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November 16, 1998
Wake Forest plays its final game of the 1998 season this Saturday in Atlanta against a Georgia Tech team that will be playing for a share of the ACC championship. The Demon Deacons, in addition to serving in the role of spoiler against the nationally ranked (#21 in both major polls) Yellow Jackets, will be seeking to match their win total (3) in conference play of a year ago and gain a finish of 6th (and possibly even a tie for 5th) in the final league standings. Kickoff time at Bobby Dodd Stadium for the non-televised contest is 1 p.m. THE SERIES WITH GEORGIA TECH - The Demon Deacons have dropped three in a row to Georgia Tech, with two of those losses coming by a total of three points. Wake Forest lost to Tech in 1995 in Winston-Salem, 24-23, then was defeated by the visiting Jackets last year, 28-26. The last time that Wake journeyed to Atlanta, though, it came home with a lopsided 30-10 loss (in 1996). Overall, the Deacons trail in the series, 15-5, with those five wins coming in the last 12 seasons (since 1986). Their last win over the Techsters came at Grant Field in 1994, 20-13. LAST YEAR'S GAME - Wake Forest squandered a 17-7 halftime lead, then fought back from an 11-point deficit with two scores in the final six minutes, but still fell to visiting Georgia Tech, 28-26, last September 20th in Groves Stadium. A 41-yard interception return by Dustin Lyman gave WFU an early 7-0 lead, which grew to 10 points at halftime. Tech rallied on three TD passes by Joe Hamilton to hold a 28-17 lead with 9:00 left. A Matthew Burdick field goal with 5:44 remaining pulled the Deacs to within eight, then after recovering an onside kick, they scored on a 30-yard pass from Brian Kuklick to Morgan Kane at the 3:40 mark. A pass for the tying two-point conver-sion was broken up, however, and the Yellow Jackets retained possession the rest of the way.
Team Data
WAKE FOREST (3-7 / 2-5 in ACC) GEORGIA TECH (7-2 / 6-1 in ACC)
Offense: Multiple Offense: Multiple
(20.0 ppg / 331.5 ypg) (34.1 ppg / 371.2 ypg)
Defense: Multiple Defense: Multiple
(27.2 ppg / 388.5 ypg) (32.7 ppg / 381.2 ypg)
THE DEACS LAST WEEK -
COMMENTS from COACH JIM CALDWELL
NOTING THE DEMON DEACONS
Demon Deacon Career Starts (1998 starts)
JUNIOR EXPERIENCE, TOO - There's a solid corps of experience in the current junior class as well for the Demon Deacons. Seven individuals have at least 19 career starts to date. Of the six players presently with a streak of 20-or-more consecutive starts, five are juniors (all but senior offensive tackle JEFF FLOWE). A WIN WOULD MEAN - An upset of Georgia Tech this Saturday would leave Wake Forest with a 4-7 mark for the 1998 campaign, one win less than the school enjoyed last fall. However, a victory over the Yellow Jackets would give the Demon Deacons three ACC "Ws" in '98. That would assure the current squad of no worse than 6th place in the final league standings (which is where the 1997 club finished). A final conference record of 3-5 could even be good enough for a tie for 5th-place, depending on the outcomes of other games the next two weeks. ACC TITLE ON THE LINE -- AGAIN - Wake Forest will for the second week in a row be facing an opponent that is contending for a share of the 1998 Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Despite an outstanding effort this past Saturday, the Deacons fell to Florida State (24-7), which assured the Seminoles of at least a share of this year's title. Georgia Tech can match FSU's league mark of 7-1 by defeating the Deacs this week. DEACS FROM GEORGIA -
DEACONS VERSUS GEORGIA TECH -
DEACS GETTING DEFENSIVE- As noted earlier, two of Wake Forest most productive defensive performers this fall are Georgia natives JEFFREY MUYRES and REGGIE AUSTIN. There have been some other noteworthy efforts on that side of the ball as well, however. MARK MAKOVEC is having an outstanding senior season (he's actually a graduate student). After serving in a reserve capacity and on special teams for three years, Makovec has started all 10 games at linebacker, beginning the year at outside 'backer, then moving inside three games ago when injuries took their toll on that position. He was credited with 7 tackles versus Florida State, including a sack, and also had a pass breakup. The Nesquehoning, PA, product is 2nd on the team in unassisted tackles (44), sacks (5), TFLs (14) and quarterback pressures (5). The Deacon leader in negative plays is sophomore end MAT PETZ, who has ranked among the ACC leaders in tackles-for-loss all season (ACC defensive stats are released on Monday). Petz has 15 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and six sacks, both team highs. Much like Makovec, DALAWN PARRISH has been asked to adjust his position with the series of injuries to the Deacon linebacking corps. Makovec's move inside left a spot at outside linebacker, and former safety Parrish filled it. He now leads the Deacs in unassisted hits (51) and is tied for the top spot in total stops (65) with Muyres. In the trenches, the top Deacon has been junior tackle FRED ROBBINS, who has 54 total tackles this fall. INTERCEPTION TOTAL HIGHEST IN DECADE - With interceptions this past Saturday by REGGIE AUSTIN (his 4th) and MICHAEL CLINKSCALE (his 1st), the Wake Forest defense increased its season total in that department to 15. That's the most by a Demon Deacon team since 1988 when that year's squad also picked off 15 opposition passes. It's also almost as many interceptions as the last two WFU squads combined (Wake had 7 inter-ceptions in 1996 and 9 last year). The last time that a Wake team had more than 15 interceptions was when the 1987 Deacs had 17 "INTs." Seven different Deacon defensive backs have at least one interception this fall, led by Austin with four. For four of those seven individuals, this year's "pick" was the first of their career. The only ACC team with more interceptions than Wake Forest is NC State with 16. PRIORITY ON PASSING - The last three contests have seen the Wake Forest offensive attack rely almost exclusively on its passing game. The Demon Deacons rushed for more than 120 yards in each of their first three games this season and were averaging nearly 100 yards per outing on the ground through seven dates. The last three weeks, though, the Deacs have given the ball to their running backs just 33 times total, and generated only 56 yards on those 33 plays (1.7 yards per attempt). With 13 quarterback sacks figured into the net rushing total in those three games, Wake then has a negative 37 yards on the ground the past three weeks. Instead, the Deacons have put the ball in the air 151 times in their last three contests (50.3 per). The results have seen quarterback BRIAN KUKLICK throw for a career-high 421 yards at NC State (7th-highest single game total in WFU history) and Kuklick and BEN SANKEY combine for 384 yards versus Virginia (9th-highest). In the first seven games this fall, Wake averaged 34 passes per game.
