Boston College vs. Wake Forest Football: A Storied History

The gridiron clash between Boston College and Wake Forest is more than just a game; it's a chapter in the evolving narrative of college football. To fully appreciate this rivalry, it's essential to understand the foundations upon which Wake Forest's football program was built.

The Genesis of Wake Forest Football

Wake Forest University's football program boasts a history dating back to 1888. In that inaugural year, coached by W. C. Dowd and W. C. Riddick, the team played a single game, securing a 1-0 record with a victory over North Carolina. This win marked the first-ever collegiate football game played in North Carolina.

From 1891 to 1893, under head coach E. Walter Sikes, Wake Forest achieved a 6-2-1 record. Harry Rabenhorst then coached for two seasons, posting a 3-8 record. Hank Garrity, who served as head football coach from 1923 to 1924, achieved a 19-7-1 record. His .704 winning percentage remains the highest in Wake Forest football history.

Peahead Walker Era: A Foundation of Success

F. S. "Peadhead" Walker, arriving from Elon, coached Wake Forest for 14 seasons, compiling a 77-51-6 record. He is tied with Jim Grobe as the winningest head football coach in Demon Deacon football history. Walker led the Deacons to two bowl games: a win over South Carolina in the inaugural Gator Bowl in 1946 and a loss to Baylor in the 1949 Dixie Bowl. He resigned after the 1950 season and was inducted into the Wake Forest Athletics Hall of Fame in 1971.

The Tom Rogers Years

Tom Rogers succeeded Walker, leading the Demon Deacons from 1951 to 1955. Rogers' yearly records at Wake Forest were 6-4, 5-4-1, 3-6-1, 4-7-1 and 5-4-1. In 1951, the Demon Deacons compiled a 6-4 record and finished in a tie for seventh place in the Southern Conference. End Jack Lewis and linebacker Bill George were selected by the Associated Press as first-team players on the 1951 All-Southern Conference football team. In their second season under Rogers, the Demon Deacons compiled a 5-4-1 record and finished in a tie for second place in the Southern Conference with a 5-1 record against conference opponents. End Jack Lewis was selected by the United Press as a first-team player on the 1952 All-Southern Conference football team. This was followed by a 3-6-1 campaign in 1953 that saw Wake Forest finish in a three-way tie for third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 2-3 record against conference opponents. In 1954, the Demon Deacons compiled a 3-6-1 record and finished in sixth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 1-4-1 record against conference opponents. End Ed Stowers and tackle Bob Bartholomew were selected by the Associated Press as first-team players on the 1954 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team.

Transition and Tribulation

The late 1950s and early 1960s saw Wake Forest navigate a period of transition. Under coach Amen, the Demon Deacons compiled a 2-5-3 record in his first season and finished in seventh place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 1-5-1 record against conference opponents. Halfback Billy Ray Barnes rushed for over 1,000 yards and was selected by the Associated Press as a first-team player on the 1956 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team. Amen's 1957 team posted a winless 0-10 record. This was followed by a 3-7 season in 1958. In 1958, the Demon Deacons compiled a 6-4 record and finished in a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Quarterback Norm Snead and end Pete Manning were selected by the Associated Press and United Press International as first-team players on the 1959 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team. Snead later played 16 seasons in the NFL and was a four-time All-Pro selection. Guard Nick Patella was selected to the All-ACC team by the UPI. Amen was selected in 1956 and 1959 as ACC Coach of the Year, however, Amen retired after four seasons. Bill Hildebrand was promoted from defensive line coach to head coach following Amen's retirement. Hildebrand, like his predecessors, struggled to find much success. His best season came in 1961 in which the Demon Deacons posted a 4-6 record. In its first season under Hildebrand, the Demon Deacons compiled a 2-8 record and finished in seventh place in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Quarterback Norm Snead was selected by the United Press International as a first-team player on the 1960 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team. Snead later played 16 seasons in the NFL and was a four-time All-Pro selection.

