Louisville most likely came one game away from reaching the national championship game. Wake Forest surprised everyone by being the toast of the ACC, after being picked to finish dead last in the conference. The two will meet in the FedEx Orange Bowl on January 2 nd in Miami.
Since their loss to Rutgers (their only of the season), the Cards' have been on a roll. It also helps that they got their quarterback fully healthy after a thumb injury. On paper, it certainly looks like Wake Forest may have its hands full with the Louisville offense. After all, they are the No. 2 ranked offense in the nation, and extremely balanced with that. The Cardinals are seventh in the nation in passing and have the tenth best rushing attack. When Louisville has been stopped offensively, they are usually stopping themselves.
Louisville puts up an average of 38.9 points per game and 476 yards of offense. After star running back Michael Bush went down early in the season, they have gotten production from a variety of backs, with Kolby Smith leading the team in rushing with 780 yards. Anthony Allen is second with 395, but leads the team with 12 rushing touchdowns.
Brohm has been tremendous as the signal caller, as the junior prepares for what could be his final collegiate game. Brohm averages 273.8 yards per game, and thrown 16 touchdowns in the ten games he has played. Harry Douglas is the biggest threat receiving wise, with 60 catches for 1,100 yards on the year, but Mario Urrutia is no pushover. Urrutia has 929 yards and six touchdown receptions.
The Louisville defense is where they have gotten into trouble at times. Leading 25-7 at Rutgers, they collapsed, and that is the reason they aren't practicing in Phoenix for the National Championship game next week. The unit allows 315.3 yards per game.
Wake Forest, meanwhile, is the team that won't die. Even when they took injury upon injury to key players, the Demon Deacons have come back to shock opponents week after week. Especially Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game to get here. It's quite an accomplishment for a school with the third lowest enrollment in I-A, sitting at about 4,321 students. They were also able to sell their full allotment of 17,500 tickets, again not bad considering the school says there are only 54,447 living alumni.
On the field, the Deacons are not distinguished in any offensive category. They ranked sixth in the league in points scored, eighth in total offense, dead-last in passing offense -- despite QB Riley Skinner's success -- and third in rushing offense. But when they get chances, they score points and their efficiency with opportunities is what has made them so successful, along with a difficult offensive style to defend.
Defensively is how Wake has been getting things done, as they come up with the big play time and time again. The Deacons rank fourth nationally with 20 interceptions, and this is one of the biggest reasons behind their success. They have intercepted a pass in 10 consecutive games. They've also produced 29 sacks, the most in any single season under coach Jim Grobe. Against the run, Wake Forest ranks 21st nationally.
In some ways, they are two Cinderella teams, so whoever wins will really have the biggest win in school history. But just getting to this point is huge for the school and their fans, it shall be fun, especially any time the Big East squares off against the ACC .
Douglas Kroll can be reached at dckroll@hotmail.com
