As Wake Forest football looks ahead to its last regular season game and the ensuing bowl game, there is also a look at the big picture of Wake football. There are records being set. There are others that are still in range. And there are plenty of looks at what we are told is the lifting of standards for Demon Deacons football.
The Wake Record
With the win over Syracuse Saturday, Wake Forest is now 7-4 overall and 3-4 in conference play. The disparity in the record between the overall and the conference marks is clear. The overall success is boosted by a relatively soft non-conference schedule. Of the four out-of-conference opponents Wake Forest beat this year, only one, Liberty, has a winning record in 2022. The combined record of the four opponents is 17-25.
That process is a mixed bag next year. Wake faces Elon and Vanderbilt. But then the Demon Deacons also have Old Dominion and Notre Dame on the schedule. It’s easy to overlook Old Dominion as a middle-of-the-pack Sun Belt team. But it is a program on the rise with one or two players who will make All-American teams this year, while Wake has none. And Notre Dame clearly speaks for itself as to the challenge it presents for Wake Forest.
In the here and now, Wake’s record is not what it could have been had there been more consistency on the field. But the end of the three-game losing streak, and the look to what’s next paints a new perspective.
Hartman’s Goodbye to Truist
There is a look ahead to what is remaining for this year, and moving to the future. But Saturday also provided a big-picture retrospective look. Head coach Dave Clawson said the offensive performance in the win over Syracuse was what he had hoped to see all year. The Demon Deacons had 543 yards of total offense. And there was balance. Quarterback Sam Hartman was 30 of 43 passing for 331 yards and four touchdowns. Just as importantly he had no interceptions for the first time in five weeks. The offense also generated a net of 212 yards rushing spread out over four players, including Hartman. This had been closer to what was expected throughout the season, if not regularly delivered.
With the end of the three-game losing streak, the media also heard from Hartman in a post-game interview for the first time since the Boston College game on October 22nd. Hartman was one of 22 seniors who were acknowledged before the game on Senior Night. Some of those 22 have eligibility left and could return next season. Hartman has eligibility left but will not be back. He made that clear in a meeting with the media on Tuesday, his first-weekday media appearance of the season.
His thought process on his time in Winston-Salem was a typical mix of wry humor and emotion. He joked that the school would probably need to dock him a couple of Gatorades for his keeping the game ball after the win. “I’ve never gotten a game ball,” he said with regard to his decision to hang on to this one.
Business Still To Be Done Before Leaving
He said his most prominent emotion in playing his last home game for Wake Forest was, “Grateful.” Hartman admitted to tearing up as the team bus arrived at the stadium prior to the game. He fought back emotions at the podium. “I’m just grateful for every security guard, custodian, personnel at the door when you walk in, the nice lady who gives us fist bumps every single time.” He added, “I’m just very thankful for anyone who has ever helped me in this five-year stretch.”
Hartman is currently sitting at 104 career touchdown passes, just three shy of the all-time ACC record, held by Tajh Boyd of Clemson. If he can get that number in the regular season finale at Duke this week, he will have accomplished it in the same amount of games as Boyd did.
He admitted that while the focus is still on football with two games left in his college career, the retrospective look is difficult. “Five years is a long time. I have a routine and I have a way of life that I have grown accustomed to,” he said. He talked about how campus life, from his favorite places to hang out to his choice of local food spots, has become the norm for him. As is common with most high-level athletes, Hartman is a creature of habit and he called the end of the college period, “Somber.” He said there was one other new thing that he experienced after the Syracuse game; taking a post-game picture with his family.
Perry’s Perspective
A.T. Perry was on the receiving end of three of Hartman’s four touchdown passes Saturday night. He now holds the school record for career touchdown receptions with 27. Perry also has another year of eligibility remaining if he wants it. He has never given any indication that he plans on anything other than going to the NFL after this season.
He said the way he finished his home career at Wake Forest had been prevalent during his game preparation. “It was on my mind every day this week,” he said after the game Saturday. “Just going out there and playing with my teammates one last time at Truist. I tried not to get emotional before the game started, but it happened. You know, I just started crying just thinking of all the memories and all the moments. The people I’m around. That’s special.”
What’s Left
Clawson said he usually thinks the emotions of the game come around the bowl games. Historically those are the final times teams play together. But the bowl games also come with players sitting out the game in order to protect their physical health in advance of their NFL futures. There are a couple of weeks before we get to those decisions and announcements. First comes playing Duke this Saturday in Durham and then waiting until December 4th to find out the destination for the bowl game.
Clawson correctly says even with the unimaginable losing streak, the Demon Deacons still have the opportunity to finish with one of the best records in school history. Closing out with three consecutive wins, (Syracuse, Duke, and the bowl game), would get Wake to nine wins for only the fourth time in the 115-year history of the program. Clawson says it is about raising the standard at Wake Forest.
