The Demon Deacons weren’t able to come up with enough plays when it really counted and suffered their fourth loss of three points or less.
This one was a little harder to take. Wake never trailed until the last 68 seconds. They outgained the Hurricanes 555-356 and built leads of 17-0 and 27-14.
They also let Miami drive for a touchdown in 39 seconds to pull within 20-14 at the end of the second quarter. The Deacs muffed a punt that led to a Miami touchdown early in the fourth quarter that brought the Hurricanes within 27-21. At least three times in the fourth quarter, they were unable to hold on to what would have been interceptions that would have helped them run out the clock. Wake was whistled for a holding call with 2:40 to go that wiped out a first down at the Miami 48 that would have put it in position to run out the clock.
“The bottom line is we didn’t make enough plays down the stretch on both sides of the ball,” Wake coach Jim Grobe said. “We had opportunities to make a first down here and there. Defensively we had our hands on three or four balls going for interceptions and didn’t make them.
“We’ve had seven late fourth quarter games and haven’t won our share, that’s the bottom line.”
By not winning their share, the Deacs stand 4-5 and 2-3 in the ACC and are in danger of not becoming bowl eligible with Georgia Tech, Duke and Florida State left on the schedule.
Grobe expressed confidence that his squad can bounce back.
“After some losses, you’ll hear some guys talking and stuff,” senior defensive end Jon Russell said. “But it wasn’t like that today because we knew that was our game to win. Miami made some great plays and we didn’t.
“It’s disappointing to know that you have that ability there but you haven’t been able to do it for four quarters. I talk all the time about trying to keep guys positive. The only game we didn’t have a shot was Clemson (a 38-3 loss). If the ball bounced a few different ways, we could be sitting here with a team that only has one loss. It is tough. But, we’ll try to get through it and win some games and make it to a bowl. We’re going to look back on the film and see what could have been. But we’ve got to move on.”
gsmith@hpe.com | 888-3519
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