Wake Forest Football
Wake Forest was ranked in the Top 25 in the nation by the AP Poll during most of the 2006 season. Wake Forest won the 2006 ACC Atlantic Division Title and the 2006 ACC Conference Championship by defeating Georgia Tech 9-6 on December 2 in the ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville, FL.
The win sent Wake Forest to the Orange Bowl to play Big East champion Louisville, where they lost to the Cardinals. This made Wake Forest the smallest school to ever compete in the Bowl Championship Series.
Of all schools that play Division I FBS football, only Rice and Tulsa have smaller undergraduate enrollments, and Wake Forest has the smallest undergraduate enrollment of any school in the BCS conferences. For his part in the record-setting season, coach Jim Grobe was unanimously selected ACC Coach of the Year, and handily won the AP Coach of the Year award several weeks later.
Wake Forest plays its home football games in Groves Stadium.
History
Mascot, nicknames and colors
Like many other collegiate school colors and mascots, Wake Forest's traditional "Old Gold & Black" and "Demon Deacon" have distinctive, yet somewhat debated, origins.
As early as 1895, Wake Forest College was using its colors in athletic competition. The school's literary magazine, "The Wake Forest Student," described them in this manner:
"At last, Wake Forest has a college badge.
Most historians believe that their adoption comes from the connection with the tiger mascot, and not, as some have proposed, from any association with the Bible.
Sadly, Heck, who is credited by the magazine with the creation of the tiger/old gold and black badge, died of typhoid fever at the age of 19 -- just one year after making a contribution to Wake Forest history that has lasted now for nearly 100 years.
The tiger mascot, however, remained with the school for just more than two decades. Reports indicate that by the early 1920s, the college's nicknames were most commonly noted as the "Baptists," or simply "The Old Gold & Black."
Those were difficult times for the Wake Forest athletic squads.
Garrity led the football team, which had never had a winning record in the 1900s, to three straight winning seasons. And in two seasons on the hardwood, his clubs compiled a 33-14 mark.
The current nicknames of the time were not descriptive enough of this new-found athletic spirit, school newspaper editor Mayon Parker ('24) felt.
After Wake Forest defeated rival Trinity (now Duke) in Garrity's first football season (1923), Parker first referred to the team as "Demon Deacons," in recognition of what he termed their "devilish" play and fighting spirit.
Wake Forest's news director Henry Belk and Garrity liked the title and began using it extensively. For the 2006-07 season, the school earned a bid to its first ever BCS game, with an Orange Bowl match-up against Louisville.
Rivalries
WFU is sometimes referred to as being a part of "Tobacco Road" or the Big Four, terms that refer to the four North Carolina schools that compete heatedly against each other within the ACC.
Wake's all-time records against the members of Tobacco Road are 33-67-2 against UNC, 34-60-6 against NCSU, and 32-53-2 against Duke. Wake Forest defeated North Carolina 6-4 on October 18, 1888 during the first intercollegiate football game played in the state of North Carolina. Wake Forest swept the series with its Tobacco Road rivals in both 2006 and 2007.
Individual Award Winners
Player
ACC Player of the Year
Bill Barnes - 1956
Brian Piccolo - 1964
Jay Venuto - 1979
Chris Barclay - 2005
Ray Guy Award
Ryan Plackemeier - 2005
ACC Rookie of the Year
Ciro Grassano - 1987
Riley Skinner - 2006
Josh Adams - 2007
Coaches
ACC Coach of the Year
Paul Amen - 1956
Paul Amen - 1959
Bill Tate - 1964
Cal Stoll - 1970
John Mackovic - 1979
Bill Dooley - 1987
Bill Dooley - 1992
Jim Grobe - 2006
Associated Press Coach of the Year
Jim Grobe - 2006
Bobby Dodd Award
Jim Grobe - 2006
Current NFL Players
Chris Barclay - Running Back, New Orleans Saints
Tyson Clabo - Offensive Lineman, Atlanta Falcons
Desmond Clark - Tight End, Chicago Bears
Chris Davis - Wide Receiver, New York Jets
Josh Gattis - Safety, Chicago Bears
Eric King - Cornerback, Tennessee Titans
Ovie Mughelli - Fullback, Atlanta Falcons
Calvin Pace - Linebacker, New York Jets
Ryan Plackemeier - Punter, Seattle Seahawks
Fred Robbins - Defensive Tackle, New York Giants
Jyles Tucker - Linebacker, San Diego Chargers
Joe Zelenka - Tight End, Jacksonville Jaguars
Other Famous Players
Charlie Crist - Current Republican Governor of Florida.
Rusty LaRue - Still owns several NCAA passing records
Brian Piccolo - Former NFL running back, basis for the movie Brian's Song
Clark Gaines - Former NFL running back, holds NFL record for most receptions in a game by a running back (3rd most receptions in a game among all players), and was the first undrafted rookie to rush for over 500 yards in a rookie season; currently serves as Assistant Executive Director of the NFL Players Association.
Ricky Proehl - Former NFL wide receiver who won Super Bowl rings with St.