The Brian Piccolo Era

Bill Tate was hired as the Demon Deacons head football coach in January 1964. Tate coached the Demon Deacons for five seasons. In its first season under Tate, the team compiled a 5-5 record and finished in a three-way tie for third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Three players received first-team All-ACC honors from the Associated Press: fullback Brian Piccolo, quarterback John Mackovic, and end Richard Cameron. Piccolo was a unanimous selection for the all-conference team, and was also selected as a first-team All-American by Football News. He set three ACC records in 1964 with 1,044 rushing yards, 111 points scored, and 17 touchdowns. Piccolo also led the nation in 1964 in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and points scored. He was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year, yet went unselected in both the AFL and NFL drafts. Mackovic led the Demon Deacons with 1,340 passing yards while completing 89 of 195 passes.

John Mackovic's Return and Dooley's Tenure

Purdue offensive coordinator and associate head coach John Mackovic took over as head coach of his alma mater in 1978 and re-energized the Wake Forest football program, turning the program around from 1-10 to 8-4 in one year, for which Mackovic won ACC Coach of the Year honors. His teams were aggressive and fast. In Dooley's first season, the team compiled a 7-4 record and finished in a tie for third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The next year, Wake Forest compiled a 6-4-1 record and finished in a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. In 1989, the Demon Deacons compiled a 2-8-1 record and finished in seventh place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The following season, Wake Forest finished with a 3-8 record and finished in last place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. In 1991, Wake Forest again finished last in the ACC with a 3-8 record. Dooley led the Demon Deacons to one bowl game, the 1992 Independence Bowl, which Wake Forest won, capping off an 8-4 season in which they finished ranked No. 25 in both the AP and Coaches Polls, respectively. Dooley re-retired after that game. Dooley retired after the 1992 season. His six seasons in Winston-Salem are tied for fourth for longest tenure and his 29 wins are third in most wins in Wake Forest history.

Caldwell Era

Jim Caldwell came to Wake Forest from his post as quarterbacks coach at Penn State. Caldwell was the first African American head football coach in Wake Forest football history. Caldwell's Demon Deacons were known to pass the ball well, setting dozens of school passing records. In 1997, the Demon Deacons compiled a 5-6 record and finished in a tie for sixth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The highlight of the season came on opening weekend, when the Demon Deacons upset then No. 21 Northwestern by a score of 27-20, their first win over a ranked opponent in over a decade. In 1998, the Demon Deacons compiled a 3-8 record and finished in a tie for sixth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. That was followed by the only winning season of Caldwell's tenure, a 7-5 season capped with a win in the 1999 Aloha Bowl. In 2000, the Demon Deacons compiled a 2-9 record and finished in eighth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake Forest struggled in Caldwell's eight-year tenure, posting only one winning season.

The Jim Grobe Era: A New Dawn

Coach Jim Grobe's arrival from Ohio marked a turning point for Wake Forest football. He implemented an aggressive defensive scheme and instilled a philosophy of discipline and accountability. In 2004, the Demon Deacons compiled a 4-7 record and finished in a tie for last place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. That year, Wake Forest lost a close game on homecoming to then No. After that 2006 season, Grobe's teams weren't able to match that level of success, winning six or more games just three times in the next seven years. Following the most successful season in team history in 2006, the 2007 team was not widely predicted to win the ACC despite returning many offensive starters from 2006. Some sports writers stated that they believed 2006 to have been a fluke and that Wake Forest was not going to win as many games in 2007, especially because of the losses on defense, including the loss of linebacker Jon Abbate to the National Football League. Wake Forest was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Division of the ACC in the annual preseason poll conducted by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Lindy's was the only major preseason magazine to pick Wake Forest as a Top-25 team. The team began its season with an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) game on Saturday, September 1, 2007, against Boston College. Wake Forest played its first season since winning the 2006 ACC championship, their first in 36 years. Wake Forest would finish the season with a 9-4 (5-3 ACC) record. A win in the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl against UConn gave the Deacons twenty wins over the last two seasons.

