Wake keeps party going; faces Seminoles Saturday
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 8, 2006
&uot;It’s time to dream a little bit,&uot; Wake Forest head football coach Jim Grobe said Saturday night just after his Demon Deacons beat Boston College, 21-14.
&uot;I don’t think too many people seriously thought this was a possibility tonight,&uot; Grobe said. &uot;They thought the party was going to be over tonight. But the Deacs move on. It’s fun.&uot;
For the first time in 62 years, Wake Forest has an 8-1 record (4-1 ACC) and the preseason pick to finish last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division is tied with Maryland for first.
As students stormed the field and celebrated with Deacon players, Grobe was attempting to get his team together and get them into the locker room to meet with representatives from the Orange Bowl.
&uot;I felt bad I couldn’t get my team together,&uot; Grobe said. &uot;This is kind of a new experience for us right now.&uot;
Nansemond River grad and current sophomore linebacker for the Deacs, Eric Berry, played a key role Saturday night, especially in the last quarter as BC was attempting a comeback drive.
Berry recorded three tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
The fumble came on BC’s next-to-last possession of the game and Wake holding the lead, 21-14.
WF’s Jyles Tucker recovered the ball, returning the ball to WF on their own 37.
Wake Forest’s football program has never had nine victories in a season, they will be going to Tallahassee on Saturday looking for win number nine against Florida State (5-4, 3-4).
As a sign of Wake Forest’s surprising accent to the top of the ACC, and perhaps even a BCS spot, the Wake Forest/Florida State game is now set for 8 p.m. Saturday and will be televised on ABC.
In 24 previous games versus the Seminoles, WF has two wins and a tie.
WF has lost 14 straight games in Tallahassee.
Now ranked no. 18 in the AP poll and no. 19 in the BCS rankings.
Regardless of their BCS position, should the Deacons win the ACC title they would get an automatic BCS bowl bid.
The no. 18 place in the poll is the highest for WF in a national poll since being ranked no. 14 during the 1979 season.