Camp Countdown: Conquering Athens, 1979
7/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Watch highlights from the game with narration from former players James McDougald, Kenny Duckett and Chuck Kraft, compiled during the 1979 team reunion in 1994.
Dancing Through Dixie
By Pat Gainey, Wake Forest Publications"Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of Sanford Stadium, but the University of Georgia displayed great foresight in scheduling the official celebration on October 13 when the Bulldogs will be playing a Southeastern Conference team instead of a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"There was nothing to celebrate here Saturday as the Demon Deacons from Wake Forest staged perhaps the greatest upset since Coach Henry Mehre's Georgians stunned Yale in the inaugural contest in Dr. S.V. Sanford's playhouse of a half-century ago.
"Wake Forest, winner of one game last season and rate by Penthouse Magazine as the second-worst team in the nation in preseason, knocked off Georgia, ranked as high as seventh by Sports Illustrated, by a score of 22-21."
So read the first three paragraphs of Jesse Outlar's Bulldog obituary in the Atlanta Constitution under the headline WAKE UP! `DOGS DOWN, 22-21. Other headlines read: NEVER-SAY-DIE DEACS STUN GEORGIA, and WAKE FOREST SURPRISES `DOGS 22-21. United Press International took note of the feat and named Mackovic coach of the week and Sports Illustrated tabbed Deacon quarterback Jay Venuto as offensive player of the week.
The game, played before 57,500 on a bright afternoon, started badly for Venuto and the Deacs. His first pass of the game, intended for Kenny Duckett, was picked off by defensive back Scott Woerner and returned for a 50 yard touchdown. The Deacs were down early 7-0.
Venuto was undaunted by the early miscue and came back to direct the Deacs to two first quarter scores, the first on a 16 yard pass to split end Wayne Baumgardner and the second a 10 yard scoring toss to Baumgardner for a 13-7 first period lead.
The Bulldogs came back with a five yard run by tailback Ed Guthrie who had set up the first Deacon score on a fumble recovered by lineman Dwayne Crayton.
In the second period the Bulldogs tallied a touchdown as quarterback Buck Belue hit freshman tight end Norris Brown with an 18 yard scoring pass. That ended the Bulldog scoring for the game as they led 20-13 at halftime.
In the second half the Deacs got a field goal from Frank Harnisch who hit from 34 yards away in the third period to tighten the score 21-16. The Deacon defensive unit continued to stymie their heavily favored opponent but few figured the Bulldog drought would continue throughout the third and fourth quarters. Nose guard James Paker, linebaker Carlos Bradley, defensive end Eddie Yarnell, and others played the game of the their lives in the second half and kept breathing life into Venuto's offensive game.
The Deacs finally pulled ahead 22-21 when James McDougald capped an 89-yard drive when he caught a nine-yard pass from Venuto for the go-ahead score. The Deacons attempted a two-point conversion but failed and the defensive unit again found themselves in a position to hold off the vaunted and nationally ranked Vince Dooley team. The game wound to a final play when kicker Rex Robinson barely missed a 58 yard field goal attempt at the horn.
The Deacon bench erupted in celebration. Students on campus streamed out of dormitories in a mad melee before television crews from around the area who had scurried to the campus to film the moment. And as the stunned Georgia crowd watched in grudging admiration, Parker slumped to the ground and filled his shoes with souvenirs of the turf where the greatest Deacon upset had occurred.
Venuto clicked for 20 completions of 34 tries for 283 yards despite having been a doubtful starter until game time. He had suffered a bruised thumb on his throwing hand during drills that week. McDouglad rushed from 189 yards on 30 carries.
Said Dooley: "We came close to upsetting the Wake Forest team. Had Red made the last field goal attempt, we would have scored a great upset over Wake Forest, who was obviously the better football team today. We couldn't stop the run, the pass, we were whipped in the line and we couldn't hold onto the ball. We were totally disorganized, were outcoached in every respect. Wake Forest whipped us in the line early and it showed up late. They deserved the game."
Day 30: Wake Forest Football, 1889
Day 29: Assistant Coach Beattie Feathers
Day 28: Wake Forest in Japan, 1974
Day 25: Deacon History 101
Day 24: 'M' Non-Lettermen
Day 23: WF Stuns Undefeated Vols
Day 22: Larry Tearry's Poetry
Day 21: Bill Barnes Just Walked In
Day 18: John Mackovic, A Barberton Boy
Day 17: The Jay Venuto Movie
Day 16: Kenny Duckett Finds Four-Leaf Clovers in Astroturf