Wake Forest Athletics
100% COTTEN: Heroes Day
9/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 10, 2006
Saturday, September 9, the day Wake Forest hosted Duke in college football, was "Heroes Day" at Groves Stadium as the Deacons paid tribute to America's military and other service personnel. The fifth anniversary of 9/11 was only two days away, and I must admit I had a few goose bumps as two Apache helicopters buzzed the stadium just after the coin was tossed at midfield.
I used the occasion in the intro to our broadcast to say that Wake Forest was "...looking for a few gridiron heroes as the Deacs and Blue Devils renewed a rivalry that began before the turn of the 20th century."
We got them.
I bet if I had asked you who might be the hero of the Wake-Duke game prior to kickoff you would not have said, "Chip Vaughn." The most likely candidates would have been Micah Andrews or Willie Idlette. Josh Gattis or Jon Abbate. Maybe Sam Swank.
Nope. Chip Vaughn.
The Deacs' third-year sophomore from Fairfax, Virginia, somehow got in the right spot at the right time, timed his leap perfectly and got his right forearm squarely between the football and the goalpost. The sound created at impact was heard around the ACC as the Demon Deacons somehow found a way to win a game when statistically it didn't seem possible. But Vaughn has the bruise and the smile to prove it.
On this day he was a hero.
Vaughn admitted to us on the air after the game that he was not part of the block plan, that he improvised a bit on his own after taking note during the course of the game that Joe Surgan's kicks were a bit low. "Pro players do things like that," Bill Urbanik told Vaughn, referring to his ability to think on his feet and come up with a way to win a game. Vaughn was nearly speechless.
It was OK. He had already spoken.
And so had some others. Things didn't seem to be adding up collectively against Duke, but there were some other individual efforts worth noting.
Sam Swank sure had one. He hit a Ryan Plackemeier-ish punt that sailed over the head of Blue Devil returner Chris Davis and traveled 86 yards - a Wake Forest school record. Plack's previous record of 82 yards lasted but a season. And of course I have to mention Riley Skinner, a redshirt freshman Floridian who was thrown into the fire before his time but emerged with a win in his pocket and a game under his belt. He completed pass after pass, used quick feet to avoid the Duke rush and played beyond his years.
A play that might have given us the most insight about Skinner was one that didn't even count. Skinner floated an errant pass downfield and had it intercepted. When the return was complete and the play over a penalty flag was down in the Wake Forest backfield. Skinner had been roughed, and replays proved the referee's call correct. Skinner had taken Mike Tauiliili's helmet just up under the chin that sent him reeling to the Turf. But that's when instinct took over. Skinner got up and made sure his error didn't cost the Deacs more than it already had.
He made the tackle.
And while we're talking about heroes let's not forget about Ben Mauk. Mauk is now recovering from surgery following Wake's win over Syracuse in the season opener. His last play of the season was one where he dove into harm's way trying to protect the Deacs' possession of the ball after a fumble. He dove against the grain throwing himself toward an oncoming mass of players scrambling for the football. The result of the force was a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder.
"The most courageous thing I've ever seen a quarterback do," Jim Grobe said after the game.
That's how heroes are made.
