27 - 21 Wake Forest has graduated from where 7 or 8 win seasons are considered really good seasons. Three straight bowl wins and three straight seasons of 7-8 wins had Wake Forest ready in 2019 to have that special 9-10 win top 25 season.
At 7-1 and ranked in the top 20, that special season was right there for the taking.
Injuries, a tougher schedule, and just bad football did the Deacs in. Clemson was Clemson and blew out Wake Forest. Virginia Tech was red hot and at home. They beat Wake Forest. There were the injuries to star WRs Scotty Washington and Sage Surratt. Then there was an OT loss to a struggling Syracuse to end the regular season.
All of this conspired to sink the Deacs season, but the bowl game against Michigan State gave them a chance to salvage things.
Wake Forest lost 27-21, but it felt like Michigan State was the better more physical team and the Deacs were fortunate they still had a chance to win the game in the 4th quarter.
Michigan State was simply too physical for Wake Forest and they controlled the line of scrimmage almost the entire game.
For Wake Forest to finish 8-5 after a 7-1 start sours the 2019 season.
This doesn’t mean Wake Forest fans need to panic. Dave Clawson is still a very good coach, and the Deacs are still very much bowl capable. With QB Jamie Newman likely back, the offense should again be a load to deal with next year.
2019 proved though how thin the margin of error is for Wake Forest. A couple of injuries took the air out of the offense.
It would have been interesting if Wake Forest could have cashed in for top 25 season if they had managed to stay healthy.
Wake Forest will look back at the 2019 season as one that could have been.
