Ruggiero Named Finalist for Broyles Award

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest offensive coordinator and quarterbacks Warren Ruggiero was named as one of five finalists for the Frank Broyles Award, announced Monday afternoon.

The Broyles Award is given annually to the top assistant coach in college football.

Warren Ruggiero has helped orchestrate not only one of the most potent offenses in the history of the program, but also one of the most prolific in the history of the ACC this season.

With Nick Sciba's third quarter field goal against Clemson, Wake Forest broke its all-time scoring record for a single season (2017: 459). The Demon Deacons are now up to 515 combined points this season.

The Atlantic Coast conference record is 723 points by Florida State in 2013 (14 games, 51.6 average). With the Deacs passing the 500-point barrier this season, they joined not only rare air in conference history, but in modern college football history.

Wake Forest became just the third ACC member institution to score 500 or more points in a single season (Florida State and Clemson) and just the second in the College Football Playoff Era (Clemson). Pitt accomplished the milestone later in the day becoming the fourth institution to do so:

723 - Florida State (2013)
664 - Clemson (2018)
563 - Florida State (1995)
536 - Florida State (1993)
522 - Clemson (2020)
515 - Wake Forest (2021)
514 - Pitt (2021)
513 - Florida State (1992)
511 - Florida State (2000)

Additionally, Wake Forest became just the 82nd team in the college football modern era (Post-WWII) to cross over the milestone of 500 points scored in a single season. With other results following Wake Forest's game, there are now 85 teams to accomplish this feat in modern college football history. The Deacs' 515 points currently ranks 64th in NCAA history and only 28 teams have reached the 600-point barrier in modern college football.

The 2013 national championship Seminole team, who holds the scoring record, is the only team in the ACC to have a longer streak of consecutive 35-point scoring games. Wake Forest's streak ended at 10 games Saturday, just three off the conference record.

Wake Forest is currently averaging 42.9 points per game, which would be another school-record setting season. The Deacs are currently the third highest scoring offense in the nation:

FBS Leaders in Scoring Offense

1. Ohio State 45.5 PPG (546 total pts)

2. Western Kentucky 43.2 PPG (519 total pts)

3. Wake Forest 42.9 PPG (515 total pts)

4. Pitt 42.8 PPG (514 total pts)

5. Alabama 42.7 PPG (512 total pts)

Coach Dave Clawson and Warren Ruggiero averaged 36.0 ppg. in 2020, 35.3 ppg. in 2017, 32.8 ppg. in 2018 and 31.8 ppg. in 2019.

Wake Forest and Clemson are the only schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference to average over 30 ppg. over the past four years. The Demon Deacons are well on pace to achieve this mark again.

In addition to having an explosive offense, Ruggiero has helped train Sam Hartman into being one of the best quarterbacks in the country this season.

Hartman is in the midst of the greatest single season for a Demon Deacon signal caller while also eclipsing numerous career milestones along the way.

Sam Hartman finished Saturday's contest 20-for-32 for 236 passing yards and three passing touchdowns as well as a rushing touchdown. Over the past eight games, Hartman has thrown the ball for 3,020 yards, 28 touchdowns while completing his passes at a 51.7 clip.

He continues to inch closer to the all-time passing yardage list, becoming the fourth player in program history to throw for over 8,500 yards in his career and is 27th on the ACC all-time list passing Russell Wilson (NC State; 2008-11) this past weekend:

Career Passing Yardage List

1. Riley Skinner (2006-09) 9,762
2. Tanner Price (2010-13) 8,899
3. John Wolford (2014-17) 8,794
4. Sam Hartman (2018-present) 8,749
5. Brian Kuklick (1994-98) 8,017
6. Mike Elkins (1985-88) 7,304
7. Gary Schofield (1981-83) 7,205

His 3,711 passing yards this season are also a school record, breaking the program record this week at Clemson and added to it against Boston College on Saturday:

SEASON PASSING YARDS

1. Sam Hartman (2021) 3,711
2. John Wolford (2017) 3,192
3. Riley Skinner (2009) 3,160
4. Tanner Price (2011) 3,017
5. Jamie Newman (2019) 2,868

Hartman is also rising the ranks in ACC single season history, currently ranking 17th on the list and with potentially his seventh 300-plus yard passing performance of the season in the ACC Championship he could become just the 10th 4,000-yard passer in conference history:

