Worst Game Ever: Wake Forest Beats Va. Tech 6-3 in 2 OT's

We post this only because it's a contender for the worst College Football game ever.

Wake Forest beat Virginia Tech 6-3 in 2 overtimes Saturday in an ACC Football game that may have redefined the term "Winning Ugly".

We should also add at the end of regulation, the game was tied at 0-0.

And while the game only featured 4 turnovers, 3 by Va.Tech, it also only featured 488 yards of total offense. Samaje Perine of Oklahoma ran for 427 and accounted for 446 yards by himself in his game.

The only intriguing storyline here, how many missed field goals would be kicked before someone made one. Tech only missed in, by Joey Slye in the 1st OT. Wake's Mike Weaver missed 3.

And while Slye finally made one in the 1st OT, Weaver hit one in each of the OT periods, enough to get the win.

Both the Hokies and the Demon Deacons punted 9 times each, and not a touchdown was scored in a College Football game for the first time since 2005. We should note, neither of the teams in the 2005 game play in an alleged "Power 5 Conference".

Wake coach Dave Clawson said after the game "We put offensive football back 100 years". We say, this brand of football, in this game...was extremely offensive if you actually tried to watch it.

We will spare you the game highlights...mostly because there weren't any and just show you video of the Weaver's game winning kick and the celebration...

Morning Wrap: Clemson Runs Away From Wake Forest

((ht: espn.com))

So it was an ACC Football game, on the 4-letter and probably didn't mean much in terms of the chase for the playoffs.

But it was a fun game.

Clemson rode QB Cole Stoudt's 282 yard, 3 Passing TD performance to a solid, if unspectacular 34-20 win over Wake Forest Thursday night in Winston-Salem.

The Tigers defense held Wake to 119 yards of offense including a grand total of 7 rushing yards.

Yes, seven.

The win moves Clemson to 7-2 overall,  6-1 in the ACC and keeps their ACC title game hopes alive, Wake drops to 2-7, 0-5 in the ACC.

Your highlights from ESPN.com:

In Camo Louisiana-Monroe Ambushes Wake Forest 17-10

The ULM Warhawks debuted camo jerseys for their season opener against Wake Forest and judging from their 17-10 win over Wake Forest they were a success.

Heck even the Duck Dynasty crew loved it.

The Warhawks took the lead for good when quarterback Pete Thomas scored on a keeper from nine yards that proved the be the winner for ULM 17-10.

KNOE 8 News; KNOE-TV; KNOE.com |

"It was a great call," Thomas said. "It may have been the call of the night. You've got to give it up to the offensive line. The passing game wasn't working too well, so we really had to lean on the run game, and they opened up a great hole and made it easy for me."

Wake Forest had seen Pete Thomas before, Last year Thomas was the starting quarterback for NC State and completed 27 of 43 passes for for 257 yards but the Deacs prevailed 28-13.

Thomas got a little revenge Thursday night.

"He was walking into a place where a pretty prolific quarterback just left the program." ULM head coach Todd Berry said. "I told him going in let’s take care of the football, and every thrown doesn’t have to be a completion or a bullet. Let’s make some good decision. I thought he handle those things pretty well.

As for Wake Forest the beginning of the Dave Clawson era looks a lot like the end of the Jim Grobe era, poor offensive production.

The Demon Deacons could only total 94 yards of total offense, -3 yards rushing for the game.

True freshman quarterback John Wolford was running for his life the entire game and was sacked seven times by the Warhawk defense.  He completed 12 of 22 passes for 97 yards.

"We didn’t play very smart but obviously we got nothing going offensively."  Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson said. "We didn’t block, get open and had no explosive plays on offense other than the one third down.”

It looks like a long year for Deac fans.

Wake Forest Hires Danny Manning As Head Coach

It's all over Twitter and OSG sources have confirmed that Danny Manning will be announced as the
new head coach at Wake Forest.

WF has hired Danny Manning. Announcement from WF later this morning.
— David Glenn Show (@DavidGlennShow) April 4, 2014

Wake Forest has hired Tulsa coach Danny Manning, sources told ESPN. Story coming.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) April 4, 2014

Report: Wake Forest hires Danny Manning http://t.co/e6jHhP3XWJ
— WRALSportsFan (@WRALSportsFan) April 4, 2014

Danny Manning

Manning returns to his North Carolina roots.  He was raised in Greensboro, North Carolina and played high school basketball at Page High School before moving to Lawrence, Kansas for his senior year after his father joined Larry Brown's staff at Kansas.

