With so much riding on the game, Wake Forest could not have chosen a worse time to have a complete collapse. The Demon Deacons could not protect quarterback Sam Hartman. The offense could not take care of the ball and the result is Wake Forest gets embarrassed by Louisville 48-21 in Kentucky Saturday.
Any talk of Hartman being on national award lists or elite-level bowls for Wake Forest took a beating Saturday. Any hope of a top-10 finish is likely gone, as there is a lot of regrouping to be done.
Wake Forest Gets Embarrassed by Louisville, 48-21
Hartman was sacked seven times. He lost four fumbles and had three interceptions. Wake Forest had given up only five turnovers all year. They had six in the third quarter alone Saturday and eight for the game. The defense, having to quickly return to the field so frequently gave up huge plays in the third quarter. Louisville outscoring Wake Forest 35-0 in the third quarter all but ended the game.
The game started badly, evened out before halftime, and then collapsed in a horrendously ugly third quarter.
Louisville Jumps Out Early
Louisville went 64 yards on its opening drive with quarterback Malik Cunningham going four of six passing for 50 yards. The Wake defense stiffened up and held the Cardinals to a 29-yard James Turner field goal for the 3-0 lead. Wake’s offensive response was to go three-and-out, gaining all of six yards.
Cunningham put together another 53-yard drive that led to a 39-yard field goal and a 6-0 Louisville lead, which is where the two teams finished at the end of the first quarter. In a sign of what would come later, Louisville had 158 total yards in the quarter to all of nine for Wake Forest.
The Cardinals added to the lead in the second quarter. Cunningham drove them 76 yards on just eight plays. That included an end around flea flicker with Cunningham for 39 yards to Marshon Ford who caught it at the 10-yard line before going down at the one. Cunningham ran it in from there on the next play for the 13-0 lead. Louisville had three possessions and three scores.
Wake Answers
Wake Forest finally answered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive. Hartman went three-for-three for 43 yards on the drive with two of the completions going to tight end Blake Whiteheart for 34 yards. Running back Justice Ellison finished the drive by ramming the ball in from three yards out to cut the deficit to 13-7.
Hartman engineered another 73-yard drive with some assistance. He was sacked and stripped of the ball with Louisville recovering. But the officials ruled, with the review, that his forward progress had been stopped and Wake got to keep the ball. Hartman made it pay off with a 16-yard pass to Jahmal Banks who made the diving catch at the front pylon, and then proceeded to blow kisses to the Louisville crowd. Wake Forest was up 14-13. Unfortunately, the game continued.
Turner made a 36-yard field goal for Louisville, but the Cardinals were called for holding. He missed the ensuing 47-yarder. Having burned its timeouts to keep time on the clock, Wake instead ran out the remaining 1:11 and went into halftime with the 14-13 lead.
Then disaster hit. Both teams came out for the second half.
Everything Unravels For Wake
Hartman threw a pick-six on the fourth play of the second half. He tried to thread a very tight needle to A.T. Perry along the left sideline. But Kei’Trel Clark jumped in front of Perry, intercepted the pass, and had clear sailing for 46 yards all the way to the end zone. Louisville was up 20-14.
On the next drive, on second down at his 41-yard line, Hartman was again sacked and stripped. The ball was picked up by Mason Rieger and returned to the Wake 29-yard line. The Cardinals could not score on the series, but it was symbolic of the Wake offensive line getting abused by Louisville’s front seven, and by Hartman’s inability to hold on to the ball when getting hit.
On the next drive, the offense moved the ball 52 yards. But on the seventh play at the Louisville 26-yard line, Hartman was hit for a two-yard loss and fumbled. Momo Sanogo recovered the ball for Louisville. Four plays later, Tiyon Evans busted up the middle for a 52-yard touchdown run. It was 27-14 Louisville and about to get completely out of hand.
And Then It Unravels Some More
For the third consecutive drive, Wake Forest turned the ball over. Hartman was throwing for Donavon Greene. He tipped the ball, and it was intercepted by Monty Montgomery who returned it 47 yards for another pick-six and a 33-14 lead for the Cardinals.
The fourth drive of the half for Wake resulted in the fourth consecutive turnover. Hartman was sacked for a three-yard loss and lost the ball on the way down. K.J. Cloyd recovered it for Louisville. Two plays later receiver Braden Smith, on an end-around, pulled up and tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jaelin Carter for the 41-14 lead.
Hartman threw another pick-six at the end of the quarter. This one was run back 90 yards by Quincy Riley for the 48-14 lead.
Wake Forest had seven possessions in the third quarter. One ended in a punt. The other six ended in turnovers with Louisville scoring on five of them.
Backup quarterback Mitch Griffis played the fourth quarter and led a short scoring drive near the end of the game for the final score.
Not Much Positive To Find
After the game, there really was no need for prolonged explanations for such a beatdown. Head coach Dave Clawson called it, “A thorough a** kicking.” He added, “They completely outcoached us. They completely outplayed us. They won on both sides of the line of scrimmage. And they won on the perimeter.”
Obviously, the turnovers were the thing. Going into the game, Wake Forest had a seven-turnover advantage on the season. In just one game that turned into a one-turnover deficit. “It bit us in a** today,” Clawson said. “When you turn the ball over that much, you don’t have any chance of winning the football game.”
While he noted a lack of discipline on both sides of the ball, Clawson put the onus on himself and the coaching staff. “It was a disaster. To pinpoint one thing, that’s hard to do. Clearly, I did not have our football team prepared today and I’ve got sleep on that and live with that one.”
Clawson has had to pick his team up after the Clemson loss and the too-close loss to Liberty. The message for the locker room after this beatdown, he said, was that he knows this is a good football team, but they have to prove it by responding next week in Raleigh against North Carolina State.
