Series History: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Looking back at the series history between Notre Dame and Wake Forest

Notre Dame heads to Winston-Salem, N.C. this weekend for an ACC contest against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Irish will look to improve to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in league play. In the video above, head coach Brian Kelly talks about the Demon Deacons.

Let’s kick off our coverage of the Deacons and Irish with a look at the series history.

SERIES HISTORY

Notre Dame never played Wake Forest until Kelly arrived in South Bend. The Irish lead the all-time series 5-0. This will be the first matchup with Notre Dame as a member of the ACC.

2011 - Notre Dame 24, Wake Forest 17 (road)
2012 - Notre Dame 38, Wake Forest 0 (home)
2015 - Notre Dame 28, Wake Forest 7 (home)
2017 - Notre Dame 48, Wake Forest 37 (home)
2018 - Notre Dame 56, Wake Forest 27 (road)

Current Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson was the coach for Wake Forest's last three contests against the Irish.

GAME RECAPS

2011 — Wake Forest scored a touchdown on its first possession, but Notre Dame answered with a field goal. A 59-yard kick return by the Deacons set up a field goal to put them up 10-3. Irish quarterback Tommy Rees answered with a 38-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Eifert to tie the game up.

The Deacons took a 17-10 lead into halftime, thanks to an inefficient pass attack in the first half, but Notre Dame tied it up with a 62-yard drive to start the second half. Rees hit Michael Floyd for a 16-yard touchdown on Notre Dame’s next possession to give the Irish a 24-17 lead. The defense forced two punts, recovered a fumble and forced a missed field goal on Wake’s final four possessions.

2012 — Notre Dame dominated this game from the outset, jumping to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and a 31-0 halftime lead. The Irish road big plays to rout the Deacons, with running back Cierre Wood ripping off a 68-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the game. The first quarter was capped off with a 50-yard scoring toss from Everett Golson to John Goodman, and the Irish got the second quarter off with a 34-yard pass from Golson to TJ Jones.

The vaunted Irish defense held Wake Forest to just 209 yards of offense, which included just 55 yards on the ground. Notre Dame racked up 584 yards in the victory, with Golson throwing for 346 yards and three scores. Wood added 150 yards on the ground.

2015 — Notre Dame never was threatened by the Deacons in this matchup, but it was a relatively sloppy win. Wake Forest out-gained Notre Dame 340-282, and had more first downs, 23-15. The Irish used a 28-yard interception return for a score from sophomore Andrew Trumbetti and a 98-yard run from then freshman running back Josh Adams to break the game open.

2017 — Notre Dame jumped all over the Deacons, taking a 31-10 lead into halftime on the back of a brilliant performance by quarterback Brandon Wimbush. The Irish led 41-16 and 48-23 in the fourth quarter before the Deacons put three late touchdowns on the board.

The Irish offense rolled to 710 yards of offense to Wake’s 587. Wimbush passed for 280 yards and rushed for 110 more while accounting for three scores, and he didn’t play much of the second half after injuring his hand.

2018 — This was Ian Book’s second start, but first as the full-time starter, and after a mini-slow start the Irish offense absolutely rolled the Deacons. Notre Dame lead 28-13 at the break and outscored the Deacons 21-7 in the third quarter. Wake Forest took an early 3-0 lead but the Irish responded with a 6-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a 30-yard touchdown run by Jafar Armstrong.

Book hit Brock Wright for a 3-yard touchdown on Notre Dame’s next possession, and a 52-yard punt return by Chris Finke set up a short Irish touchdown drive. Book rushed in for a 2-yard score on Notre Dame’s next possession and the rout was on. Book passed for 325 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in the win.

NOTE: Video courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content, our premium message board and gets you a FREE subscription to Sports Illustrated! Click on the link below for more

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes.
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Follow me on Parler: @BryanDriskell
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter