Football Hosts Appalachian State
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 28, 1998
The Demon Deacons face their final non-ACC challenge of the 1998 regular season this Saturday as they host Appalachian State. Kickoff time in Groves Stadium is 6:30 p.m.
Wake Forest has won its last two outings, a 26-14 home victory over Navy on September 10th and a 29-19 road decision this past Saturday at Clemson in its '98 ACC opener, while the Mountaineers bring a perfect 3-0 record into the contest.
Adding to the festivities surrounding this instate rivalry will be the celebration of Wake Forest's 1998 "Homecoming" this weekend.
Team Data WAKE FOREST (2-1) APPALACHIAN STATE (3-0) Offense: Multiple Offense: Multiple I (18.3 ppg / 361.0 ypg) (25.3 ppg / 329.0 ypg) Defense: Multiple Defense: 4-3 (25.0 ppg / 337.3 ypg) (15.7 ppg / 271.7 ypg) Head Coach: Jim Caldwell (6th year) Head Coach: Jerry Moore (10th year) W-16, L-42 W-72, L-37 same record overall 99-85-2 overall (17th year) 3-1 vs App State 3-5 vs Wake Forest 1998 Schedule 1998 Schedule 9/5 at Air Force L 0-42 9/5 Liberty W 28-19 9/10 Navy W 26-14 9/12 at East Tennessee State W 22-17 9/26 at Clemson W 29-19 9/26 The Citadel W 26-11 10/3 Appalachian State 6:30 10/3 at Wake Forest 10/10 Duke tba 10/10 Furman 10/17 at Maryland tba 10/17 at Georgia Southern 10/24 North Carolina tba 10/24 Wofford 10/31 Virginia tba 10/31 at Chattanooga 11/7 at NC State tba 11/7 VMI 11/14 Florida State tba 11/14 at Eastern Kentucky 11/21 at Georgia Tech tba 11/21 at Western Carolina
THE SERIES WITH APP STATE - Wake Forest and Appalachian State have met 19 times, all in Groves Stadium, and played 18 consecutive seasons from 1979 through 1996 until that string was broken last year.
The Demon Deacons lead the overall series, 13-5-1, and have won four of the last five get-togethers, inclu-ding the most recent one in 1996 (19-13). The Mountaineers had won the previous season (1995), 24-22. Both the 1995 and 1996 games were season openers for both teams.
The first game in the series came in 1975 and saw App State pull a 19-17 upset.
The competition between the two northwest North Carolina schools has been quite close. Thirteen of the 19 games have been decided by a touchdown or less. Ten have involved final margins of fewer than five points. The most lopsided outcome in the series came in 1993 when Wake recorded a 20-3 triumph, which also stands as Coach Jim Caldwell's first victory as the Deacon leader.
The series has also featured strong defensive play from both sides, particularly in recent seasons. Since the two teams played to a 34-34 tie in 1988, only twice (in eight meetings) has the winning team scored more than 20 points (App won in '95, 24-22; Wake won in '90, 23-12).
THE DEACS LAST WEEK - Wake Forest traveled this past Saturday to Clemson's Memorial Stadium, where it had won only once since 1961, and came away with a 29-19 victory in its 1998 ACC opener. The Demon Deacons had to overcome three first-half fumbles, but did so behind an aggressive defense that came up with seven takeaways and a big-play offense that produced two long scoring passes from quarterback Brian Kuklick.
Wake took a 3-0 lead on the game's opening possession on a 43-yard field goal by Matthew Burdick. Clemson responded by scoring in just two plays, one a 63-yard pass from QB Brandon Streeter to Rob Gardner, and led 7-3. The rest of the first half belonged to the WFU defense, which contributed nine points on a safety and a 36-yard interception return for a touchdown by outside linebacker Mark Makovec. Only those three fumbles--all in Clemson territory--kept the Deacs from adding to their 12-7 halftime advantage.
A second Makovec interception on the first possession of the third period led to a 48-yard Kuklick-to-Marvin Chalmers touchdown pass. Another Tiger turnover (a fumble recovered by Wake's Adrian Duncan), midway in the third quarter, set up a 56-yard Kuklick TD toss to Desmond Clark which gave Wake Forest a seemingly comfortable 26-7 lead.
Clemson rallied, though, behind Streeter's passing (18-of-32 for 319 yards with 4 ints) and a defense that held the Deacons to no more first downs after the touchdown pass to Clark. The Deac defense would not surrender, however, and came up with two more interceptions (by Reggie Austin & David Moore) and a fumble recovery by Dustin Lyman to stop other Clemson threats.
Kuklick finished with 251 yards through the air (14 of 24), while Morgan Kane recorded his third career 100-yard effort rushing (113 yards on 35 carries). Lyman led all Deacon tacklers with 10 stops.