Dave Clawson's Impact

Dave Clawson was hired away from Bowling Green as the Demon Deacons head football coach, his hiring made official at a press conference on December 10, 2013. Clawson brought with him a coaching style that utilizes the team's available talent to maximize success. After posting 3-9 (1-7 ACC) seasons in 2014 and 2015, Clawson's 2016 team started the season by winning five of its first six games including road victories at Duke and Indiana. He led Wake Forest to its first bowl win in eight years, beating then No. The Demon Deacons finished 8-5 in 2017. The Demon Deacons kicked off the season on August 31 with a 51-7 victory over FCS Presbyterian. In the season's second game, Wake defeated Boston College by a margin of 34-10. After a 46-10 drubbing of Utah State, Clawson's squad picked up their fourth win of the season in their fourth game by virtue of a 20-19 nail biter over Appalachian State. Then the Demon Deacons embarked upon a three-game losing streak, beginning with a 26-19 loss to Florida State. On October 7, Wake Forest lost to No. 2 Clemson by a score of 28-14. After a 38-24 loss to Georgia Tech, Wake posted its fifth victory of the season with a 42-32 win over Louisville with wide receiver Greg Dortch hauling in a school-record 4 TD receptions. After a 48-37 loss to No. 5 Notre Dame, the Demon Deacons ran all over Syracuse in an offensive shootout, prevailing by a margin of 64-43. After a 30-24 victory over archrival No. 25 NC State, Clawson's squad lost to rival Duke by a score of 31-23 in the regular season finale. Wake Forest was offered and accepted a berth in the 2017 Belk Bowl, a game they won over Texas A&M by a score of 55-52. The following year, they were offered and accepted a berth to the 2018 Birmingham Bowl, in which they beat Memphis 37-34. In 2019 they finished the season 8-5 after losing to Michigan State in the 2019 Pinstripe Bowl. In 2020 they finished the season 4-5 after losing to Wisconsin in the 2020 Duke's Mayo Bowl.

Recent Developments

Wake Forest hired Dickert as its head football coach in December 2024, following the resignation of Dave Clawson. In his first season, Dickert set a program record for the most wins by a first-year Wake Forest head coach, leading the Demon Deacons to nine victories.

Bowl Game History

Wake Forest has played in 18 bowls in its history and owns a 12-6 record in those games. For the 2006 season, the school earned a bid to its first ever BCS game, with an Orange Bowl match-up against Louisville. Wake also had played in the 1982 Mirage Bowl in Tokyo, Japan against Clemson. However, because this game was played during the regular season, the NCAA does not recognize it as an official bowl game. Wake also competed in the 1951, 1953, 1954 Tobacco Bowl in Richmond, Virginia.

Rivalries

Wake Forest is referred to as being a part of "Tobacco Road" or the Big Four, terms that refer to the four North Carolina schools that compete heatedly against each other within the ACC. Wake Forest shares a football rivalry with Duke University. This rivalry started due to the schools' historical religious affiliations and close proximity to one another within the state of North Carolina (Wake Forest University was originally located in the town of Wake Forest before moving to Winston-Salem in 1956). Duke was originally known as Trinity College and the athletic teams were known as the Methodists, while Wake Forest's athletic teams were known at the time as the Baptists. The series is 61-40-2 in favor of Duke. Duke won the most recent matchup in 2025 by a score of 49-32. This matchup was the key final victory to propel Duke to qualify for the ACC championship game, which it would end up winning over Virginia. As of 2025, Wake Forest and Duke are thus the only Tobacco Road schools with ACC championship game victories since its inception. Wake Forest and in-state rival NC State face each other every year and is a protected rivalry within the ACC. The rivalry is also the longest continuous rivalry between two ACC schools, having been played every year since 1910, as well as being the fourth longest continuous rivalry in NCAA history. Although the series has been interrupted since its inception, it has been uninterrupted since 1910, tying it with Oklahoma/Oklahoma St. for the second-longest continuous rivalry in FBS Division I college football, after only Minnesota/Wisconsin (uninterrupted since 1907).

Notable Players

Wake Forest has produced a number of notable players who have gone on to success in the NFL, including:

Read also: History of the BU Bridge

Kendall Hinton: Current Free Agent NFL Wide Receiver who was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2020. Playing QB during his time at Wake Forest before transitioning to WR, he made a debut as starting quarterback for one game during the 2020 season when all four Broncos’ quarterbacks were ineligible to play due to COVID-19 protocols.
Ricky Proehl: Former NFL wide receiver who won Super Bowl rings

Boston College vs. Wake Forest: A Meaningful Matchup

The annual game between Boston College and Wake Forest represents a significant intersection in their respective football histories. While the provided text focuses primarily on Wake Forest, the context of their 2007 game against Boston College, marking Wake Forest's first season after their ACC Championship win, highlights the importance of this particular matchup. The rivalry continues to evolve, with each game adding a new layer to the narrative.

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