Their seems to be mixed reactions among the Wake Forest fan base.  Around college basketball circles Manning has earned a reputation as one of it not the best with coaching bigs.

Manning has been mentored by Bill Self and when he had a opportunity to become a head coach enjoyed some success at Tulsa.

There's no doubt that name recognition alone makes this hire front page news however the Wake Forest fan base has had to endured some really tough times and Manning will have some healing to do.

This is a great hire for Wake Forest.  Manning was around ACC basketball as a youth and has an idea what it takes to win in that league.

Manning played for Larry Brown, a Carolina alum.  He won a national championship as a player in 1988and was on Bill Self's KU staff when the Jayhawks won the NCAA title in 2008.

We Told You Last Week: Multiple Reports Bzdelik out at Wake Forest

So....

If any of you are faithful readers of OSG Sports, you'll remember the report we had last week that Wake Forest basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik would not be back with the team.

We don't always like to brag, but we reported this first on March 13th.

Read that story RIGHT HERE

Today (Thursday) at 5 p.m, it will become official when the school holds a press conference.

Bzdelik was not a popular choice among the Demon Deacon faithful when he replaced Dino Gaudio in 2010. He had little success at Colorado before taking the job. Wake hasn't gotten past the 6 conference wins threshold since Bzdelik's arrival.

The list of prospective replacements is long and it will be interesting to see who the Deac's target. Because they play in the ACC, the list will no doubt contain some big names, but don't expect many of those names to be serious. Wake isn't the job it thinks it is as the ACC no longer is the conference it believes itself to be either.

Pitt Blows Wake Out of ACC Tourney: Is This the End for Bzdelik?

The University of Pittsburgh quickly ended Wake Forest's ACC Tourney run with a 84-55 blowout win Thursday afternoon.

And no sooner than the end of the game, the speculation on the future of Wake head coach Jeff Bdzelik hit overdrive.

Sources tied to the Demon Deacons tell OSG Sports Bdzelik is likely to step down from the job within the next couple of days.

After going 17-16 this year, the Deacon fan base and alumni have grown quite impatient. Mind you, they ran off Dino Gaudio after going 61-31 with 2 NCAA Tourney bids in three years.

Bzdelik hasn't been even close to that.

While Wake showed some spark beating Notre Dame Wednesday in their ACC opener, they were down 14 to Pitt by halftime and never got any closer.

Already, there is speculation Wake will run at Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall, though our question is at this point is Wake a better job?

Others who may be in:

Dr. Brett Reed – Lehigh:  This could be a great fit.  Reed has led the Mountain Hawks to two NCAA tournament appearances including the upset of Duke in the first round in 2012.  Lehigh has a similar academic makeup as Wake Forest.

Mike Lonergan – George Washington:  Another solid candidate who has had some success at Vermont and has rebuilt the program at G.W.  Lonergan won’t wow the fan base but he appears to be a good fit as well.

Shaka Smart – Virginia Commonwealth:  Is this the right program to get Smart out of the mid-majors to the ACC?   Smart has $1.5 million guaranteed annually from VCU and his contract runs through 2028.  Looks like Smart might be content in Richmond.

Tommy Amaker – Harvard:  He’s a Mike Krzyzewski protégé who’s rehabbed his coaching career at Harvard after a mediocre tenure at Michigan.  Would Amaker be willing to go up against his mentor each year?  

Tubby Smith – Texas Tech:  He has ties to North Carolina.  Smith played at High Point University and was a high school coach in the Tar Heel State.  Smith is 62 years old and has a great resume but he just finishing his first year at Texas Tech so the timing may not be right.  Smith would be worth pursuing though.

Mike White – Louisiana Tech: Has won conference championships the last two years ( 2013 WAC, 2014 C-USA) and is considered a hot commodity within the coaching circles.   White coaches a fast tempo offensive game and a tight man to man defense.  I’m willing to bet White is on top of the list.

And finally--

Bobby Hurley – Buffalo: In his first year as head coach Hurley has led the Bulls to the MAC Eastern Division title.  Hurley has a legacy in the ACC.  It would be a high risk/high reward type of move but one Wake Forest might need to make. 

Ben Howland – Former UCLA head coach:  To old, too much baggage.

Bobby Lutz – NC State assistant coach:  Lutz can coach and got the max out of his players during his tenure as the head coach at Charlotte.  Would hiring Lutz excite the fan base?