COMMENTS from COACH JIM CALDWELL
(On the win at Clemson) "It was a great effort by our team. We played extremely hard against a very good team that has a great defense, and won in one of the toughest places to play in the country. Things got a little difficult in the second half, but our defense came up with some big plays when they needed to. I was very proud of our entire squad. Still, there are some areas that we must improve in--the fumbles in the first half, giving up big plays defensively, too many penalties (10)--those are things that we have to correct."
(On App State) "Our games with Appalachian State have been remarkably close in the past and we anticipate another game much like that this Saturday. Obviously, they come into the game undefeated and are playing well and with a great deal of confidence. It's a rivalry that fans from both schools seem to enjoy and I know that our football team is looking forward to the game and the challenge."
NOTING THE DEMON DEACONS
STARTING WITH A WIN IN THE ACC - Wake Forest is playing outside the ACC this week, of course, but it should be noted that with last Saturday's victory at Clemson, the Demon Deacons are 1-0 in the conference for the first time since 1987. The '87 Deacs, under first-year coach Bill Dooley, won their first five ballgames, including league wins over NC State and North Carolina.
CALDWELL IN CLEMSON - Prior to Saturday, JIM CALDWELL and Billy Hildebrand were the only head coaches in Wake Forest history to win an ACC game at Clemson. Caldwell's first league victory as a Deacon in 1993 came in Death Valley. Hildebrand's Deacs won there in 1961. Other than those two "Ws", Wake Forest had gone 2-23 in Memorial Stadium since the founding of the ACC in 1953.
Now with two wins as a Deacon leader in Clemson, Caldwell joins the select company of "Peahead" Walker, who actually led his Wake Forest teams to four straight wins on the Tigers' home field from 1943 through 1949 ('43, '45, '47 & '49).
CALDWELL WIN #1 VERSUS APP STATE - Coach JIM CALDWELL's first Wake Forest team in 1993 lost its first two games to Vanderbilt and NC State, but then defeated Appalachian State, 20-3, on September 18th to give its new coach his first victory as a head coach.
Since then, Wake under Caldwell has gone 2-1 against the Mountaineers with the margin of difference in the final scores of those three games totaling 10 points. Wake claimed wins in 1994 (12-10) and 1996 (19-13) while dropping a 24-22 decision in 1995 to App State.
DEACON PLAYERS VERSUS APP STATE - Although Wake Forest did not play App State this past season, a few individual Demon Deacons have had quality performances versus the Mountaineers earlier in their careers. Here's a quick review:
Desmond Clark - caught 2 passes for 24 yds as a true freshman ('95) totaled 73 yds (on 4 catches) including a 52-yarder from Brian Kuklick in '96.
Morgan Kane - ran for 35 yds on 12 carries in 1996.
Brian Kuklick - did not play as a true freshman, but made perhaps his first major impact as a Deacon quarterback in '95 as a true sophomore - entered the game to start the 2nd half with Wake trailing, 24-0, and led team to 22 unanswered points - was 9-of-18 for 177 yds with a pair of TD passes to Marlon Estes (but the comeback bid fell short, 24-22) - suffered a broken arm the following week at Tulane in '96, turned in the 3rd-most productive game of his career with 301 yds (15-28) passing - had completions of 47 yds (to Thabiti Davis), 52 yds (Desmond Clark) and 76 yds (Herman Lewis) that night but none went for scores- did reach the endzone himself on a two-yard keeper, however.
Dustin Lyman - as a redshirt freshman in '96, totaled 9 tackles (4 solo).
Jeffrey Muyres - in '95 recorded a career high 9 unassisted tackles - also had 11 total stops that night, which equals a career best - made 7 stops (5 solo) in '96.
Fred Robbins - totaled 4 tackles (2 solo) with a sack in his first-ever game as a Deac in '96.
A THIRD STRAIGHT WIN?? - Wake Forest has not won three straight games at any point during the past five years under Jim Caldwell. A victory over Appalachian State would give the Demon Deacons three victories in a row for the first time since the 1992 squad ran off six consecutive wins during a midseason stretch that sparked it to an Independence Bowl bid.
SENIORS SEEK TO CONTINUE TREND - The current Wake Forest senior class is small in numbers (14 total, 11 on scholarship), but large in improvement the past three years. As freshmen (redshirt freshmen except for DESMOND CLARK), this class won only one game. In 1996 as sophomores, they helped the Deacons improve to 3-8. Then came last year and a 5-6 record.
That same progress has come in Atlantic Coast Conference play. In 1995, Wake Forest was winless in eight league outings. In '96, the Deacs defeated one conference opponent. And last year they were 3-5, tied for 6th in the final ACC standings.
