Gold Rush: 100% Cotten
12/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 19, 2002
Just when you thought the Demon Deacons were through playing football, the phone rings, and its some guy who lives in Hawaii who owns a bowl game in Seattle. Terry Daw's call and invite to Wake Forest for the December 30 Seattle Bowl was answered and accepted without haste as the Deacs prepare for a postseason game in just the second year of the Jim Grobe era.
It will be a rematch of the 1992 Independence Bowl between the Deacs and the Ducks of Oregon where the two waged one of that season's most entertaining games. Wake Forest was dead in the water before an improbable comeback led to a thrilling 39-35 Deacon victory. The determined Deacs shook off a 19-point deficit like water off a...well, you know.
1st team All-America lineman Ben Coleman led the Deacon charges into Shreveport ten years ago. Today's Wake forces will be charged by yet another 1st team All-America selection - defensive end Calvin Pace.
Here are a few more similarities between the bowl seasons of 1992 and 2002. Perhaps you know of even more:
Both regular seasons began and ended with losses - unusual for bowl-bound teams. In 1992 the Deacs lost to Big 4 rival North Carolina to open the season then fell to N.C. State in the regular season finale. This season opened with a disheartening overtime defeat at Northern Illinois and ended with the loss at Maryland.
Winning in Atlanta is never easy, but the Deacs of '92 and '02 did it. Dooley's boys beat Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium, 23-10, while Grobe's troops pulled the trick, 24-21.
Both teams lost at home to Virginia and on the road at N.C. State.
Both teams beat Duke and a service academy team. In '92 Wake beat Army and the Blue Devils. This year the Deacs defeated Navy and the men from Durham.
Both teams played one in-state non-ACC team and won. The Independence Bowl team topped Appalachian State, 10-7. The Seattle Bowl-bound Deacs beat East Carolina, 27-22.
It goes without saying that Oregon will have provided the opposition in both bowls.
Bowl Bits
Here are some firsts and lasts in Wake Forest bowl history:
1946 Gator Bowl
The first-ever Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, was the Deacs' first-ever experience in a bowl game. Wake's first touchdown in that game came from the great Nick Sacrinty on a 3-yard run. The game was a matchup between Wake Forest and South Carolina (two of the future ACC's first members), but it was not the first time the two had met that season. The Gamecocks and Deacons fashioned a 13-13 tie in a late November game. Wake won its first bowl appearance, the first for Coach Peahead Walker, 26-14.
1949 Dixie Bowl
The last Dixie Bowl ever pitted the Deacs against Baylor - a game won by the Bears, 20-7. The very first "Battle of the Baptists" marked Wake's last bowl appearance on New Year's Day. It was also the last bowl game for Coach Peahead Walker.
1979 Tangerine Bowl
The Deacs' first bowl game in 30 years was won by LSU, 34-10. Wake's first and last touchdown (its only one) was scored on a pass from Jay Venuto to Wayne Baumgardner. The game was the last one for legendary Tiger Coach Charlie McClendon at LSU.
1992 Independence Bowl
The aforementioned battle between Oregon and Wake was the last in Coach Bill Dooley's career - his 162nd victory. That game was the first-ever meeting between the Deacs and the Ducks, and the Seattle Bowl will be the last (until the two meet again).
1999 Aloha Bowl
Wake Forest beat Arizona State 23-3, the last game for 26 Deacon seniors. It was the first bowl game (and to this date the last) as a head coach for Wake's Jim Caldwell. The game's first touchdown came from his son, Jimmy, who took a Ben Sankey aerial 56 yards to paydirt.
2002 Seattle Bowl
This will be the first bowl game as a head coach for Jim Grobe. If I were a betting man - I'd bet it would not be his last.
My only advice for bowling comes from my mother-in-law: get low, go slow and follow through.