Stay tuned, the College Basketball Carousel has only just begun...

Highlights from today's Pitt win over Wake come from our partners at the ACC Digital Network:

Wake Hires Bowling Green's Clawson

Dave Clawson will be introduced as the 32nd head football coach in Wake Forest history this afternoon...

He was the head coach at Bowling Green for the past five seasons, leading them to the 2013 Mid-American Conference championship after their 47-27 win over Northern Illinois.

Evidence below...
((HT: MAC Digital Network/ESPN))


“We are very pleased to have Dave Clawson leading our football program,” said Wake's Director of Athletics Ron Wellman in a press release. “Dave is a proven winner and leader and has had great success at every institution he has coached.”

Clawson takes over for Jim Grobe, who resigned after 13 seasons as head coach...

He takes over a very difficult situation where the head coach has to balance the throes of academics and wanting to have a competitive athletic team in the field at the same time...in the ACC...

It will be interesting to see if Clawson wins the press conference in Winston-Salem...

DEVELOPING: Grobe Stepping Down at Wake

((HT: WGHP))

Greensboro TV station WGHP and the Winston-Salem Journal are reporting that Jim Grobe is stepping down after 13 seasons at Wake Forest...you can watch the press conference live HERE.

OSG sources are saying the resignation is to save face and not get fired...

Grobe ended his 13th season at Wake with a 23-21 loss at Vanderbilt. The Deacons wrapped 2013 4-8 for their fifth-straight losing season.

Grobe still remains tied with Peahead Walker for the most victories at Wake Forest by a football coach with 77.

The glory time for Wake Forest football was back in 2006 when Grobe coached Wake Forest to its first ACC title since 1970 and second ever title.

The Deacons beat Georgia Tech 9-6 in a less-than-enthralling conference championship in Jacksonville in front of a television audience of a little more than friends and family...
((HT: ESPN on ABC/ACC))


They went on to lose to Louisville 24-13 in the Orange Bowl. Grobe was named national coach of the year by several organizations after that effort...

More when we know more... a presser is scheduled for 4:15 on campus...

J-DUB UPDATE: 3:45pm - Jim Grobe just told his players that he is officially stepping down. Demon Deacon star receiver Michael Campanaro just tweeted, "WOW. Coach Grobe steppin down! :("

WOW. Coach Grobe Steppin Down!! 😔
— Michael Campanaro (@MikeCamp_3) December 2, 2013

Here's how it was covered early on in Greensboro...
((HT: MyFox8))

Bama Handles LSU and FSU Over Wake in Cakewalk: BCS Takes Shape

It's never easy to figure out who will be the last two teams standing under the current BCS system.

Thankfully, that system goes away soon.

In the meantime, the struggle to define and recognize the actual two best teams continues. And this year, it seems to be taking shape.

Alabama continued their run of staking a claim in the BCS title hunt by easily dispatching LSU Saturday night 38-17.

Sure, the game was close in the 1st half, but the Tide outscored the Tigers 21-3 in the 2nd half to close things out. 3 A.J McCarron TD passes, combined with T.J Yeldon's 133 rushing yards and 2 TD's, were more than enough to overpower LSU.

The win leaves Alabama with a 9-0 (6-0 SEC) record, and assured them of holding the #1 ranking in the BCS poll due out Sunday night.

It also leaves the Tide in sight of yet another BCS title. As of this week, their likely opponent…FSU. The only challenge left on the schedule? The Iron Bowl game at Auburn.

Your Saturday night Bama/LSU highlights (Courtesy: CBS Sports)



As for the aforementioned Florida State. Well, they just keep beating the crap out of inferior ACC teams.

This weeks victim: Wake Forest. FSU jumped out to a 42-0 1st half lead and well, they never looked back, winning the game 59-3.

The game 6 interceptions by the Seminole defense and a fumble return for a touchdown. No, Jameis Winston didn't have a crazy good game….but he didn't need to.

The 'Noles have it easy from here. Two more ACC games and the grand finale against a really bad Florida Gator team.

Your Wake/FSU highlights: (Courtesy ESPN)

Just How Bad is Wake Forest...???

((HT: ACC Sports))

Or, as we ask Brother Wilkie, is it more how good is Louisiana-Monroe...???

The Warhawks went into Winston-Salem yesterday and beat the Deacs 21-19, but there was one good thing the home team could take out of the day.

WR Michael Campanaro tied the ACC mark with 16 catches in a game... equaling a record he tied once before back in 2012

Evidence below...

