Football Idle This WeekACC opener at Clemson Sept. 26.
Sept. 14, 1998 The Wake Forest football team enjoys its only "open" date of the 1998 season this weekend (Sept.19). The Demon Deacons are 1-1 after losing at Air Force, 42-0, then rallying from a 14-3 deficit to defeat Navy this past Thursday, 26-14. Coach Jim Caldwell's squad begins a stretch of nine consecutive active Saturdays when it travels to Clemson for its '98 ACC debut on September 26th.
CLARK LEAPS UP ACC CAREER CHART - With his nine receptions (for 98 yards and a TD) in the win over Navy, Demon Deacon wide receiver DESMOND CLARK jumped six places on the all-time ACC pass receiving list. The Lakeland, FL, senior had entered that game 11th in league history with 161 catches, but now stands 5th on the ACC career chart with 170 receptions.
Clark, of course, is rapidly ascending the Wake Forest career receiving lists as well. He became only the fifth Deacon ever to surpass the 2,000-yard mark in receiving yardage this past Thursday, while also grabbing his 13th career touchdown catch to move into a tie for 5th-place in that category.
CONSISTENCY WITH CLARK- In his last 10 games dating back to the middle portion of the 1997 season, DESMOND CLARK has caught six-or-more passes eight times and totaled 90-or-more yards in receiving six times.
THE ACC'S LEADING RECEIVER - No, it's not Desmond Clark -- he's tied for 2nd with 13 receptions (along with Florida State's Peter Warrick). The top receiver in the ACC after two weekends of action this fall is Wake Forest junior JAMMIE DEESE, whose 16 catches are three more than any other player in the league. Deese opened the year with eight receptions (for 71 yards) at Air Force, then established a new career high with 122 yards in receptions, catching eight more balls in the win over Navy. Those eight receptions versus the Middies, by the way, give the Lumberton product an even 100 catches for his career. That's good for 15th place on the all-time Wake Forest receiving chart. KUKLICK SURPASSES 250 FOR THE 12TH TIME - Wake Forest quarterback BRIAN KUKLICK bounced back from a subpar outing at Air Force by throwing for 256 yards (21 of 36) in the win over Navy. That marked the 12th time in his outstanding career that he has totaled 250 yards or more through the air in a single contest.
500 COMPLETION LIST IS NEXT - Only eight other players in ACC history have completed 500 passes during their careers. BRIAN KUKLICK now needs just nine more successful tosses to join that list.
In two '98 contests, Kuklick has now completed 63.6% of his passes (42 of 66) -- that's the best completion percentage of any ACC QB.
KUKLICK ON UNITAS AWARD CHECKLIST - Wake Forest's BRIAN KUKLICK is one of 13 quarterbacks named as candidates for the "Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award", which is presented annually to the nation's top senior QB.
KANE LEADS GROUND GAME - Running back MORGAN KANE turned in his second straight productive performance of the 1998 season by rushing for 94 yards (on 22 carries) against Navy. The junior from Ottawa, Ontario also reached the endzone for the first time in '98 by flying over the line of scrimmage for a two-yard TD that gave the Deacons the lead to stay, 16-14, in the third quarter. Kane now has compiled 165 yards (82.5 avg) in two outings, good for 4th on the ACC rushing list this week. Fellow-junior KITO GARY also contributed a scoring run in the fourth period versus the Middies, sprinting through a gaping hole cleared by the middle of the Wake offensive line for a 14-yard TD. For Gary, it was only the second six-pointer of his career (he also scored at Duke last year).
CANADIAN CONNECTION - As noted above, Demon Deacon running back Morgan Kane is a native of Ottawa, Ontario. In the win against Navy, another Canadian product, defensive end MAT PETZ, turned in a terrific overall effort to spearhead a revived WFU defensive unit. Petz, who was moved from outside linebacker to end during spring drills, totaled 13 tackles versus the Mid-shipmen. Five of those hits came behind the line of scrimmage for a total of 12 yards in lost yardage. The Windsor, Ontario, "transplant" now has seven tackles-for-loss in two contests -- that's best in the ACC.