KANE NEW ACC RUSHING LEADER - Wake Forest's MORGAN KANE has taken over the top spot in the ACC rushing statistics after gaining 113 yards at Clemson this past Saturday. The Ottawa, Ontario junior now is averaging 92.7 yards per game.
The 100-yard outing was the third of Kane's career, and his second at Clemson. He had run for 131 yards on the Tigers' field in 1996, marking the first time in 20 years that a Wake Forest running back had run for more than 100 yards against Clemson. His career-best game remains a 146-yard performance (on 17 carries) at Duke last fall.
The 35 rushing attempts by Kane at Clemson, however, are a new career high, surpassing the 33 rushes he had totaled versus the Tigers two years ago.
Morgan on the Move
(Career 100-Yard Games)
146 yards / 17 carries at Duke October 25, 1997
133 yards / 35 carries at Clemson September 26, 1998
131 yards / 33 carries at Clemson September 28, 1996
DEACON ONE-TWO RECEIVING PUNCH IS TWO-THREE IN ACC - The highly productive receiving duo of JAMMIE DEESE and DESMOND CLARK have teamed for 37 receptions for 459 yards in three games. Those figures represent 63% of the team's receptions (37 of 59) and 67% of the Deacon passing yardage (459 of 685).
Deese currently stands 2nd in the ACC in pass receiving with his 19 catches (6.3 per game). Clark is right behind him in 3rd place with 18 receptions (6.0 per).
CLARK HOLDS 5TH ON ACC CAREER CHART - Demon Deacon wide receiver DESMOND CLARK continues to rank 5th on the all-time ACC pass receiving list. The Lakeland, FL, senior had leaped from 11th in league history to 5th with his nine catches versus Navy on September 10th, but remained in that spot with five receptions at Clemson.
ACC Top Five Receivers -- All Time (1) Jermaine Lewis, Md 193 (2) Clarkston Hines, Duke 189 (3) Ricky Proehl, WF 188 (4) Geroy Simon, Md 185 (5) DESMOND CLARK 175
Clark, of course, is rapidly ascending the Wake Forest career receiving lists as well. He became only the fifth Deacon ever to surpass the 2,000-yard mark in receiving yardage in the Navy contest. He added his 14th career TD with a 56-yard catch-and-run at Clemson to move into undisputed 5th place in that category.
ANOTHER 100-YARD OUTING FOR DESMOND - With his 110 yards in receiving at Clemson (on five receptions), DESMOND CLARK registered the eighth 100-yard effort of his splendid career. It was also the fifth time in the last 14 contests that he had attained triple figures as a receiver.
100-Yard Receiving Games for DESMOND CLARK 137 (13 receptions) vs Duke 11/16/96 134 (7) vs N.C.State 9/25/97 127 (9) vs Northwestern 9/6/97 113 (9) vs Virginia 9/21/96 111 (6) vs Maryland 10/18/97 110 (6) at N.C.State 11/23/96 110 (5) at Clemson 9/26/98 102 (11) at North Carolina 10/11/97
CLARK'S 175TH HIS LONGEST YET - The 56-yard touchdown catch by DESMOND CLARK (from Brian Kuklick) at Clemson this past weekend was the longest reception of the Deacon senior's career. His previous longest play was a 52-yarder (without scoring) versus App State two years ago.
CHALMERS CHIMES IN WITH FIRST RECEPTIONS - Junior wide receiver MARVIN CHALMERS, who had been slowed by a nagging hamstring problem in preseason and in the first couple of Demon Deacon games, made his first significant contribution to the WFU attack at Clemson with receptions of 12 and 48 yards, the latter play going for a touchdown.
Chalmers, a Richmond, VA product, attended Utah for two years before transferring to Wake Forest last fall and sitting out the 1997 campaign.
KUKLICK SURPASSES 250 FOR THE 13TH TIME - For the second straight game--and 13th time in his outstanding career--Wake Forest quarterback BRIAN KUKLICK surpassed the 250-yard mark in passing yardage when he threw for 251 yards (14 of 24) at Clemson. Kuklick had slightly bettered that total in the Deacs' previous win over Navy with 256 yards (21 of 36) in the air.
Kuklick's next major step on the all-time lists is becoming the 12th quarterback in ACC history to pass for at least 6,000 yards. He enters this week's encounter with App State with 5,983 yards and passed both Florida State's Thad Busby (5,916 yds) and NC State's Terry Harvey (5,925) in the win at Clemson. Duke's Leo Hart is 11th on the ACC career chart with 6,116 yards. Former Maryland standout Boomer Esiason is 10th with 6,184.
