Wake Forest Opponent Recap: Week 8

The Deacs came away with a crazy win this weekend over Pittsburgh, so their bowl hopes remain alive as we head towards the back half of the schedule. It seems like half of Wake’s future or past opponents were on bye this week, so there are only a few games to recap.

Old Dominion 28—App State 21

App State seems to be having a down year this season, with losses to Wyoming, Coastal Carolina, and now Old Dominion. Nonetheless, this is an impressive victory for the Monarchs, who scored the go-ahead touchdown with 48 seconds remaining in the game and held on just long enough for time to run out with the Moutaineers knocking on the door. Old Dominion is currently tied for the 2nd best record in the Sun Belt at 3-1 in the conference.

Georgia Tech 23—Boston College 38

Losing to the Yellow Jackets at home is really hurting the Deacs and their bowl chances this season, especially after GT has now lost to Bowling Green and Boston College at home by double digits. Haynes King threw 3 interceptions while the GT defense gave up 563 yards to a BC team that was averaging just under 400 yards per game, and the Jackets fall to 3-4. Shout out to Mario Cristobal for making this loss not look as bad.

Clemson 20—Miami 28 (2OT)

The Tigers led this one by 10 points in the 4th quarter and managed to lose the game to a backup QB. With the loss, Clemson has now lost 3 ACC games for the first time since 2010. The Miami defense held the Tigers to just 31 yards rushing and sacked QB Cade Klubnik 5 times, while Miami backup QB Emory Williams completed 24 of his 33 passes and helped the Hurricanes convert on 50% of their 3rd down attempts. Despite that, regulation ended with the 2 teams tied at 17. After they exchanged a pair of field goals in the first OT, Miami RB Ajay Allen scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run. Clemson wound up with 1st and goal from the 2-yard line on their possession and failed on 4 straight plays to get into the endzone.

Florida State 38—Duke 20

This one was a pretty competitive game, until Duke QB Riley Leonard got hurt. The Blue Devils jumped out to a quick 17-7 lead, but a 99 yard kickoff return from Deuce Spann closed the gap to 3 points. Duke led 20-17 into the 4th quarter, but without Leonard, the Duke offense just couldn’t do anything. Backup Henry Belin IV completed just 1 of his 6 attempts for 7 yards, and eventually the inability to move the ball wore out the Duke defense. Florida State scored 21 unanswered in the 4th quarter to make this one look worse than it was. FSU stays unbeaten, and it looks like they have a good chance of staying that way unless Miami or Florida can beat them.