It was the first meeting ever between Notre Dame and Wake Forest on Saturday night, and it was a memorable one for the Irish, as their 24-17 win makes them bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive year. The Irish have now won six of their last seven.
Tommy Rees, who was 14-for-23 for 166 yards, threw two touchdowns, and the Irish were down 17-10 at halftime. They held Forest scoreless in the second half, and scored two TDs in the third quarter, as Jonas Gray scored from one-yard out to tie the game. Gray had actually scored on a 26-yard run two plays earlier, but the refs actually reversed a correct call and said Gray's elbow touched the ground just before he hit the goal line. (Even refs can get it wrong on replay.) No matter, as Gray punched it in anyway.
Michael Floyd scored the game winner on a 16-yard pass from Rees late in the third. The Irish defense took over from there.
Interesting side note on this game was that it was played at BB&T Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC, which holds just over 31,000. It is the smallest venue Notre Dame has played in since 1945. The announced crowd was 36,307.
Next Saturday, the Irish take on Maryland in the second night game of the season at Notre Dame Stadium.