The Hatboro, PA, standout has already ascended into the ACC career Top Ten in pass completions. He passed the 500-completion mark at Clemson and now stands 9th in league history in that department.
THE ACC'S MOST ACCURATE PASSER - BRIAN KUKLICK has completed 62.2% of his passes this season. The second-best performance by an ACC signal-caller in that category is Virginia's Aaron Brooks, who has a 53.7% pass completion figure.
KUKLICK ON UNITAS AWARD CHECKLIST - Wake Forest's BRIAN KUKLICK is one of 13 quarterbacks named as candidates for the "Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award", which is presented annually to the nation's top senior QB.
PUTTING IT ON THE LINE - The Demon Deacon offensive line paved the way for Morgan Kane's 100-yard rushing performance at Clemson and protected quarterback Brian Kuklick extremely well throughout the day. The top individual among the starting interior linemen versus the Tigers was sophomore center MARLON CURTIS, who was credited with an 87% efficiency rating by the coaching staff.
Curtis, guards SAM SETTAR and BRIAN WOLVERTON and tackle JEFF FLOWE continued their yeoman service by playing all 74 offensive snaps. That foursome has now been on the field for every offensive play run by the Deacons in three games. The only reserve to see action is redshirt freshman MICHAEL COLLINS, who has been splitting time at tackle with WILLIE LAM.
LYMAN TOP TACKLER FOR THIRD STRAIGHT TIME - Linebacker DUSTIN LYMAN finished as the leading tackler for Wake Forest for the third time in as many games this season when he collected 10 stops (4 solo) at Clemson. He also had a sack, one other tackle-for-loss, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.
In three games, the Boulder, CO, junior now has a team-high 39 hits. Last week, he ranked 2nd in the ACC in tackle average.
MAKOVEC THE MAN - Fifth-year player (he's a graduate student, not a senior!) MARK MAKOVEC con-tinued his tremendous early season play at Clemson in his first year as the Demon Deacons' starting outside linebacker. Makovec made 7 tackles (6 solo), including a sack, but more importantly picked off his second and third interceptions of the young season (he also had one vs Navy--the first of his career).
Makovec's first "pick" actually gave Wake Forest the lead to stay when he intercepted a Brandon Streeter pass in the first quarter and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown. His second on the first Tiger possession of the third quarter set up a Wake TD, which gave the Deacs a 19-7 advantage.
The Nesquehoning, PA, product now ranks 5th on the team in overall tackles with 17 (12 solo). He, of course, leads in interceptions (in fact, he's tied for 2nd in the country) and is also the team's top "sack" man with three.
ALSO WITH THE INTS - Cornerback REGGIE AUSTIN and safety DAVID MOORE also contributed inter-ceptions to the Wake Forest defensive effort at Clemson. Combined with Makovec's two "ints", that gives the Deacs seven interceptions already this season.
The 1997 team totaled nine interceptions for the entire year. In 1996, Wake Forest had only seven interceptions in 11 games.
DEFENSIVE DEPTH - Some of it may have come out of necessity with the near-90 degree heat at Clemson on Saturday, but the Wake Forest defensive unit displayed as much depth as it has at any time in recent years in that victory over the Tigers.
Eighteen different individuals totaled double figures in plays from scrimmage in the win. Fourteen of those 18 were on the field for 20-or-more snaps.
Seven players contributed a tackle-for-loss. Six Deacs either hit the Clemson quarterback or were credited with a QB "pressure." Four players broke up a pass, and five were involved in a fumble recovery or caused fumble.
MOORE MOVING UP - Demon Deacon punter TRIPP MOORE had his third straight game averaging better than 41 yards per punt when he punted nine times at Clemson for a 43.2 yard average. With that performance, the senior from Columbia, SC (the only South Carolinian to play for the Deacs in the win over the Tigers), edged closer to the number-one spot on the ACC punting list. He presently is 2nd in the league with a 43.4 yard figure, slightly over a yard behind North Carolina's Brian Schmitz (44.6).
BURDICK STILL PERFECT ON FIELD GOALS - Junior placekicker MATTHEW BURDICK successfully converted his third and fourth field goal attempts of the 1998 season at Clemson, giving the Demon Deacons three points from distances of 43 and 21 yards. The Winston-Salem native had previously kicked field goals of 41 and 48 yards in the win over Navy, the latter representing a new career longest for him. Burdick is now 4-for-4 on the year.
FIRST TRUE FRESHMAN IN TWO YEARS - For the first time since the 1996 season, Wake Forest had a true freshman on the field when linebacker ED KARGBOOKOROGIE (KARG-boh-oh-KOR-jee) saw action in 39 plays versus Clemson. The Demon Deacons were the final ACC team this fall to utilize a true rookie. Last year, all 17 Deacon freshmen were redshirted.