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Wake's

Freddie had us up on #5 Pudue in 1968 until the Boilermakers scored 14 points in the last 7 minutes to beat us 28-27. Purdue featured Mike Phipps (#3 NFL draft pick) and Leroy Keyes (also a #3 pick).
 
sailordeac said:
Saw Freddie Summers go 80-plus yards on a quarterback keeper for a TD against State IIRC in the first game ever in Groves Stadium.
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With all due respect to both you and this article, sailor, that is not the way I remember it. I know the article says that Summers' 90-yard run occurred in 1968, but I believe that this happened against Maryland in a 35-17 night game win at Bowman Gray Stadium a year earlier during Summers' junior year (which was my senior year). IIRC, he ran around the left end and down the far sideline..... going left to right from where the students were sitting. The date was November 17th, 1967, to be exact. It was our 4th straight win to end the season 4-6 after an 0-6 start.

I was also at the NC State game to which you refer. That was on September 14th, 1968....and it was the first game ever played at Groves Stadium, as you said. It was a warm, sunny afternoon. NC State won the game 10-6 in what was the beginning of a very frustrating year. We were 0-4-1 after the first five games and had only been outscored by 11 points in total. A week after the NC State game, Clemson came to WF and scored late with the Deacs leading 20-13. Frank Howard elected to kick the XP and take the tie, rather than to go for the win. The next week (while I was on my honeymoon, BTW), we committed some costly turnovers and lost 24-19 at what was a good Minnesota football program at the time. The next week (8 days after I got married) I went to Blacksburg and Summers had 4 turnovers as we lost to Virginia Tech by 7-6. In probably the most heartbreaking loss, though, we then lost 28-27 at #3 Purdue (with QB Mike Phipps & RB Leroy Keyes) after leading 27-14 in the 4th quarter. That's 0-4-1 in a 5-game stretch where we could have won all five games.

Oh, I was also at the 48-31 win over Carolina which the article mentions. It was at Groves on a very windy Saturday afternoon (October 26th, 1968). Freddie Summers & Carolina QB Gayle Bomar put on a wild offensive display. Terrific game for the fans....especially WF fans, as it turned out.


ETA: Didn't realize that WFU71 was posting on the Purdue game as I was forming my post. (I think they were ranked #3, though. Could've been two different polls. I think Purdue lost to Notre Dame either right before or right after they played us, which would have affected the rankings.)
 
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With all due respects, I think I'm right about the details of the Summers TD run but maybe we need to look it up. I also recall Purdue being No. 1 when we lost that heart-breaker to them, a classic Wake snatching defeat from the hands of victory game.
 
WFU71 said:
Freddie had us up on #5 Pudue in 1968 until the Boilermakers scored 14 points in the last 7 minutes to beat us 28-27. Purdue featured Mike Phipps (#3 NFL draft pick) and Leroy Keyes (also a #3 pick).
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What I remember about the '69 Draft (Leroy Keyes) is that all the Eagles had to do to get OJ rather than Leroy Keyes was to lose on the road to a terrible Lions team in the snow. Hell, Wake's Norm Snead did his part by going 6-15 passing, but they still got four FGs.

They couldn't lose when it counted.
 
Looks like a typical Wake snatch defeat from the jaws of victory game. Flubbed back to back kickoff returns. Missing an interception that would have sealed it. Letting the QB escape for a long run on 4th down.
 
sailordeac said:
With all due respects, I think I'm right about the details of the Summers TD run but maybe we need to look it up. I also recall Purdue being No. 1 when we lost that heart-breaker to them, a classic Wake snatching defeat from the hands of victory game.
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Purdue dropped from #1 to #5 after losing to #4 Ohio State 13-0 the week before our game.
 
BTW, in either '67 or '68 Clemson coach Frank Howard was quoted as saying that he thought Wake Forest was the dark horse of the ACC race after seeing the team picture - pretty sure he wasn't talking about how big and strong our team was.
 
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I was also at the NC State game to which you refer. That was on September 14th, 1968....and it was the first game ever played at Groves Stadium, as you said. It was a warm, sunny afternoon. NC State won the game 10-6. ..................

I was too and remember a very decisive play to Wake's demise. Summers ran around the left end, gained some yards, was tackled and hit the ground (in front of where I was sitting). He popped up immediately to return to huddle and left the ball one the ground. He was surely/clearly DOWN by contact, but the whistle didn't blow and NCSU jumped on the ball. That lead to their winning score.

Oh, I was also at the 48-31 win over Carolina which the article mentions. It was at Groves on a very windy Saturday afternoon (October 26th, 1968). Freddie Summers & Carolina QB Gayle Bomar put on a wild offensive display. Terrific game for the fans....especially WF fans, as it turned out.

Yes, we arrived in short sleeves shirts on a hot day - That 2nd half wind brought in a cold front and we left the game shivering, but very happy. ..........
 
ChrisL68 said:
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...17-18/misc_non_event/2017fbguide_section5.pdf

It was Maryland
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Well, I was half right and half wrong. I was fairly certain that the 90-yard run was against Maryland, but I could have sworn it was 1967, rather than 1968. It was 49-50 years ago, though, and about all of those WF football years tended to blend together as just one dismal season after another.

Wonder how we happened to play Maryland at home for two straight years? WE had a hard time getting any home games during the 4 football seasons while I was there. Only had 13 home games in the four years: 1964-3, 1965-3, 1966-4, 1967-3. The students had to make a lot of Saturday road trips to games.
 
ChrisL68 said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-pghzNOWZI

Wake Purdue 1968:
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Hurricane Gladys was going thru North Carolina that weekend. Of course the weather didn't affect our game against Purdue, which was in West Lafayette, but it did play a big part in a huge upset at Chapel Hill that day as Carolina upset#7 Florida by 22-7 in a pouring rain. That game ended before our game with Purdue and I remember thinking when we were leading 27-14 that the ACC was going to have two huge upsets that day
 
sailordeac said:
Thanks to Chris, bkf and 71 for your better memories on Wake football.
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Don't know that I can claim that much credit, as I was thinking the run was in the 1967 Maryland game. I will say one thing, though. That 1968 team's record could have easily been a lot better than 2-7-1...which might have saved Bill Tate's job. Also, the 1971 team's record could have been much better than 6-5. We lost 21-14 in a game-long rain at NC State on a long run late in the game. Two weeks later we lost 7-3 on a terrible 4th down spot late in the game inside the Carolina 10-yard line in another game-long rain (I sat thru both of those miserable games)...and a week after that we missed several scoring opportunities and lost 10-9 at Clemson. That team could have finished 9-2 with a couple of breaks.
 
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bobknightfan said:
Well, I was half right and half wrong. I was fairly certain that the 90-yard run was against Maryland, but I could have sworn it was 1967, rather than 1968. It was 49-50 years ago, though, and about all of those WF football years tended to blend together as just one dismal season after another.

Wonder how we happened to play Maryland at home for two straight years? WE had a hard time getting any home games during the 4 football seasons while I was there. Only had 13 home games in the four years: 1964-3, 1965-3, 1966-4, 1967-3. The students had to make a lot of Saturday road trips to games.
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According to the Media Guide, Maryland played at Wake in '67, '68, and '69
 
The only clear memory I have of the football seasons is sitting in the dorm listening to away games with friends. You could tell how well the Deacs were playing by the groans and cheers coming from the suites. If it was loud the Deacs were in the game. Quiet meant a beating. A victory would bring folks outside to celebrate. Snatch a victory from defeat... the anguish and frustration made for some classic demonstrations of inappropriate behavior for all to see.

Home games were a different matter.
 
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