Rakes Report #226: Touch a man who can't walk upright and that lame man, he gonna fly (The Wake Forest Review)
The Irish bounce back with a great sendoff for the seniors in the season's penultimate game.
~optional musical accompaniment~
1) Between the Clemson loss and the bye, the feel around these final two games was almost like they were extraneous, a post-credits teaser for a film franchise where you already know there will be no sequels. But the contest with the Demon Deacons was one of just a dozen Saturdays we get every year and the Senior Day emotions in the aftermath were a wonderful reminder of how much work the players, coaches and staff put into every single game and every single season. The Irish have now won seven Senior Days in a row, and the last six have all been blowouts against ACC teams, the slimmest margin clocking in at three touchdowns. Getting to spend a peaceful fourth quarter celebrating those who are playing their last game is always a joy, and Marcus Freeman had his team prepared in a manner that allowed us to do so.
2) It was in no way joyous to start, beginning with a three-and-out, a poor punt and a missed field goal, but the defense was never going to let Wake Forest establish any kind of lead. The lone touchdown drive allowed was Dave Clawson going Oops! All Trick Plays and just emptying the clip. The visitors put on a few other longer drives as far as play counts but they could never threaten this defense with explosive plays, not achieving any gain longer than 20 yards (which came on one of the aforementioned trick plays). Overall, the Deacons averaged just four yards per snap and were inefficient, clocking in at a success rate that would rank in the 16th percentile.
I don’t have any idea which of the upperclassmen in the front seven will or won’t be back but if this was the last game for a lot of them, they went out in style. Loved seeing J.D. Bertrand, Marist Liufau and Rylie Mills all converging on the strip sack that put the game out of reach. (This photo of Bertard, Liafau and Jack Kiser before the game is what it’s all about.) Loved seeing Howard Cross pile up nine tackles and get some extended love from the broadcast booth. Loved seeing yet another impactful game from Javontae Jean-Baptiste, who has been a rock all season. Al Golden has done a great job without an overwhelming amount of NFL talent and if this was his last game at Notre Dame Stadium, he deserves a round of applause for what he’s built.
(I possess zero clue of what Golden is going to do. My understanding is if an NFL defensive coordinator or good enough college head coaching job were to come open, he’d take it, but that’s all tea leaves and guesswork. Pete Thamel did throw his name out as one of many for Syracuse to potentially consider now that they’ve dismissed Dino Babers.)
3) After a slow start, the offensive performance checked three key boxes: a) Score a lot of points b) Give us some green shoots of hope for the wide receiver room c) Pile up some stats for Audric Estime because I want him to be showered with postseason accolades. In what had to be an extremely emotional game for Sam Hartman, he bounced back from a poor performance against Clemson against a Wake defense that had been solid all season (49th in F+ coming into the game). After being stuck in the mud on conversions for the last two months, Gerad Parker schemed out 6-for-11 on third or fourth downs. In other great news for the rest of this season and seasons to come, Ashton Craig and Billy Schrauth acquitted themselves quite well in their first starts along the interior of the line and Eli Raridon made a great touchdown catch. And yet again, Steve Angeli looked like a guy who knows exactly what he’s doing out there.
But to be whiny for a paragraph, it’s hard to watch that game and not be further annoyed at what we’ve seen for a lot of this season. Ample play action leading to big plays down the field. (I understand Hartman’s numbers weren’t great on play action, but that’s something you have to figure out.) RPOs early and often. On the fourth down conversion, they put Rico Flores in motion and that helped get him open, a wild concept. On the first touchdown, they used a wheel route to Devyn Ford, taking advantage of the talented stable of backs in a creative way. In general, there were plenty of deep shots, which we didn’t see nearly enough at times. I understand the Irish have played some quality defenses and there were concerns about protection, but imagine showing someone the NC State and Wake Forest games and asking them to guess how much pre-snap motion, play action and shot plays were involved in the games betwixt them. It was always there!
Rosier note: There have obviously been issues with the wide receiver room all season, but the arrow seems to be pointing up. Flores, Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison all look the part as true freshmen and will have an offseason of growth ahead of them. Tobias Merriweather has not had the season he wanted or we expected but he’s still out there competing. Jayden Thomas can return to health, Braylon James (the highest rated of these freshman receivers, but the rawest prospect) could be ready to go and then you have another talented class coming in, plus whatever you can get from the transfer portal, plus potentially another season of Chris Tyree if the staff can make its case convincingly enough. That’s more than enough to get yourself a stew going.
If you were wondering if Hartman was planning on playing in the bowl, both Freeman and his quarterback referenced “two more” following the game. People can change their minds but it seems like he’ll be suiting up in Orlando, Tampa, San Diego or wherever the Irish land.