ALL-TIME ACC SEASON PASSING YARDS

1 Deshaun Watson (2016) 4,593 Clemson

2 Matt Ryan (2007) 4,507 Boston College

3 Philip Rivers (2003) 4,491 NC State

4 Brennan Armstrong (2021) 4,444 Virginia

5 Chris Weinke (2000) 4,167 Florida State

6 Deshaun Watson (2015) 4,109 Clemson

7 Kenny Pickett (2021) 4,066 Pitt

8 Jameis Winston (2013) 4,057 Florida State

9 Mike Glennon (2012) 4,031 NC State

10 Ryan Finley (2018) 3,928 NC State

11 Jameis Winston (2014) 3,907 Florida State

12 Tajh Boyd (2012) 3,896 Clemson

13 Tajh Boyd (2013) 3,851 Clemson

14 Tajh Boyd (2011) 3,828 Clemson

15 Anthony Dilweg (1988) 3,824 Duke

16 Mitch Trubisky (2016) 3,748 North Carolina

17 Sam Hartman (2021) 3,711 Wake Forest

Hartman's first touchdown pass to A.T. Perry in the first quarter against NC State marked the 61st touchdown pass of his career. He added to his total with one touchdown pass on Saturday:

1. Sam Hartman (2018-Pres.), 67
2. Riley Skinner (2006-09), 60
3. John Wolford (2014-17), 59
4. Tanner Price (2010-13), 52
5. Gary Schofield (1981-83), 44
Brian Kulklick (1994-98), 44
7. Mike Elkins (1985-88), 43
8. Jay Venuto (1979-80), 37

Additionally, Hartman is now two touchdowns away from moving into the top 10 in career touchdown passes in ACC history:

1. Tajh Boyd, Clemson 2010-13, 107
2. Philip Rivers, NC State 2000-03, 95
3. Sam Howell, North Carolina 2019-present, 91
4. Deshaun Watson, Clemson 2014-16, 90
Trevor Lawrence, Clemson 2018-20, 90
6. Kenny Pickett, Pitt 2018-present, 79
Chris Weinke, Florida State 1997-00, 79
8. Russell Wilson, NC State 2008-10, 76
9. Jacory Harris, Miami 2008-11, 70
10. Brad Kaaya, Miami 2014-16, 69
Lamar Jackson, Louisville 2015-17, 69

He also added to his record setting single-season mark for touchdown passes on Saturday. He broke the record with his final touchdown pass against NC State:

SEASON PASSING TOUCHDOWNS

1. Sam Hartman (2021) 34
2. John Wolford (2017) 29
3. Riley Skinner (2009) 26
Jamie Newman (2019) 26

Ruggiero has also played a key role in forming one of the best receiving tandems in the country this season.

Jaquarii Roberson and A.T. Perry have combined for 118 catches for 2,136 and 21 TDs this season. Perry has tallied 52 catches for team-best 1,112 yards and a team-best 13 TDs. Roberson leads the Deacs with 62 catches to go along with 1,024 yards to go along with eight touchdowns.

The duo is the one of two pairs of teammates to rank in the top-40 nationally in receiving touchdowns and top-30 in receiving yards.

Perry's 13 touchdowns ranks second in the NCAA and ranks second in the ACC while Roberson's eight touchdowns rank 35th in the country and fourth in the ACC.

With two touchdown catches at Boston College, A.T. Perry now has 13 touchdown receptions this season, marking the most in program history. Additionally, Perry is just the fourth Demon Deacon to post double-digit receiving touchdowns in a single season.

1. A.T. Perry (2021) 13
2. Kenny Duckett (1980)            12
3. Sage Surratt (2019)                11
Ricky Proehl (1989)                11
5. Greg Dortch (2017)                9
Cam Serigne (2017)                9
Marlon Estes (1995)                9
Chris Givens (2011)                9
9. Jaquarii Roberson (2020)            8
Greg Dortch (2018)                8
Chris Givens (2009)                8
Ricky Proehl (1988)                8
Desmond Clark (1998)               8
Wayne Baumgardner (1979)           8
John Zeglinski (1975)               8
Jaquarii Roberson (2021) 8

Perry also is now second in school history with 1,112 receiving yards this season, becoming just the eighth wide receiver in school history to cross over the 1,000-yard barrier. Roberson also crossed the barrier for the first time in his career on Saturday at Boston College. Iy marks just the second time in program history Wake Forest has had multiple 1,000-yard receivers in the same season (2019):

1. Chris Givens (2011) 1,330
2. A.T. Perry (2021) 1,112
3. Greg Dortch (2018) 1.078
4. Ricky Proehl (1989) 1,053
5. Jaquarii Roberson (2021) 1,024
6. Kenneth Moore (2007) 1,011
7. Sage Surratt (2019) 1,001
Kendall Hinton (2019) 1,001
9. Wayne Baumgardner (1979) 1,000

Over the last eight games, Perry and Roberson have combined for 1,599 yards receiving (199.88 combined yards per game):

vs. Louisville (160 combined receiving yards)
at Syracuse (272 combined receiving yards)
at Army (303 combined receiving yards)
vs. Duke (181 combined receiving yards)
at North Carolina (240 combined receiving yards)
vs. NC State (124 combined receiving yards)
at Clemson (206 combined receiving yards)
at Boston College (152 combined receiving yards)

Wake Forest Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Sam Hartman

Kendall Hinton

Jamie Newman

A.T. Perry

Jaquarii Roberson

Nick Sciba

Sage Surratt

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