2011 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Football: Wake Forest vs Notre Dame

While the rest of the nation was watching LSU at Alabama, Notre Dame traveled to BB&T Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For Wake Forest, this game represented an opportunity to defeat a nationally relevant program, while for Notre Dame, it was an opportunity to pick up a road win and maintain its position on the bowl pecking order.

The game started out quickly, with Wake Forest taking a 7-0 lead on the game’s opening drive, as Tanner Price led the Demon Deacons down the field and threw a 20-year TD pass to Brandon Pendergrass. Notre Dame immediately responded with a field goal, which Wake Forest matched after a 62 yard kickoff return. Notre Dame started the next drive with a short field after a decent return and a Wake Forest personal foul, and Tommy Rees threw a 38 yard TD pass to Tyler Eifert to tie the game at 10. Wake Forest took the lead on its final drive of the half, after Price led the Demon Deacons on an 81 yard drive, capped by a Josh Harris TD run, to give them a 17-10 lead going into the half.

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The home crown would be disappointed in the second half, though, as the Demon Deacons would fail to score. Notre Dame dominated the game, from a momentum stand point, in the second half. The Irish easily drove 62 yards in only 6 plays on the first drive of the second half to tie the game, and drove 65 yards on 6 plays on their next drive to pull ahead 24-17. That would be all they would need, as Wake Forest managed less than 100 second half yards. The Deacons has a great scoring opportunity in the 3rd quarter after Josh Bush intercepted Rees and returned the ball to the ND 24 yard line. Price hit Chris Givens to bring the ball inside the 10, but Brandon Pendergrass fumbled the ball to end Wake Forest’s only serious second half touchdown opportunity.

Price finished the game with a 17-24 passing effort for 187 yards, one TD and no INTs. The Deacs gained only 110 rushing yards, with Pendergrass’ 47 leading the way. Rees was 14-23 for 166 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs. The Irish were successful running the ball, with Jonas Gray gaining 92 yards on 19 carries and a TD, and Cierre Wood gaining 87 yards on 14 carries. Tyler Eifert and Michael Floyd each had a receiving TD for the Irish. Floyd had 5 catches for 44 yards, while Eifert had 60 yards on 3 catches.

This is the first game of a three-game stretch for the Irish against ACC opponents, and this should be the toughest of the three. ND (6-3) hosts Maryland and Boston College over the next two weeks before finishing the season at Stanford. Wake Forest is still in contention for the ACC Atlantic crown, having already beaten Florida State and with a game at Clemson next week. By beating Clemson and Maryland, Wake Forest (5-4 overall, 4-2 in the ACC) could win the Atlantic. Wake closes the season against Vanderbilt.

Wake Forest vs Notre Dame Football Recap