KUKLICK WAKE'S ALL-TIME PASSING LEADER - Wake Forest senior quarterback BRIAN KUKLICK became the all-time leading passer in Wake Forest school history with his career-high 421-yard performance at NC State two weeks ago. He currently has 7,782 yards overall as a Demon Deacon, more than 400 yards more than the previous record-holder Mike Elkins (7,304). Kuklick moved into the WFU top spot in career completions against Florida State this past weekend and is nearing the third and final major passing mark in school history, too. He needs one more touchdown pass to tie Gary Schofield for the top position in that department. Wake Forest Career Passing Leaders AND IN THE ACC - BRIAN KUKLICK needs 218 yards passing to become only the fifth quarterback in ACC history to throw for more than 8,000 yards in his career. A 223-yard performance at Georgia Tech this coming Saturday would move him up to #4 on the all-time ACC chart as well. Kuklick also will move into 4th on the league's career chart for pass completions with just seven more successful passes. In career TD passes, one more would tie him for 10th in the ACC records with former Deac Gary Schofield. ACC Career Passing Leaders DEESE, McCOY NEW FAVORITE TARGETS - With Desmond Clark out of action the past two weeks, junior wideout JAMMIE DEESE has stepped forward and turned in back-to-back outstanding performances. A week ago, he established new personal bests with 12 receptions for 167 yards at NC State. This past Saturday, he once again reached triple figures in receiving, catching four passes for 107 yards, including a career-longest 56-yarder to account for Wake Forest's only points against Florida State. Deese has moved into the Wake Forest career top ten in receiving with his two efforts the past two weeks. He now has 141 career receptions, tying him for 6th on the school's all-time list. He's also now 8th in career receiving yardage with 1,763 yards through the air. (see chart next page) Another individual who has emerged in the passing game is running back CHRIS McCOY. McCoy caught six passes for 107 yards, including his first career touchdown (of any kind) on a 17-yard reception, at NC State, then had a team-high six catches (for 41 yds) against Florida State this past week. Desmond Clark -- #1 Receiver in ACC History CLARK ATTAINS ALL-TIME ACC MARK - Demon Deacon wide receiver DESMOND CLARK became the ACC's all-time leading pass receiver on October 17th at Maryland when he grabbed his second reception of the afternoon. The senior from Lakeland, FL, caught a 19-yarder from Brian Kuklick on the game's second play from scrimmage, then on 3rd-and-3 from the Terp 49, he picked up a Deacon first down with a six-yard catch. The week before against Duke, Clark had become the Wake Forest all-time leading receiver, moving past Ricky Proehl (now with the St. Louis Rams), who had 188 catches during his brilliant career from 1986-1989. DESMOND DINGED - DESMOND CLARK was sidelined in the third quarter of the Virginia game (Oct.31) when he sustained a knee injury on his fourth reception of that game. He had averaged nearly eight receptions and 115 yards receiving per game over the previous six contests and had his string of consecutive games with a touchdown reception halted at six in a row in that game. Clark did not dress for the game at NC State, then appeared on only one offensive series vs Florida State. His status for this week's season finale at Georgia Tech remains questionable. Wake Forest Career Receiving Leaders VERSUS THE ACC - Research compiled by the astute ACC Office media relations office has revealed that DESMOND CLARK has caught 20 passes or more against six of eight ACC opponents. He has scored a touchdown against seven conference schools (all but Georgia Tech). *still to be played in 1998 DURABLE DEACS - Demon Deacon offensive guard SAM SETTAR, a 6'4, 238-pound junior from Marlton, NJ, has played all 696 offensive plays this season. Combined with the 804 snaps that he took last year (every offensive play), that gives Settar a streak of 1,500 consecutive plays. Two other offensive linemen -- tackle JEFF FLOWE and guard BRIAN WOLVERTON -- have also been on the field for all 696 plays during the 1998 season.
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