Wake Forest Athletics News
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100% Cotten - Back For The Future
Dec. 5, 2003 To say that Wake Forest sophomore tailback Chris Barclay had a "breakout" season in 2003 is both true and not true. Yes Barclay had the better of his two seasons rushing for the Black and Gold in the campaign just completed, but if Barclay sneaked up on anybody this year it was their fault. Last year, Barclay was the understudy to Tarence Williams yet still rushed 144 times for 703 yards and nine touchdowns. Hardly a token true freshman season. Coach Jim Grobe saw the true talent that the Deacs could not afford to redshirt, and Barclay burst onto the scene one year out of Louisville's Male Traditional High School to help the Deacs to a winning season and a win over Oregon in the Seattle Bowl. Even though the Deacons won their 2003 opener at Boston College the win came with a price. All three of Wake Forest's tailbacks got hurt - on the first few snaps. Barclay and Cornelius Birgs were both hobbled, and Dominic Anderson sustained a severe injury that would cost him the entire year. Birgs put forth a valiant effort to finish the game, but the Deacs' running game was like a car with one blown tire and two bald ones - not exactly a ride you have much confidence in with a long journey to come. But the car made it, and Wake Forest led the ACC in rushing for the third straight year -with Barclay leading the way. The Deacs finished as the only league team to average more than 200 yards a game (203.2) and rushed for eight more touchdowns (31) than second place Maryland. Barclay healed up to rush 235 times for an ACC-best 1,192 yards. His twelve rushing touchdowns were double that of 1st team all-ACC backs P.J. Daniels of Georgia Tech and Chris Douglas of Duke. Timing got the best of Barclay in the ACC awards race. He was voted second team only because that, when the votes were due, his rushing total was third behind Daniels and Douglas. Then came the Maryland - Wake Forest game when Barclay ran through the Terrapins for over 200 yards and three touchdowns. It was not enough for the Deacons to beat the Terps, and it was too late for the voting. Such is life, but I'm thinking the ACC awards banquet could take place at a time so that the truest-deserving athletes can be honored. Barclay led the league in yards rushing (1,192), yards per carry (5.1), yards per game (99.3) and rushing touchdowns (12) and was the feature back on the ACC's best rushing team. And he's second team? Yeah, right. Barclay's 1,192 yards marked the ninth time a Deacon had broken the 1,000-yard barrier for a single season, and he is the first-ever sophomore to have accomplished the feat. Four times this season he ran for over 100 yards and then came the outburst against Maryland that pushed him to the top of the ACC. Barclay, despite Wake Forest's loss to the Terrapins, ended his second season in Winston-Salem on the highest possible individual note. His numbers sent a message to defenses as they prepare to slumber throughout the winter. He and the Deacons are coming. I think that most can sense it. Even though the Deacs finished 5-7, they did so with a very young team - one still cutting its teeth and learning how to run and stay with those who wish them harm. Despite what this team did not do, many in the know are still buzzing about what the Deacs did do this past season. They won on the road against Boston College. They came back home and whipped a North Carolina State team that many were still considering as a contender for the national championship. They were one or two plays from beating Purdue for the second straight years - one of the Big Ten's biggest. They did things against Florida State that no other team did all season. And they manhandled a Clemson team that turned around, beat Florida State and saved Tommy Bowden's job. Those who used to predict their team's chances against Wake Forest with ink are now stocking up on pencils and erasers. The Deacs won't sneak up on anybody anymore. Not if Chris Barclay has anything to do about it. |