Comments

If Grobe would have let Orville play alittle more especially in the 4th qtr., it would have been an element of surprise possibly and Orville was fresh and could have provided a spark. I know Pendergrass is a senior, but he disappeared in the 4th qtr. (maybe tired?!). With the Offensive play calling by Lobo, you need to have some kind of “creative surprise” to have a chance! Instead of playing in the ACC Championship game, now Pendergrass gets to play yet another game to try to become bowl eligible- let’s hope they can regroup. Boise could be calling!

Bobby on 11/14/2011 (8:26 pm)

The term “heartbreaking loss” does not even come close to describing how most Deacons felt Saturday night. There was definitely a great amount of emotion spent by our team on the field at Clemson on Saturday—-for which we are all very proud of our players. My biggest concern now is, can Clemson beat us two weekends in a row? The coaches are going to have their hands full getting the team ready for a very dangerous Maryland team. As fans, we need to show up this Saturday and make sure the atmosphere at BB&T field is such that the team will respond and play their best. The last thing we need is to go into the Vandy game needing a win to be bowl eligilbe.
Go Deacs beat the Terps!

steveh on 11/14/2011 (3:49 pm)

Grobe and staff did it again.  Pendergrass played a good game BUT Grobe said he was going to use Reynolds alot since they burned his red shirt.  Do you call 2 runs and 2 passes alot??  No punt return nor kickoff!!  This is crazy period.  I don’t care whether Prendergrass is a senior or not the object was to use 2 runners.  The object is to try to win the game.  The coaching staff should have tried to control the ball more when they were winning in the fourth quarter.  I saw then throw 3 pass plays in a row and then have to kick.  Not smart conservative play calling at all.  It’s time for some coaching changes to be made or else we’ll continue to hear the same old excuses.  P.S. Grobe gets paid too much money(millions) for medicore results. What other ACC school would just shrug their shoulders and say wait till next game;year etc?

jack mac donald on 11/14/2011 (2:21 pm)

Usually after traveling to an away game that we lose I am frustrated, questioning why I send as much money as I can to the Deacs.  Then I wake up the next day and try to find some more money to help support our tiny part of the football world—we have so few supporters that each of us needs to count as five or ten Clemson or Carolina fans.

This time, however, I felt absolutely vindicated.  Damn we played well.  We were energetic against what could have been overwhelming force. This is why I am a Deac—I want to be an overacheiver myself and I want to see my team overacheive against long odds. We may never have 85,000 screaming fans, but folks we are competetive and one day soon we are going to actually win these close games.  The one thing I must complain about is not using every second of the clock trying to win—Lord knows we need to be trying all the time.

By the way, my group was once again treated very, very well by the wonderful Clemson fans.  Many stopped to tell us what a good job our team did and thank us for coming to visit.  Some offered us food and drink.  I hope that next year after we win they will be able to say the same about us.  Go Deacs!!

DannyB on 11/14/2011 (11:38 am)

Matt- I have to disagree with your statement that had Grobe been coaching Clemson (Clemson would have blown out Wake). While Grobe is a true gentleman, he has shown no “killer instinct” to close out and finish games like Dabo does for his team. For instance, he went over to his kicker and told him “he loved him even if he missed the “game winning FG, and that if did we would win in OT” Dabo went on to say, “he would not mind if he went ahead and made it, thought”. Obviously, Newman did not get the same “lighter encouragement” when he missed his 2 FGs badly!Grobe “sits” on leads, Dabo tries to put the dagger in! That is a big difference between the two, and it has cost Wake at least3 or 4 wins this year!

Bobby on 11/14/2011 (11:37 am)

Wake played an outstanding game.  I just feel like the ACC and the refs never gave Wake the benefit of any doubt.  The defensive holding by Clemson in the 4th quarter happened on every play and the refs swallowed their whistles.  As mentioned here, there were 3 questionable spots by referees and the Out of bounds touchdown call was mind boggling.

I wish for once Grobe would lose his mind/cool/go ballistic, etc.  I get the feeling the refs can make these calls because Gentleman Grobe will accept them and move on.  Saturday was the time to channel his inner Harbaugh, K, or Roy, and let the officials know Wake was playing in the game as well.

RonnieFranchise on 11/14/2011 (11:33 am)

To Jerry and Jim, I asked to find out if Wake has lodged any official complaint to the ACC and apparently it has not. I’ll ask Coach Grobe about the play and the officiating in general tomorrow.

Dan Collins on 11/14/2011 (11:26 am)

Dan,
Can you get clarification on that call in the end zone?  The Clemson player definitely went out of bounds and then back in for the TD as the replays clearly showed. I’ve heard both sides and am confused.  Was it a blown call or the right call?

Jim on 11/14/2011 (10:17 am)

To all of the naysayers, complainers, and whiners out there - in case you missed it, Wake Forest played one heck of a game in Clemson on Saturday.  It’s too bad that most of you missed the three forced turnovers that the Deacs got, the two long touchdown runs that Brandon Pendergrass had, the big plays that the defense made in keeping Clemson’s high-octane offense frustrated most of the game, or the emotion and passion with wich the Demon Deacson played.  Instead you have chosen to focus on the few plays that the Deacs were not able to pull off.  After getting clobbered by Clemson the last two times they had gone down to Dealth Valley and after losing three of their last four games this season, Wake could have just gone and laid an egg and no one would have even raised an eyebrow.  Instead, they nearly upset the number nine team in the country in their stadium when Clemson had an extra (bye) week to prepare for this game.  The Deacs had Clemson sweating until the very last second, and Clemson never had more than a seven-point advantage the whole game.  Not bad for a team who was a 17-point underdog.  And, in case you did not notice, Clemson actually moved UP in both the polls and the BCS standings with this win - not usually something that happens when a team barely beats a lousy team.  (Even the pollsters knew that this was a big win for Clemson over a very good Wake Forest team.)  I live in South Carolina and usually face a lot of teasing this time of year from all of the Clemson fans here. But I can proudly say to those fans now, “That’s the best you could do with an extra week to prepare for a team who doesn’t have nearly the talent or depth that your team does and with 80,000 screaming orange fans behind them?  Pretty pathetic!”  I’m proud of our guys and our coaches.  (Had Dabo Swinney been coaching the Deacs and Coach Grobe been coaching the Tigers, Clemson WOULD have blown out Wake Forest.)  And I’m very proud to be a Demon Deacon fan.  GO DEACS!

Matt on 11/14/2011 (9:35 am)

Conspiracist would think that the ACC brass would want the #9 Clemson team to win so that an ACC team would still be mathematically possible for a BCS Bowl game. MMMMMM????
I wonder as aforementioned a lot of questionable calls but none so as blatantly as the illegal touch not called in the end zone, especially after they had access to the same replays the nation saw replayed on television.

1981DC#68 on 11/13/2011 (8:41 pm)

Jerry - See Dan’s prior post and you’ll note that several others caught it too.  Even the announcers noticed that one.  That was one of a few controversial calls (this touchdown, the fact that the last three seconds of the clocked ticked off after the final field goal had already gone through the uprights, a clear pass interference by one of the linebackers on Michael Campanaro on a third-down play, the borderline spot on Tanner Price’s quarterback sneak late in the second quarter) in this game, all of which seemed to go Clemson’s way.  The Deacs still could have overcome these calls and won the game, but it’s all history now.

Matt on 11/13/2011 (3:49 pm)

Television replays of one of Clemson’s touchdown passes showed that the receiver was out of bounds before catching the pass.  I’ve heard no discussion of that.  Would not the pass be declared incomplete and a loss of downs ensue?

Jerry McLeese on 11/13/2011 (2:48 pm)