Wake Up the Echoes

September 24, 2018

Brian and Michael 

Wake Up the Echoes

Whenever I travel anyplace, I always check out what is happening in that town during the time that I am there and this was the case once again this week during my visit to see my mother in Winston-Salem. It just so happened that on the Saturday afternoon of the weekend that I was there that the Wake Forest Demon Deacons were hosting Notre Dame at BB& T stadium so I got tickets for myself and my brother-in-law Brian to attend the game.

 

I probably would have gone whoever the Deacs were playing, but the fact that the eighth ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish were the opponent made it all the more special. It had been years since I attended a ND game, probably since I was in college myself, as Purdue was at the time an annual opponent of the Irish. I have a special affinity for Notre Dame as so many of my friends attended the school and my high school (Cathedral High School) in Indianapolis was something of a feeder school for ND. Our teams were even known as the Fighting Irish.

You would think scheduling a game at noon on a Saturday afternoon in late September you would get perfect football weather, but though it looked perfect, sunny an bright, the truth is that Winston-Salem was experiencing something of a heat wave and the temperature at kick-off was blistering, just under 100 degrees and when you add in the packed crowd, the aluminum stands and the direct sunlight, it was one of the hottest experiences that I have ever been in. It was sweltering and people were literally passing out all around us from the heat, keeping the emergency crews hopping throughout the game.

 

Wake Forest scored first on a field goal to go up 3-0 early, but they kept missing open receivers and did not capitalize on early opportunities creating an opening for Notre Dame to put their true dominance on display. Wake would have had to play an almost perfect game to keep pace and it quickly became evident that that was not going to happen on this afternoon. 

 

Though undefeated and ranked in the top ten, Notre Dame has been sluggish on offense so far this season and so they opted to give quarterback Ian Book his first start of the season and it paid off as he rushed for three touchdowns and threw for two more in leading the Fighting Irish to a huge 56-27 victory. Book replaced Brandon Wimbush in the starting lineup and was 25 of 34 for 325 yards with touchdown passes covering 3 yards to Brock Wright and 7 yards to Chase Claypool, along with three short scoring runs.

Notre Dame improved to 4-0 on the season and Wake dropped to a disappointing 2-2 so far. We were actually pretty happy that the game was so lopsided, as ND put up over 500 yards of total office. Because of the oppressive heat, we were able to leave a little early, we were not alone, looking back at our stand as we were departing it was almost totally empty after having been packed at kick-off. The vast majority of fans were either huddling in the shade under the stands or heading for the exits as well.

It was still a really fun experience, in spite of the incredible heat. It was good to hang out with Brian and to get to see a quality college football game. While I was out enjoying the game, Kathy was out in Clovis, New Mexico visiting our friend Dakota and her family which includes the newest addition baby Sloane who is only 5 months old. 

Sloane 

Throughout the weekend, Kathy and Dakota kept sending me photos of all the fun they were having hanging out and exploring Clovis, where Dakota and her family recently relocated. I must admit, I was more than a little jealous, seeing the photos but I managed to keep myself busy and enjoy being with family myself. Sometimes it would be nice to be in two places at once.