Turkeys 27, Wake 6

So the Virginia Tech Turkeys won last Saturday. We got our revenge Thursday.

And like some Wake fan in the parking lot after the game said to the Virginia Tech fan screaming, "We're going back up the mountain with the W," "That's fine - we're going to play for the ACC Championship."

I can't believe Virginia Tech has lost a conference game this year. By now I've seen every ACC team play at least once, and Virginia Tech looked the best by far. Great speed, great strength, and they weren't fooled by Wake's misdirection offense. Frank Beamer and his staff coached their players well on staying where they're supposed to be, even if Wake looks like they're running to the opposite side.

But, to be honest, I thought Wake looked pretty good, no matter what the final score said. The offense looked like most of Wake's opponents have looked against the Deacs: they moved the ball well, but they couldn't quite get it into the end zone. The backbreaker was a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Virginia Tech in the third quarter. From where I was sitting, I couldn't even see the fumble. I had looked away, thinking the play was over, when I heard gasps from the Wake fans, looked up and saw a Turkey racing into the end zone untouched. 'Racing' might not even be the right word - he actually stopped after a few yards and looked at the referee, as if to ask, "Is this really a fumble? You haven't blown this play dead?"

The ref hadn't, and it really was, and Virginia Tech went up 23-6 and put the game out of reach.

I left Groves Stadium for the last time this incredible season feeling good about two things: the Deacons' chances against Maryland this Saturday, and the state of football at little ol' Wake Forest. Little ol' Groves Stadium was sold out on the Tuesday before the game. Little ol' Groves Stadium was packed 15 minutes before kickoff. Those ticket holders packed inside little ol' Groves Stadium were deafening, right up until that fumble return. Wake fans outnumbered Tech fans, and Tech fans travel in hordes to support their Turkeys.

I pulled into the parking lot more than 4 hours before kickoff, and the Joel lot was already half-full. Cars were still streaming into the Deacon Club Gold Lot twenty minutes before kickoff - had those Deacon Clubbers not gotten the word that Wake Forest football is for real this year? Long gone are the days when you could mosey on over to Groves, find you a nice convenient spot, even buy your ticket at the window before you walk into the game. Seeing Wake football takes planning these days, my friends. It takes commitment. You got to get there early, tickets in hand, unless you're willing to get scalped.

The final score of last Saturday's game couldn't take away the thrill of seeing crowds in and around Groves Stadium, of feeling the anticipation coming off everyone there like electricity, of hearing the noise after Wake scored or when Virginia Tech faced third down. Deaconball has arrived.

Yet the Charlotte Observer pointed out that Wake returns something like 10 starters on offense, including Riley Skinner and Sam Swank, then asked the reader if he thought Wake could win nine again next year. "See," the Observer said, "you still don't believe, do you?"

Will Wake win nine next year? I don't know. All kinds of things can happen.

Can Wake win nine next year? You bet your old-gold-and-black ass they can.

But right now, let's worry about Wake winning one, just one, in College Park.