Wake Forest has been a model of consistency and peskiness ever since Dave Clawson got his feet underneath him. The Deacs have been to seven straight bowl games, which is easily the longest streak in school history, and it’s to Clawson’s credit that Sam Hartman’s departure for Notre Dame didn’t feel like a five-alarm fire.
It was going to hurt, but it didn’t feel like a disaster in the making. Mitch Griffis was already the heir apparent at quarterback—Wake didn’t bring in any transfers to compete with him—and Wake had the support of a deep wide receiver group to ease the transition.