"BEAT NAVY" A FAMILIAR REFRAIN FOR MAKOVEC - Senior outside linebacker MARK MAKOVEC's older brother Mike played quarterback for Army earlier this decade, so it perhaps was no surprise that Mark's best single game performance as a Deacon would come against the Naval Academy. Makovec (Mark) was credited with a career-high eight tackles in the win over the Middies last week. Included in that total were two sacks (for negative-13 yards). He also picked off the first interception of his career to set up the Deacs' final field goal. A fifth-year member of the WFU program, Makovec has already received his undergraduate degree from Wake Forest in Health & Exercise Science and is now working toward a graduate degree.
LYMAN LEADS AGAIN - Linebacker DUSTIN LYMAN finished as the leading tackler for Wake Forest for the second time in as many games this season when he collected 16 stops versus Navy. Nine of Lyman's tackles were of the unassisted variety (equaling a career high). He also had two tackles-for-loss, totaling seven yards. In two games, the Boulder, CO, junior now has a team-high 29 hits, nine more than his closest teammate, fellow-linebacker ABDUL GUICE who has 20 tackles. His 14.5 tackle average in two dates is 5th-best in the ACC.
LIKE THE DEACS, DUNCAN BOUNCES BACK - Redshirt freshman defensive back ADRIAN DUNCAN probably will never forget his first play as a Demon Deacon. It came on special teams two weeks ago at Air Force when he attempted to field a wind-blown punt over his head and fumbled the ball in the WFU endzone to give the Falcons an easy touchdown (which increased the Wake deficit from 21-0 to 28-0). Only five days later, Duncan proved to be one of the heroes in the Wake Forest victory over Navy. With both of the team's starting cornerbacks sidelined with injuries, the Dayton, OH, product saw his first significant action (39 plays) and made one of the evening's biggest plays. His interception with 1:38 remaining in the first half set up a Deacon touchdown that reduced the Navy lead from 14-3 to 14-10 at halftime, setting the stage for a WFU comeback after intermission. Duncan also displayed his abilities as a punt return specialist, handling four runbacks without a problem and averaging an impressive 11.5 yards per return.
MOORE OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT - Punter TRIPP MOORE, a 2nd team All-ACC selection in 1997, continued his excellent start to the 1998 season against Navy. His average of 41.2 yards per punt on five attempts was not that notable on the surface, but what that figure does not show is that three of his punts were downed inside the Midshipmen 10-yard-line. Each time, Wake Forest scored on its initial possession after those decisive Moore punts (2 touchdowns, 1 field goal). In the 1998 opener at Air Force, the Columbia, SC, senior averaged 45.5 yards per punt on six boots. He now has a 43.5 yards per punt average on the year with more than half (6) of his 11 punts driving the opposition inside its own 20 -- and four times, those punts have been downed inside the opponent's 10.
BURDICK BOOTS CAREER LONGEST - Junior placekicker MATTHEW BURDICK never got on the field at Air Force during a long afternoon in which the Demon Deacon offense was either ineffective (early) or pressed into going for six points instead of three (later). Against Navy, however, Burdick made his presence felt with successful field goals of 41 and 48 yards, the latter representing a new career longest for the Winston-Salem (Mount Tabor HS) product. That 48-yarder is also the longest by any ACC player thus far in the young 1998 season.
PHYSICAL UPDATE - Wake Forest will be without the services of defensive tackle KELVIN JONES for four-to-six weeks after the Winston-Salem junior sustained a broken left ankle against Navy. Two other Deac defenders who missed much of the Navy contest should be back to full speed for Clemson. Cornerbacks REGGIE AUSTIN (mild concussion) and DAMEON DANIEL (thigh bruise) both were sidelined for more than half of the victory over the Middies, but both should be back in action this week. The Deacons are still awaiting the return of standout linebacker KELVIN MOSES, who underwent arthro-scopic surgery on his left knee on August 21st and has yet to see any playing time this season. He is expected to return to some practice activity this week, but his availability for the Clemson game remains uncertain at this time.
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