Wake Forest beat Vanderbilt Saturday. That kept Vanderbilt from being guaranteed a bowl game. Six wins is the minimum a team needs to be eligible for a bowl game. With seven wins or more, a team is guaranteed one.
Alphonso Smith’s interception set up Wake Forest’s game clinching touchdown run. Smith tied a record 20th interception when he picked the ball off. Rich Belton of Wake Forest was the one who put the game out of reach from Vanderbilt.
Wake Forest boosted their bowl prospects after winning their last game.
Kevin Harris and Brandon Pendergrass had rushing touchdowns for their Wake Forest Demon
Deacons. They closed the football season with a win that will give them a school-record 3 straight bowl trips.
Larry Smith, a redshirt freshman, debuted for the first time in college for Vanderbilt. He came out after halftime and threw a five yard touchdown to Brandon Barden. That pass was significant because it was on fourth down. Also, it was the first play in the fourth quarter. That touchdown pass cut Wake Forest’s lead down to 7.
Smith threw the ball from within his own end zone. It was picked off by Alphonso Smith with about 4 minutes left in the game. This was Smith’s last home game and he had something else to be proud of after it was over. He tied former North Carolina’s Dre’ Bly, CB, for the career interception record in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Two plays later, Belton ran for four yards. That sent the Commodores packing after their sixth loss in seventh games. They started the season at 5-0 before falling at Mississippi State in a close game.
Chip Vaughn intercepted the ball and recovered a fumble. The Commodores were held to 249 yards.
This game would probably have been high scoring if the weather hadn’t been a factor. The rain persisted. The wind was blowing hard and the weather was cold. The temperature was in the upper 30’s. Had it not been raining, then there would have been more than half of the stadium being filled.
Harris scored a touchdown after an 8 yard run. This made the score 17-3. Mackenzi Adams came in after Chris Nickson got injured on the fourth offensive play.
Both teams seemed to play bad football late in the year.
Vanderbilt will more than likely be playing in their first bowl game since 1982. That was their second straight loss. Wake Forest came into this game in a better situation. Clemson and North Carolina State won their respective games and that helped the other Atlantic Coast Conference teams out. Now, there are nine guaranteed spots for ten bowl-eligible teams. Wake Forest had some concerns before this game. They were on a two game losing streak. Also, they have a small fan base. Teams are selected to play in a specific bowl games are mainly chosen because of their fanbase. The bigger the fan base you have, the more likely you are to get into a better bowl.
Vanderbilt ended the season 6-6. There was a Chick-Fil-A Bowl representative at the game, but he was looking at Vanderbilt, as a SEC possibility in the Atlanta Bowl. The SEC had problems because LSU, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt lost the same weekend. The Commodores could end up playing in the Liberty Bowl.
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