned over to the Winston-Salem police.”

I could also tell the story of past Demon Deacon mascots before the Demon Deacon had a full blown costume, Jeff Dobbs was the Deacon during his time at Wake in the 70s. His entrances ranged from riding on the back of a bull to entering the field via helicopter.

However, no story is complete without mentioning Ras Chavman:

We also have to talk about Wakeyleaks. Quick rundown, in 2015 the night before Wake played Louisville, a member of their travel party had found their game plan docs inside of Louisville’s stadium. Come to find out a former player and radio announcer had been feeding multiple teams including Louisville, Virginia Tech and Army the Wake playbook.

Out of ALL the teams to leak their plays, Wake Forest? Really? But to Wake students, fans and alumni, weird things happen to Wake that are just unexplainable and you just laugh (and drink) the pain away.

Looks

Ok look here, I’m shallow. But HAVE YOU SEEN SAM HARTMAN? You can HAVE Pantene sponsored Jar-Jar Binks over there in Clemson.

Sage doesn’t even feel the need to wear a normal hoodie (he also had 12 catches and 3 TDs in this game).

It pains me but Wake also has not one but TWO alumni on a... popular TV show:

With putting 10 players on NFL rosters in just the last two years and 2 Bachelors, even if you aren’t going pro, Wake will still find a way to make you go viral.

Conclusion

Wake may not be perfect. They’re an oft injured team, that makes games way harder than they need to be, they don’t have the football history of an Ohio State or Michigan or Clemson, they’re tiny.

But what Wake has, is a lot of fun, the ability to make you fall in love with them whether it’s through an explosive team or the best punts this side of the under, and we take all in as long as you follow one rule:

#WinTheTailgate

If you have any follow up questions or would like to submit an application, feel free to comment or yell at me on twitter @CamLemons_

Also the application is just going to be me asking you why do you hate UNC and/or Duke.

Go Deacs, baby!