Enjoy The Clemson Offensive Show. Tigers Bomb Deacs

Clemson and Thursday night wasn’t a good mix.  Heading into Thursday night’s game against Wake Forest the Tigers were 1-9 when the ESPN cameras are focused on Clemson on a Thursday night. 

In fact the last time Clemson played Wake Forest at BB&T field on a Thursday night the Deacs won 12-7 and Tommy Bowden was gone, Dabo Swinney began his head coaching career soon after.

With a 1-9 record on Thursday night it’s not surprising that it’s been three years since Clemson wanted some national exposure on a Thursday night.

“Everybody has been reminding me all week that Clemson is 1-9 on Thursday night games.” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “So maybe we can start a new tradition now of winning those games."

Well the Tigers exorcised those Thursday night demons bombing Wake Forest 42-13 much to the pleasure of coach Swinney

Here are the highlights from Winston-Salem, NC (Thanks IPTAY Media)

There are many explosive offenses out there in college football and it seems most reside in the Big 12 Conference.  Those teams would be hard pressed to match the weapons and the consistency of Clemson’s offense.

Thursday night Tiger quarterback Tajh Boyd set a school record for passing yards in a single game with 428 yards.  Boyd threw for five touchdowns IN THE FIRST HALF!  Also a Clemson record.

"Tajh was just lights out.”  Swinney said.

We couldn’t have said it better coach.

Sammy Watkins had his breakout game this season with a school record 202 yards receiving. Watkins broke DeAndre Hopkins’ record he set back on September 29^th.

Oh and theirs running back Andre Ellington too.  Ellington is only the ACC’s second leading rusher and contributed with 61 yards.

Yes Clemson has an embarrassment of riches on offense.  The mad scientist in charge of all this offensive coordinator Chad Morris who has a vast array of formations on his big cheat sheet and can’t stand still with all the Red Bull he consumes.

Here’s Tajh Boyd, Sammy Watkins and OL Dalton Freeman comments after the Wake Forest game.  (Thanks WSPA-TV Greenville, SC)

Clemson has work to do to return to Charlotte and the ACC Championship Game.  Florida State  owns the tie break advantage over the Tigers.  There is still NC State on the schedule and the Wolfpack control their destiny right now in the ACC Atlantic Division.

This time a year ago Clemson was in a slump, it doesn’t appear history is going to repeat themselves in Tigertown.

Could The Duke Blue Devils Be College Football's "Feel Good" Story Of 2012

If you are looking for a feel good college football story start directing your focus toward Durham, North Carolina where the Duke Blue Devils are close to becoming bowl eligible.

Saturday Duke defeated Wake Forest for the first time since 1999 34-27 to end September 4-1, the Blue Devils best start since 1994 which was the last time Duke went to a bowl game.

Here’s a game report from Bob Holliday of WRAL-TV.

 

And here’s the game highlights. (Thanks goduke.com)

 

Here’s what’s left on Duke’s schedule:

Oct. 6              Virginia

Oct. 13            at Virginia Tech

Oct. 20            North Carolina

Oct. 27            at Florida State

 
Nov. 3            Clemson

Nov. 17           at Georgia Tech

Nov. 24           Miami

Yes it gets tough for the Blue Devils but Duke should be favored against Virginia and Georgia Tech, win those games and Duke is bowl eligible.

Of course Duke would like to pull off a few upsets along the way and the way this team is playing with confidence it would surprise me.

Plus those of us at the OSG HQ are ignoring the “no cheering in the press box” rule and openly pulling for Duke head coach David Cutcliffe.  Coach Cut is one of the classiest in the business.  What he has accomplished at Duke in five years in amazing.  It may not be reflected in the won-loss record but that program has come a long way.

Clemson Clinches ACC Atlantic Division Title, Charlotte Bound

For the second time in three years the Clemson Tigers are headed to the ACC Championship Game. After a disastrous third quarter in which Clemson gave up 21 points to Wake Forest trailing 28-14, the Tigers overcame.

Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 43 yard field goal as the clock reach quadruple zeros and Clemson clinched the ACC Atlantic Division 31-28.

Here's the highlights from Clemson's Death Valley: (Thanks ACC Digital Network)



Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney gladly accepts the ACC Atlantic Division Trophy from ACC Associate Commissioner for football operations Michael Kelly. (Thanks Clemson Athletics)



Here's post game sound from Dabo Swinney Tajh Boyd, and Chandler Catanzaro> (Thanks WSPA-TV Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, SC)