Wake Forest fans were starting to talk about holiday trips to the Miami area.
Following a disastrous defeat in Blacksburg, those trips have likely been canceled, and up next is a trip to Clemson to face the defending National Champions.
Wake Forest will go into the game likely outside of the Coaches Poll, the AP Poll, and the CFP rankings as well.
Let's get to some takeaways.
1. Jamie Newman had his worst game of the season on Saturday, in a big spot
Wake Forest's offense came into the game ranked in the top ten nationally.
That won't be the case following Saturday's performance, after finishing with 301 yards of total offense.
Newman finished with 238 yards passing, but -4 yards rushing if you account for the sacks and TFL's on his 12 rushing attempts.
For a fanbase that has grown to expect greatness, Newman wasn't able to live up to the expectations.
Newman will look to rebound next week, against one of the nation's most feared defenses in Clemson.
The scouts (NFL) will be watching.
2. The Virginia Tech was labeled a trap last week on this website. It proved to be just that
Putting a road trip to a place that has been historically tough to play in like Blacksburg has for a team that had to play at Clemson the following weekend was always going to be labeled a trap game, regardless of how good (or bad) VT was this season.
That, combined with the injuries to Washington and Strnad, and it was the perfect recipe for an upset.
Clawson wanted his players to be prepared, motivated and ready to play. Execution was always going to be a key in a game like this, and it simply wasn't there.
Newman completed less than 50% of his passes, and threw two INT.
The team rushed for under 100 yards.
Kendall Hinton was the lone bright spot statistically, finishing with 8 catches for 162 yards.
3. Taking the starters out late in the 4th quarter was controversial, but the right decision
After Newman's second INT of the game deep in their own territory, and the subsequent TD to put Virginia Tech up three scores, Wake head coach Dave Clawson pulled his starters and switched to a conservative scheme on their final drive of the game offensively.
This did not make a large section of the fanbase happy, but it was the right call.
Newman took a pretty good hit to the mid-section, Surratt had just been knocked out of the game with an injury, and there was honestly no coming back from the deficit.
With a matchup against Clemson coming next weekend, Giving his starters any type of advantage, rest, etc. could prove valuable.
Especially after seeing what Clemson did to NC State on Saturday night.
