Wake Forest Wins Thriller at Birmingham Bowl

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Wake Forest overcame a 28-10 second quarter deficit and outscored Memphis 37-34 to win the Jared Birmingham Bowl at historic Legion Field. The win was Wake Forest's third consecutive bowl victory.

The 18-point comeback is tied for the fourth-largest comeback in school history. It was the largest deficit overcome since trailing Maryland 24-3 at BB&T Field in 2007 before winning 31-24 in overtime.

Newman had a career-performance and was named the Birmingham Bowl MVP finishing the game with a career-high 328 passing yards, going 22-40 through the air and a career-high 91 rushing yards. He finished the day with four total touchdowns.

Senior Alex Bachman led the receiving corps with seven catches for a career-best 171 yards. With 51 rushing yards in the contest, running back Cade Carney surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He is the first 1,000-yard rusher for the Deacons since Chris Barclay in 2005.

Defensively, Justin Strnad led the Deacons with 11 total tackles, nine of which were solo stops. Willie Yarbury, Cameron Glenn and Carlos Basham each tallied one sack.

Wake Forest (7-6) jumped on top 7-0 less than three minutes into the game. Newman led the Deacons on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a nine-yard scoring pass to Sage Surratt. Memphis tied the game with 10:06 to play in the first when Tony Pollard broke free for a 41-yard scoring run.

The Tigers then went on a 98-yard drive after Dom Maggio launched a 53-yard punt that rolled out of bounds at the one-yard line. Memphis used 16 plays and nearly five and a half minutes before Brady White threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Taylor to give Memphis a 14-7 advantage.

Memphis (8-6) went up 21-7 on a 37-yard pick-six by T.J. Carter. Newman, under heavy pressure, threw downfield but Carter was able to make the interception.

Wake Forest cut the margin to 21-10 on Nick Sciba's 36-yard field goal with 11:16 to play in the second quarter. Memphis responded immediately as Pollard took the kickoff 97 yards for a score, his seventh career kickoff return touchdown, that put the Tigers up 28-10.

Wake Forest closed the margin to 28-17 when Newman sailed over the pile from one-yard out with 7:09 to play in the second quarter.

The Deacons pulled to within four points at 28-24 with 5:33 to play in the second. A play after hitting a diving Scotty Washington on a 39-yard completion to the Memphis 17, Newman called his own number and broke multiple tackles to score the touchdown as Wake Forest went to the break only trailing by four.

Sciba, who finished the day with three field goals and four PAT's, pulled the Deacons to within one at 28-27 when he nailed a career-long 49-yard field goal with 7:41 left in the third. The freshman then gave the Deacons a 30-28 lead with a 39-yard field goal with 3:49 left in the third.

Following back-and-forth punts in the fourth quarter, Memphis found an answer with a nine-yard rushing touchdown from Patrick Taylor to give the Tigers a 34-30 lead.

Memphis went for a two-point conversion, but Chuck Wade Jr. came up clutch with an interception, his second pick of the season, with just over a minute remaining. The Demon Deacons responded with a one-yard rushing touchdown from Newman with just 32 seconds left on the clock to take a 37-34 lead. The Tigers marched back down the field, but a missed field goal on fourth down handed Wake Forest the thrilling 37-34 victory and its third consecutive bowl win.

With the Win

Wake Forest finishes the season 7-6 overall, its third consecutive winning season.
The Deacons will have posted three straight winning seasons for the first time since the 2006-2008, and just the second time since 1950-52.
Dave Clawson's record improves to 28-35 through his first five years at Wake Forest and 118-115 in his 19^th year as a college head coach.
Wake Forest has won for the first time at Legion Field, after having lost the 1946 Dixie Bowl to Baylor by a 20-7 score.
Clawson's record in bowl games at Wake Forest improves to 3-0.
Clawson's career record in bowl games improves to 3-2 (3-0 at Wake Forest, 0-2 at BGSU).
Wake Forest improves to 9-4 all-time in bowl games.
Wake Forest has won a bowl game in three consecutive years for the first time in school history.
Clawson's 28 wins through the first five years of his career is a Wake Forest record.
Wake Forest finishes the season 4-5 against bowl teams.
Five of Wake Forest's seven wins this season have come away from BB&T Field

Team Stats

Jamie Newman

Players Mentioned

Alex Bachman

Cade Carney

Cameron Glenn

Dom Maggio

Nick Sciba

Justin Strnad

Sage Surratt

Chuck Wade Jr.

Scotty Washington