Two teams spent three and a half quarters playing an offense that sent college football back to the dark ages. And then came one of the most unreal finishes of any game this season. Wake Forest overcame Pitt 21-17 in the closing seconds of an eight-minute thriller Saturday in Winston-Salem before a sparse homecoming crowd. Third-string quarterback Santino Marucci gives Wake a boost as the Demon Deacons improve to 4-3 overall, picking up their first ACC win (1-3). They stopped a three-game losing streak in the process.
The two teams did combine for 475 yards of total offense. But 205 of that was in the last six minutes of the game. But they also combined for 12 punts, necessitating both punters keep their scholarships, so there was that for the first three and a half quarters.
Slow Starts All Around
Wake Forest went with Marucci because Mitch Griffis and Michael Kern were physically unable to go. In his previous training camps, Marucci, in his third year, has been a backup quarterback, running back, and safety. Saturday was for real. And shy of a few sizeable plays in the first three and a half quarters, it was not easy. And then it got unreal at the end.
Wake head coach Dave Clawson scaled back the offense. He had planned on doing so anyway after three straight losses. Last week after the loss at Virginia Tech, he said they were going to have to just focus on what was working, which was not much. And then it became clear by Tuesday that Marucci was going to start a college game for the first time. “Santino was backpedaling, playing safety a year ago,” Clawson said after the game when asked about preparing the offense for this week.
It looked as dry as toast for most of the game. There were exactly two touchdowns total at halftime. Pitt scored in the first quarter when Christian Veilleux hit Kerry Johnson for a seven-yard touchdown pass. The Panthers had gone a perfect four for four on third down conversions against a Wake defense that was going to be counted on to keep the Deacs in the game.
After one of the numerous first-half punts, (this one by Pitt), Wake Forest started a drive at their own 45-yard line with a minute and a half left in the first half. It was more than enough for Marucci. He completed a pass over the middle to running back Demond Claiborne for 22 yards to the Pitt 33-yard line. The Panthers got tagged with an additional 15 yards for a facemask penalty.
On the next play, Claiborne bolted to the right side of the line for 18 yards and the touchdown to tie the game. It was Wake’s first touchdown on offense in three weeks.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
While it boosted the excitement level, Marucci was all of three for six passing for 24 yards, and that included the 22-yard connection with Claiborne. Pitt only had 167 yards of offense at the half, but that was still so much better than Wake’s 92.
The two teams traded offense inability for the entirety of the scoreless third quarter.
Pitt added a 41-yard field goal from Ben Sauls to go up 10-7 early in the third quarter. That was followed by another seven minutes of football where neither team went anywhere near the end zone.
Momentum Moves Around
And then lightning struck for Wake Forest. Marucci engineered an 89-yard scoring drive. Clawson and offensive coordinator Wayne Ruggiero went a little deeper into the playbook. Marucci completed a pass to Justice Ellison for five yards to the Pitt 49-yard line. That was followed by a seven-yard pickup by Jahmal Banks on an end-around that the offense has not used in a month. And then it was Claiborne again…42 yards to the left, out running the defensive backs along the way for the touchdown and 14-10 Wake lead.
In a game with so little offense, this conceivably could have been enough. But the last six minutes Saturday night were completely different than the previous 54. Veilleux took the Panthers 75 yards downfield in under two minutes. He completed a 22-yard pass to Bub Means going across to the left in front of the end zone for the score. Pitt was back up 17-14 and there was only 1:30 left in the game.
On what could have been the last Demon Deacons breath for the night, Marucci was intercepted by M.J. Devonshire at the Pitt 28-yard line. Pitt was flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty which pushed them back to their own 14-yard line.
As the Panthers were trying to run out the clock, Veilleux scrambled on third and eight. He went into his protective slide having gotten only seven yards, which is where the play gets whistled dead.
Marucci Magic
That gave Marucci one more shot at stardom for the night. After the Pitt punt, Wake had the ball at the Panthers 48 yard line. He hit Ke’Shawn Williams on back-to-back plays good for 38 yards, with the last one taking it down to the Pitt 15. With no timeouts left, Marucci spiked the ball to stop the clock. The safe bet was to kick the field goal and go into overtime. Clawson admitted after the game that he and Ruggiero had differing opinions on that. “I did not want to go to overtime,” Clawson said. On the next play, Marucci hit tight end Cameron Hite over the middle for a diving 15-yard touchdown catch and the game-winning score.
After what seemed like a forever-long official review of the diving grab, the officials confirmed the catch and what was left of the crowd, and the Wake sidelines erupted like they had not been able to do in a month.
“The way that last thing played out, I don’t know if you’ll ever recreate that,” Clawson said after the game. He said even with the tightened-down game plan, he knew they had to open it up at the end. “At the end of the game, you have to let them play.”
The Ride
Marucci has been through a lot of changes in his time at Wake Forest. Maybe that is why he took to the podium after the game with the confidence of a seasoned veteran, instead of a guy getting his first shot after a win. “We knew it was going to be a fourth-quarter fight,” he said. “So we were in it until the end.” He drew the similarities between his three-year journey and the last three minutes of that game. “Over those three years, it was a roller coaster. There was ups, downs, loop d’loops, everything.” As for the crazy ride that was the end of the game, “Hats off to Cam, our offensive line, the running backs, everyone who was blocking for me. They did it. I just gave them a chance.”
Clawson was happy for the players who have taken the heat with him the last three weeks over a lack of execution in the losses. He was also pragmatic. “It was a great moment. And I’ll never forget it. And then 24 hours from now, we’ll be getting ready for Florida State and that’s the nature of what we do.”
Main image courtesy: AP News
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