4) What a stretch for Marty Biagi getting the blocked field goal and the sneaky onside kick, which was rude but excellent. (We shall not talk about the playcalling that followed it.) It cannot be overstated what a disaster it was to spike the ball in the closing seconds of the first half and then use your final timeout, but at least moves were made to get the offense the ball back on Wake Forest’s final possession.
Other positive news: The television deal with NBC was extended with Jack Swarbrick giving the quotes you want to hear about maintaining independence. As of this writing, I haven’t seen an exact figure given, but unless the general sense of the reporting is wrong it’s going to be where we need it to be to at least stay competitive financially. There will always be an independence tax, but it’s one worth paying.
5) Winning Is Hard Round Up: There was a lot of fun stuff that almost happened but still plenty that actually did. Do you remember when the USC Trojans were undefeated and a top ten team with the Heisman winner and playoff hopes? Well, an interesting fact is they got crushed at home by a UCLA team that maybe wants to fire its coach to finish at 7-5 and Lincoln Riley’s seat is quite warm for year two.
James Madison had College GameDay in town and a point to make after the NCAA screwed them over but they needed a late rally to force overtime against Appalachian State. There was no storybook ending, however, as the Mountaineers prevailed. Florida was on the verge of a top ten road upset at Mizzou but allowed a 4th and 17 conversion and totally collapsed. For Billy Napier to make a bowl he’ll need to defeat Florida State, which trailed North Alabama 13-0 before scoring next 58. The CW Network curse extended beyond the early deficit, as they lost starting quarterback Jordan Travis to injury.
Washington gutted out a tough, soggy, brawl of a win in Corvallis. Tennessee was the No. 13 team in the country but they followed up a 29-point loss at Missouri by losing by 28 at home to Georgia. Michigan took a break from doing various crimes, computer and otherwise, to struggle with Maryland. Utah got walloped by Arizona. Oklahoma struggled in Provo but prevailed. Auburn was a 25.5-point favorite in its Iron Bowl tune-up against New Mexico State and lost 31-10.
Air Force lost at home to a quality UNLV team and now they’ve gone from a potential New Year’s Six entrant to on the outs for the Mountain West title game. Nebraska lost a 14-0 lead at Wisconsin and then bungled the end of regulation so they'll need to defeat Iowa to go bowling. Louisville had a rough time in Miami but pulled out a win in front of dozens of Cane faithful. Oklahoma State rallied against a bad Houston team.
I said Notre Dame was probably going to finish this season without a win over a team that finishes ranked but NC State beat Virginia Tech to improve to 8-3 and if they can defeat a reeling North Carolina squad (losers at Clemson) they would almost certainly find themselves in the Top 25.
6) Basketball paragraphs: My heart was broken when Sonia Citron went down in the home opener with what looked like another one of the ACL tears that have been haunting the program but Niele Ivey said Saturday that it was a sprain that won’t end her season. That’s great news, because I need to see what kind of offensive rating a healthy quartet of Citron, Olivia Miles, Hannah Hidalgo and Maddie Westbeld can put up so so so bad. If you’re yet to watch Hidalgo play, she is the personification of phenomenal swag on both ends of the floor. It's one thing to accrue 27 steals in the first four games of your career, but when you're also shooting 50% from three and leading your very good team in scoring while also trash talking like a veteran, it's another level. I cannot believe that at some point we’re going to get to see her and Miles share a backcourt.
Also, a shoutout to the men’s team, which gutted out a nice win over Oklahoma State on Friday. It’s going to be a work in progress all season as Micah Shrewsberry figures out exactly what he has but to lose a big lead in the second half, fall behind immediately in overtime and then scratch your way to a victory less than 24 hours after you got run by a very good Auburn team, that’s a nice step. Speaking of talented freshman point guards, Markus Burton pull-up jumpers are a thing I’m excited to see for the next few years.
7) One game left! Both an honor and an indictment that this trip to Stanford is the Pac-12 Network’s final football game. (FuboTV has the network and offers a free trial, if you’re looking for a legal means to watch.) We can debate exactly what “unacceptable” and “must-win” mean but boy you cannot lose to this Stanford team (currently 3-8 and ranked 108th in the SP+) two years in a row. I understand there is a malevolent energy emanating from that entire area and this team has not played well on the road but simply have to do it.
This season has been a frustrating one at times, but Saturday was a reminder of how easy it is to root for this team. I’m glad we get the opportunity for a final time before everyone makes their bowl and transfer portal decisions, and I hope this opportunity results in blowing that stupid tree halfway to the moon.
Please have a wonderful Thanksgiving and safe travels. I am thankful you’ve all read and listened and hung out this season, through the times good and bad. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.
A loss to Stanford would give me flashbacks to Charlie Weis. It just can't happen. The vibes going into the bowl game and the off session would be borderline toxic. I have faith in Marcus that he can avoid that, though. 🤞